Arsenal travel to Selhurst Park on the final day of the Premier League season just three days before Crystal Palace’s Conference League final vs Rayo Vallecano
Oliver Glasner has indicated he could rotate against Arsenal and Manchester City because he needs to do “what’s best for Crystal Palace” before their Conference League final against Rayo Vallecano in Leipzig on May 27.
The Austrian does not care if it sparks backlash and he believes his team selections will not impact the Premier League title race, either. Palace also travel to Manchester City next Wednesday.
Glasner said following his side’s 2-1 semi-final victory over Shakhtar Donetsk: “To be honest, if somebody criticises for me, sorry, if I can say this, it would be nonsense.
“It’s just the last game but there were 37 games played before. That means if another team on matchday 25 rotated against City or Arsenal they affected the title race as well.
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“I’m not responsible for Arsenal, I’m not responsible for Manchester City, I’m responsible for Crystal Palace and I get paid for doing the best things for Crystal Palace and not for City and not for Arsenal.
“Again, I don’t know what we’re doing yet. Maybe we’ll be playing with the same line-up that we’ll play against Vallecano but again, maybe it feels like the league title is decided on the last day but at the end, it’s a result of 38 matchdays and everybody gets what they deserve.”
Arsenal visit Selhurst Park just three days before Palace are due to face Vallecano in Germany.
During his time at Eintracht Frankfurt, he fielded his best-possible XI in his side’s final game before beating Rangers in Seville but the key difference was, that game was played on the Saturday – not Sunday.
Before he mulls over his options, he wants to secure Premier League safety, anyway.
Glasner concluded: “First of all we want to win against them because then we are safe. We see all the teams at the bottom are winning, Tottenham have two wins in a row.
“Nottingham [Forest] was on a very good run so all these teams are now closer and we are not 100 per cent safe. That means one more win and then we can think about the Conference League.
“Again, I don’t know right now how we will plan this because it’s also the first time for me playing the last league game on Sunday and then Wednesday.
“When I was at Frankfurt, the last league game was on Saturday and we headed into the last practise needing to show something. We played the same team that we played in the [Europa League] final as the last test.
“I don’t know if this makes sense if we play Sunday and Wednesday. Fortunately I have a bit of time to think about it and do my research and talk with my staff and then we will plan the last week but now it’s really getting the win against Everton to be really safe in the league and then making the second step.”
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