Nottingham Forest continue their fight for Premier League survival against free-falling Crystal Palace.
Victory will lift Forest up to 16th in the table, whilst Palace can climb to 14th with at least a draw for a minimum of two-and-a-half hours.
Team News
Forest will welcome Elliot Anderson back after he was suspended for their 4-0 Europa League victory at home to Ferencvaros.
Nicolo Savona missed that game due to a knee injury and has now joined John Victor plus Chris Wood (both knee) on the sidelines.
Palace will be without Justin Devenny after he suffered an ankle injury during training.
Adam Wharton is suspended after he was red carded in their 3-1 home defeat to Chelsea, whilst Jean-Philippe Mateta is ruled out due to transfer speculation over his future at Selhurst Park.
Borna Sosa (muscle) has also been sidelined for this match.
Nathaniel Clyne (adductor) could feature but Eddie Nketiah (muscle), Cheick Doucoure (knee), Daichi Kamada (hamstring), Rio Cardines (adductor) and Caleb Kporha (back) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Forest host Palace at the City Ground on Sunday 1 February at 2pm GMT, live on Sky Sports+ in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Forest are unbeaten in their seven league meetings against Palace since returning to the top-flight in 2022-23 season (W2, D5).
- Palace are winless in their last four league trips to Forest since a 1-0 Championship win in December 2011 (D2, L2), of which both defeats were by 1-0 results in the Premier League respectively in November 2022 and October 2024.
- Three of Forest’s last four meetings against Palace have ended in a 1-1 draw.
- Forest are looking to keep three consecutive clean sheets in the Premier League for the first time.
- Palace have picked up just two points in their last eight league matches (D2, L6).
Prediction
Having produced two ruthlessly clinical displays in their last two games in the past week, confidence should be high at Forest because this sort of momentum needs to be maintained if they’re to stay above the relegation zone so I expect another strong effort here from them.
Palace meanwhile are just a mess now with Mateta reportedly seeking a move away and consequently absent alongside; Wharton, Sosa and Devenny, making it hard to see how they can get anything here unless others step up with dramatic improvement after a wasteful loss to Chelsea.
On that note, I really can’t help but feel that this is Forest’s game to lose.
Prediction: Nottingham Forest 2-0 Crystal Palace
Result: Nottingham Forest 1-1 Crystal Palace
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