Crystal Palace return to UEFA Europa League action on Thursday when TSG Hoffenheim visit Selhurst Park for a 17:45 GMT kick-off. The fixture will be Palace’s fourth in the competition, with Oliver Glasner’s side aiming to add to the four points collected from their opening three European matches.
Hoffenheim arrive in south London having ended a difficult start to their European campaign with an impressive 3-0 victory over Olympique Lyonnais. Andrej Kramarić gave the German side the lead in first-half stoppage time, before Adam Daghim and Adam Hložek completed the scoring after the interval.
Kramarić was central to the result, scoring once and creating the other two goals. The Croatian remains one of Hoffenheim’s principal attacking threats and is the club’s all-time leading scorer after joining from Leicester City in January 2016, initially on loan before making the move permanent later that year.
Christian Ilzer’s team have found consistency harder to achieve in domestic competition. They sit 12th in the Bundesliga after five defeats in their first eight matches, while their recent run also includes a DFB-Pokal penalty shootout loss to 2. Bundesliga side Holstein Kiel and a 2-0 defeat away to Werder Bremen.
Hoffenheim were beaten by OFI Crete and BeÅŸiktaÅŸ in their first two Europa League fixtures, but their victory over Lyon has put them back on the board. The visitors will now look to carry that momentum into Selhurst Park as Palace seek a winning result in their latest European assignment.
Founded in 1899, Hoffenheim rose through the German football pyramid before reaching the Bundesliga for the first time in 2008. They have since played in both the Champions League and Europa League, including a run to the Europa League round of 16 in 2020/21. Their previous five meetings with English clubs have all ended in defeat, with the latest a 3-2 home loss to Tottenham Hotspur during the 2024/25 season.
