Nottingham Forest vs Crystal Palace preview, team news, tickets & prediction

Nottingham Forest are at home to Crystal Palace in a 2024/25 Premier League Matchday 8 fixture. Here is a preview.

Winless Crystal Palace will visit Nottingham Forest in search of crucial points as they navigate their respective courses this season.

From their four meetings since Forest returned to the top flight, there have been three draws, with the other being a home win for Forest who have the better overall head-to-head record.

Nottingham Forest Form

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side will be hoping to capitalize on that good omen as they look to build a strong run of form in front of their home fans.

Although they stared down the barrel of relegation after their first Premier League season in 23 years, Forest collected 11 points from their final six games. That experience toughened them for their second campaign as a poor start led to Steve Cooper’s sacking by December 2023, Nuno was appointed in his place but there was further turmoil for the Portuguese manager to manoeuvre.

Nottingham Forest were charged with breaching Premier League profit and sustainability rules for their accounts in the 2022/23 season. Four points were deducted to push them into the relegation places, with their appeal against the penalty also rejected.

Nevertheless, they finished 17th and beat the drop by six points, hoping to kick on and establish themselves further up the table this term.

This season, Forest are sitting in 10th with 9 points from 6 games, with 2 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss. The most notable result being a stunning 1-0 win at Anfield.

Crystal Palace Form

Crystal Palace also had to go through some mid-season upheaval this past season which started with Roy Hodgson who saved them from relegation with an 11th-placed finish in 2022/23, and had his contract extended by a year. They were making another appointment as soon as the veteran manager hit a snag as Oliver Glasner took over in February 2024.

Under the Austrian, Palace enjoyed a strong finish to the season as they equalled their highest Premier League position of tenth place and a points total of 49. Indeed, only Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea earned more points than Palace since Glasner took charge of the club.

They were in such good form that four Palace players – Eberechi Eze, Marc Guehi, Dean Henderson and Adam Wharton – were named in England’s Euro 2024 squad, the most of any club for the Three Lions in Germany.

Glasner must have keen to build on his fantastic first few months in London but had to deal with losing a key player as Michael Olise left for Bayern Munich. But he can take solace in holding on to Guehi and Eze who both courted serious interest.

Palace currently sit in a lowly 18th with little to cheer about so far, so a win against Forest would do well for the mood. Given their poor record in this fixture, it is time for Palace to step up in 2024/25.

Match tickets

This Premier League fixture takes place on Saturday, 19 October 2024 with kick-off scheduled for the traditional slot at 3 PM UK time. Match tickets are available for sale on each club’s website but note that season ticket holders and club members will be given priority consideration.

The City Ground is the venue for this game and 30,000 seats are expected to be sold out in what should be a memorable day out by the River Trent. West Bridgford would be clad in red but the away fans will also be keen to make their presence felt.

It is important to purchase your match tickets early, and for those who are yet to get theirs, Nottingham Forest vs Crystal Palace tickets can be found on resale sites.

Team news

For Nottingham Forest, their recent transfer business has been characterised by a new recruitment model that sees them focus on signing talented but energetic players. Carlos Miguel, Marko Stamenic, Eric da Silva Moreira, Elliot Anderson and Nikola Milenkovic have thus joined this summer.

Indeed, they are set to remain busy as they also want Gremio youngster Gustavo Nunes and are reportedly interested in signing the out-of-contract Kelechi Iheanacho. Third-choice goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos has been sold to Newcastle but more departures are expected before the transfer window closes.

Michael Olise is the high-profile departure from Palace so far but James Tomkins, Jairo Riedewald and Nathan Ferguson have also departed after their contracts expired.

Hence, the club are set to be active in the transfer window considering more likely exits, and they are eyeing a move for Ismaila Sarr after a season at Marseille, the Senegalese winger offers bags of Premier League experience and he will represent a quality addition to the ranks.

Line-ups

Forest is expected to be compact but explosive, and they will be keen to impress on their home ground. The Garibaldi will thus look to utilise the pace and dynamism of their tricky wingers who can decide the game in their favour.

Nuno will be keen to grab all three points here and they must show that desire from kick-off.

Nottingham Forest: Sels, Montiel, Omobamidele, Murillo, Aina, Dominguez, Yates, Hudson-Odoi, Gibbs-White, Elanga, Awoniyi

There were 13 goals and an assist in 13 games under Glasner for Jean-Philippe Mateta who emerged as the team’s marksman at the tail-end of last season. The Frenchman’s 16 goals proved his career-best top-flight tally so there is a lot to look forward to from the 27-year-old this term.

Crystal Palace: Henderson, Clyne, Andersen, Guehi, Munoz, Richards, Wharton, Mitchell, Kamada, Smith Rowe, Mateta

Prediction

The Reds are unbeaten in their last eight Premier League meetings with Palace which is their longest unbeaten streak against an opponent as well as the Eagles’ longest winless run against another Premier League team.

After three consecutive draws, this game is finely poised for one of the sides to step up and claim a vital win at the start of the campaign. I’m tipping Forest to pick up their first home win of the season against a toothless Palace.

Nottingham Forest 2-0 Crystal Palace