Pierre Sage's premier matchday in SE25 comes against a fellow new manager in Enzo Maresca, who has the unenviable task of filling Pep Guardiola's boots at the Citizens.
Palace have, according to our records, featured eight times on Friday evening in the Premier League beforehand – most recently in October 2023, a narrow defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in SE25.
Indeed, whilst the Eagles have only won once on a Friday night in the Premier League – away at Birmingham City, way back in October 2004 – we have claimed some important victories on the occasion, such as 1-0 victory against Charlton Athletic at the Valley in September 2012, en route to promotion in 2012/13.
We've also enjoyed some fine Friday nights down at Selhurst Park, as well, including this pair of results...
The Ultimate Friday
Friday, 11th May, 1979
Fittingly, we dial back to an era where Palace's red-and-blue-sash – which the Eagles will wear at Selhurst Park on a Friday night for the first time in many a generation – for our most famous Friday result.
In May 1979, the Crystal Palace squad faced their final and most important game of the season when Burnley travelled south to Selhurst Park.
Meeting teammates nearly five hours earlier than normal, Vince Hilaire and the rest of the Crystal Palace squad were fully alert to the significance of the game they were set to play and the impact it would have on the course of the club’s history.
"We were under no illusions that it was just another game," Hilaire recalled, speaking with cpfc.co.uk in 2017. "We came out of the hotel and in the coach it took us about 45 minutes for a five-minute journey because of the crowds."
The crowds had gathered for the denouement to a successful 1978/79 season under the late, great, Terry Venables, which saw the club holding a chance to gain promotion from Division Two to English football's top flight.
Sitting for an early lunch hours before kick-off, the Eagles’ prognosis for their final fixture was clear: lose and another season in Division Two beckoned; draw and promotion would be clinched; win and they would secure the championship from under the noses of league leaders Brighton.
