‘The underdog always has a chance’ – Crystal Palace ready to give a fight to Arsenal says Smerud | OneFootball

Crystal Palace manager Leif Smerud says that his side will give a fight to Arsenal this weekend and that the underdog can never be written-off in football.

The Eagles play host to The Gunners at the VBS Community Stadium on Sunday. Crystal Palace go into the game bottom of the Barclays Women’s Super League table while Arsenal became UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-finalists in midweek.

When speaking in the pre-match press conference, Crystal Palace boss Smerud explained that he has been able to watch Arsenal first-hand this week which has helped with preparation.

“I was at the Emirates and got to see them live [against Real Madrid] which is always helpful,” Smerud said. “We know they’re a strong side and they proved it yesterday. We know them well and look forward to playing against them. It’s going to be an interesting challenge.”

The odds are stacked against Crystal Palace this weekend but Smerud says that you can never write-off an underdog in football.

He said “I think football is the biggest sport in the world because the underdog always has a chance. It doesn’t happen often that the underdog wins but in football, it does happen.

“Of course, we are playing a league game, it’s 90 minutes and 11 v 11. We believe that we can give a fight to a lot of teams. We gave it to Chelsea and we have to go again.”

Crystal Palace will contest this weekend’s fixture in-front of a record crowd in Sutton. Smerud has no complaints that the game is being played at the VBS Community Stadium rather than at Selhurst Park.

He said “We got a good result there against Villa, so I think it’s helpful for us. I’m glad we are playing at Sutton and I look forward to that.

“Big stadiums give you a really good environment in some aspects and a smaller stadium gives you some intimacy and some other things that you can use. I’m good with both, we play wherever the game is arranged.”

Crystal Palace’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Arsenal kicks-off at 2pm on Sunday afternoon. Tickets remain on-sale and can be purchased by clicking here.