- Team form: Crystal Palace have won 2, drawn 1 and lost 2 of their last 5 games in all competitions.
- Opposition form: Nottingham Forest have won 1, drawn 2 and lost 2 of their last 5 in all competitions.
- Head-to-head: Crystal Palace have failed to win either of their last 2 home H2Hs.
Strange Palace are too hard to trust
Match outlook
This weekend's Premier League 2026-2027 encounter between 15th-placed Crystal Palace (4 points from 5 games) and 13th-placed Nottingham Forest (5 points from 5) feels like a close matchup with goals at both ends likely. Palace and Forest will play out a mirror-image tactical duel on Sunday, so don't expect a typical possession-based affair.
Tactics
Pierre Sage has led the Eagles in a new direction since he took charge of Palace on 1 July 2026 and they've been a treat to watch when they've got their act together. Sage's 3-4-2-1/3-4-3 system is set up to press in numbers, to overload the flanks with pace and to press opponents into wide areas where they can counterattack.
Recent form
Joergen Strand Larsen has provided some bite through the middle with 4 goals in his last 5 appearances and Palace have scored 9 in total across that run, however, their latest trio of results has been a mixed bag. After a superb 4-0 home win over KKS Lech Poznan, The Eagles were held to a 0-0 tie away to Leeds United and followed that up with a 0-2 home loss to Bristol City.
Forest are a compact, direct side
Oliver Glasner has also taken Forest in a different direction since he arrived on 6 July 2026. The Tricky Trees have set up in a solid back-three system, they compact in defence and will make you work for your way through the thirds.
This should lead to some interesting matchups between the two number tens, and the wing-backs will surely have their hands full on Sunday. Forest have been decent travellers so far in the Premier League 2026/2027, with one win and one tie, scoring 4 goals in total. A 2-1 win at Aston Villa in their latest away day was followed by a 0-1 home defeat to Coventry City, so there's no mistaking the contrasting styles of these two sides.
Sage has some attacking bite in the squad
- Crystal Palace's Daichi Kamada has been their chief creator in the Premier League 2026/2027, with 3 assists in 5 games, and Tyrick Mitchell is the Eagles' leading scorer, netting 2 goals in 5 appearances.
- This makes Mitchell the club's top scorer and gives Palace a useful goal threat from unexpected areas.
- Meanwhile, Dan Ndoye leads the way for Forest in the Premier League 2026/2027 with 1 goal in 5, while Morgan Gibbs-White has made a solid impact, contributing 2 assists in 5 appearances.
Draw looks likely at Selhurst Park
Forest are 2.64 favourites to beat Palace here, while The Eagles are 2.6 and the draw 3.25. We simply cannot trust Palace to win this one, but the visitors have enough to take something from Selhurst Park on Sunday, so we're sticking with the 3.25 draw in this encounter.
Both teams to score at 1.75 looks the better play in the goal markets, however, as the last three H2H meetings have finished all square and Forest are a threat on the road. The last meeting between these two in the Premier League 2025/2026 finished 1-1 at The City Ground and that result looks likely in this clash.
