Off the back of a disappointing midweek cup exit, the Eagles have the chance to shake that defeat from the legs and head off for the enforced break by adding a point or three to the board.
TIME/ DATE/ VENUE
- 3pm
- 12th November 2022
- City Ground, West Bridgford, Nottingham NG2 5FJ
PREVIOUS MEETING
Ignore the friendly in 2019, the last time Palace made the trip to the City Ground for a competitive game was almost 10 years ago, in December 2012. In an entertaining Championship draw, Glenn Murray gave Palace an early lead before Andy Reid levelled up right on the half time whistle. Murray doubled his and Palace’s lead with a little under ten minutes left to play before Billy Sharp levelled things up in the final minute.
OFFICIALS
- Referee: John Brooks
- Assistants: Wade Smith, Akil Howson
- Fourth official: Tom Nield.
- VAR: Darren England
- Assistant VAR: Matthew Wilkes
TEAM NEWS
PALACE – James McArthur and Chris Richards continue to miss out while Odsonne Edouard is a doubt.
FOREST – Orel Mangala is suspended, while Omar Richards, Giulian Biancone, Moussa Niakhate and Harry Toffolo are injury absentees. Scott McKenna and Cheikhou Kouyate are expected to have late fitness tests.
DISCIPLINARY THIS SEASON
RED CARDS – none
YELLOW CARDS (4+) – Cheick Doucoure (5), Marc Guehi (4), Joe Worrall (4), Steve Cook (4), Scott McKenna (4)
FORM GUIDE
Last FIVE meetings between the two sides;
- 29/12/12 Forest 2-2 Palace
- 18/09/12 Palace 1-1 Forest
- 31/03/12 Palace 0-3 Forest
- 10/12/11 Forest 0-1 Palace
- 07/05/11 Palace 0-3 Forest
Last FIVE results for Palace:
- 06/11/22 Newcastle 0-0 Palace
- 29/11/22 Palace 1-0 Southampton
- 22/10/22 Everton 3-0 Palace
- 18/10/22 Palace 2-1 Wolves
- 15/10/22 Leicester 0-0 Palace
Last FIVE results for Forest;
- 09/11/22 Forest 2-0 Spurs
- 05/11/22 Forest 2-2 Brentford
- 30/10/22 Arsenal 5-0 Palace
- 22/10/22 Forest 1-0 Liverpool
- 18/10/22 Brighton 0-0 Forest
LEAGUE POSITION
Heading into the fixture, Palace are 10th in the Premier League with 19 points from 13 games played while Forest are 20th with 10 points from 14 games.
RECORD AGAINST FOREST
- Played 63
- Won 16
- Drawn 19
- Lost 28
FORM PLAYERS ACCORDING TO WHO SCORED
- Wilfried Zaha 7.16
- Eberechi Eze 7.06
- Neco Williams 6.85
- Morgan Gibbs-White 6.61
ONE TO WATCH
MORGAN GIBBS-WHITE
FORMER CLUBS – Wolves, Swansea City (loan), Sheffield United (loan)
The attacking midfielder was the marquee signing at the City Ground in the summer but he arrived with a big price tag around his neck. He has yet to fulfil that promise but time is on his side and if Forest stay in up this season, the 22-year-old will likely be a big part of that.
KEY CLASH
WILFRIED ZAHA v JOE WORRALL
With Wilf missing the midweek cup defeat, he will see this one as last effort before the break and get Palace into a good position. If he plays more central, he will likely be up against the Forest centre back who has been at the City Ground since 2011.
PRE-MATCH FACTS
- Palace’s solitary win in the past 9 top-flight meetings was 1-0 at City Ground in 1991.
- The most recent competitive games between these teams was in the 2012-13 Championship – both were drawn.
- In only 3 of the 30 completed Premier League seasons did the team bottom of the table on Christmas Day go on to avoid relegation. All 3 of those teams had 10 points – as Forest do now.
- Forest have scored first in 6 of their 7 home league games this season – but have gone on to win only twice.
- Only Leicester have dropped more points from winning positions than the 12 by Forest this season.
- Taiwo Awoniyi has scored in all 3 of his league home starts.
- Palace can win 3 consecutive league fixtures for the first time since a run of 4 from February to June 2020.
- The Eagles are unbeaten in their past 8 league games against promoted sides, winning 4 of them.
- Palace have earned a league-high 12 points from losing positions.
- Wilfried Zaha has failed to score in any of his 6 appearances against Forest.
PRE-MATCH STATS
- GOALS – Wilfried Zaha (6 – 8th in PL)
- ASSISTS – Eberechi Eze (3 – 11th in PL)
- PASSES – Marc Guehi (781 – 16th in PL)
- TACKLES – Jeffrey Schlupp (29)
- TOUCHES – Marc Guehi (932 – 20th in PL)
- SHOTS – Wilfried Zaha (32 – 13th in PL)
- SAVES – Vicente Guaita (37 – 13th in PL)
DID YOU KNOW?
Forest are one of four English clubs to have won the European Cup/UEFA Champions League more than once and one of two English clubs to have won the competition back-to-back.
PREDICTION
The hosts enter the fixture off the back of knocking Spurs out of the cup in midweek which could well work in Palace’s favour who themselves will want to get their over their own cup exit. We are expecting an entertaining fixture, with Palace just edging it.
FINAL SCORE: Forest 1-2 Palace
BETTING ODDS
- Home – 2/1
- Draw – 21/10
- Away – 11/8
- Both teams to score – 9/10
RESOURCES
