Prediction: Crystal Palace vs Nottingham Forest

Verdict: Full-time result – Draw

Best odds: 3.20

Bookmaker: Zetbet

Crystal Palace are looking for their 1st win against Nottingham Forest on Selhurst Park from London since 2003. Coming from a historic win at Old Trafford against Manchester United in the last round, Roy Hodgson’s team are favourites to bag 3 points.

Crystal Palace

Palace is struggling to find the back of the net failing to replace the departure of their talisman Wilfried Zaha, who left for warmer shores in  Turkey at Galatasaray. With a record of 3 wins, 2 draws and 2 defeats, The Eagles sit 9th in the table with no apparent worries. Once again, Roy Hodgson demonstrated his experience last round by snatching 3 points at Old Trafford with a narrow win (1-0) against Manchester United. A concerning fact for the legendary manager and his players seems to be the lack of accuracy in front of the opposition’s goalie, scoring only twice in the last 4 games. Facing a team that is playing attacking football will leave many spaces behind the defenders, benefiting the likes of Mateta and Jordan Ayew.

Team News

Odssone Edouard is not at 100% but Roy Hodgson will most probably have to play him due to a lack of options. Palace suffered a major blow with their best player, Eze, suffering a hamstring injury that will see him out of contention for up to 6 weeks. He will join Dean Henderson, Michael Olise several other first-team players in the recovery room.

Odsonne Edouard will need to find his pace to Premier League intensity relatively quickly in order to benefit from the crosses he will receive from his fellow wingers Jordan Ayew and Jeffrey Schlupp. There will be no changes in defence with Joachim Andersen leading the back 4 line.

Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest is looking to improve their slow start of the campaign, having accumulated only 8 points from the 7 games played. Forest lost 3 of their 4 away fixtures played, suffering defeats to heavyweights like Manchester United, Arsenal and Manchester City. They pulled a surprise win at Stamford Bridge with out-of-form Chelsea, Anthony Elanga finding the back of the net at the start of the 2nd half. Lee Cooper’s team is playing attacking football scoring in all of their fixtures except at Etihad where they lost with the current champions Manchester City (2-0). Tricky Trees displayed resilience in the last Premier League game against Brentford coming back from behind, with one man down, in front of their crowd in a stalemate with goals (1-1).

Team News

Lee Cooper has a few players unavailable for the difficult trip to London, but nothing of much concern. Taiwo Awonniyi is expected to lead in attack, scoring already 3 goals in his 7 games played. Callum Hudson-Odoi is another possible goals-scorer for the visitors with Serge Aurier leading the assist, providing already 2 for his teammates.

Moussa Niakhate will not be on the bus to London, being sent off for two yellow cards in Nottingham’s Forest 1-1 draw with Brentford. Harry Toffolo is expected to start in the defensive line-up replacing Moussa Niakhate. The experienced defender did a great job in the last 30 minutes of play, clearing many crosses of Brentofrd’s attacking players.

Key factors to consider

• Nottingham Forest is undefeated on Selhurst Park in their last 6 matches (W3 D3). This series of positive results gives the visitors a psychological advantage over their host.
•  Crystal Palace are playing better away, averaging only 1.33 points per match at Selhurst Park. Their only win comes after the thriller match against Volwerhampton (3-2).
•  Lee Cooper’s team is struggling on the road suffering 3 defeats in 4 games despite averaging an impressive 1.75 goals scored/match.
• A win for Palace will increase the gap to 6 points in favour of Nottingham Forrest. If the visitors get all the points from this fixture they will get level on points with tonight’s adversaries.
• The lack of key players from Roy Hodgson’s team can benefit Nottingham Forrest in scoring at least once in the opposition’s net.

Conclusion

This is a difficult game to predict considering the injuries both teams are facing. On paper, Crystal Palace are favorites but Nottingham Forrest showed the ability to get back in the game when they are being led. A crucial factor will be the battle in the midfield where Palace I believe will reign supreme. I predict a match where both teams will score. As for the final result, although Palace is favourites to win, considering the long list of injuries and the strength upfront of Nottingham Forest, a draw seems to be the most probable outcome.

Verdict: Full-time result – Draw

Best odds: 3.20

Bookmaker: Zetbet