UEFA announcement ahead of Dynamo Kyiv vs Crystal Palace could spell trouble for Oliver Glasner

Crystal Palace take on Dynamo Kyiv in the Europa Conference League on Thursday evening, with Lothar D’Hondt the referee appointed for the game.

Crystal Palace head into Europe for their historic Europa Conference League campaign, marking the first time the Eagles have played in a European competition since the 1998 Intertoto Cup.

They head to Poland where they’ll take on Ukrainian outfit Dynamo Kyiv, before further league phase games against AKE Larnaca, AZ Alkmaar, RC Strasbourg, Shelbourne, and Finnish team KuPS.

Oliver Glasner takes his side into the game against Kyiv in fine form after Crystal Palace beat Liverpool 2-1 in the Premier League to find themselves in 3rd place of the table.

Palace are on a club record 18-game unbeaten run in all competitions. Kyiv meanwhile are on a staggering 39-game unbeaten run in the league.

UEFA make referee appointment for Dynamo Kyiv vs Crystal Palace

As ever, who the referee is for this one could impact on the game. And Glasner might be worried to know that UEFA have appointed a rather inexperienced referee for this game in Belgian official Lothar D’Hondt, with fellow Belgians acting as the assistants and VAR officials too.

The 30-year-old D’Hondt is vastly experienced in Belgium with 48 games refereed in the second tier of Belgian football, and 142 in the Belgian Pro League. But on the European stage he remains very much fresh-faced with just eight games to his name in senior level European cups, including six Conference League games.

Worryingly for Glasner is D’Hondt’s yellow card record in Europe. In his eight European games so far he’s handed out an incredible 33 yellow cards and two red cards. Given Crystal Palace’s fairly poor record of picking up yellow cards, there could be a few on display on Thursday evening.

One Crystal Palace player is getting all the attention ahead of Dynamo Kyiv

Palace have been doing the rounds in the media of late. Their fine form has cast a light on the tremendous job they’ve done on and off the pitch in the last few years, with Jean-Philippe Mateta seemingly at the heart of the debate.

Speaking recently, Wayne Rooney hailed Mateta’s recent form for the Eagles, with Paul Merson and Paul Scholes both hailing the Frenchman as well.

In fact, Merson has claimed Mateta would be a great fit for Manchester United, albeit suggesting that the 28-year-old wouldn’t be a ‘fashionable’ enough signing for the Red Devils.

Against a strong Kyiv outfit, having the likes of Mateta bang in form is going to be key for Glasner’s side to maintain their unbeaten run, and to get some points on the board in this exciting European campaign.

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