Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest end their respective Premier League campaigns with a clash at Selhurst Park on Sunday afternoon.
It should be a relatively jovial atmosphere between two sides separated by five positions and seven points in the table.
Their previous meeting this season ended in a 1-0 win for Forest, earned by Morgan Gibbs-White, though it was a largely forgettable encounter that featured just two shots on target throughout the 90 minutes.
Here’s 90min’s preview of the game.
Crystal Palace vs Nottingham Forest H2H Record (Last Five Games)
Current Form (Last Five Games)
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Country |
TV channel/live stream |
|---|---|
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United Kingdom |
BBC Radio 5 Live / Not televised in UK |
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United States |
Peacock Premium |
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Canada |
fuboTV Canada |
Crystal Palace are without regular starters Wilfried Zaha and Jeffrey Schlupp, while Luka Milivojevic has played his last game for the club.
Jean-Philippe Mateta and Nathaniel Clyne may be handed final day berths by Roy Hodgson.
Crystal Palace predicted lineup (4-3-3): Johnstone; Clyne, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell; Doucoure, Hughes, Eze; Olise, Mateta, Ayew
Steve Cooper will be able to rotate his side now that Forest are assured of a place in the Premier League, but he’ll still want to win the game with positional prize money at stake.
A formation change is unlikely given the club’s recent form but a few personnel tweaks are likely to come to fruition; Wayne Hennessey, Willy Boly, Remo Freuler and Brennan Johnson among those who could get a final day start.
Nottingham Forest predicted lineup (3-4-2-1): Hennessey; Worrall, Boly, Niakhate; Aurier, Yates, Freuler; Gibbs-White, Johnson, Awoniyi
With nothing on the line in south London, this game could either be a dud affair with very little quality or a free-flowing expansive match that throws caution to the wind.
Palace’s home record isn’t overly impressive, winning just seven of the 18 games they’ve played, but their 27-point haul is far superior to Forest’s dismal away record. The Tricky Trees have registered just one win on the road – a 1-0 success at relegated Southampton – and have shipped a ghastly 43 goals.
The quality of Ebere Eze and Michael Olise may prove to be the difference, ending a season that nobody envisaged would involve Roy Hodgson being in the dugout.
