Football Preview | Crystal Palace v Nottingham Forest

You don't want to miss this one...

Crystal Palace return to Selhurst Park on Sunday for their first home Premier League fixture of the new campaign, with Nottingham Forest making the trip to South London. 

Author | Jack L

Stadium | Selhurst Park

Palace in Conference League action

This is shaping up to be  one of the weekend’s most anticipated, shaped by lingering tensions following Palace’s controversial demotion to the Conference League this summer.

It was Palace, not Forest, who were made to play in Thursday night’s qualifier after being relegated from the Europa League due to multi-club ownership concerns. Forest stepped into Palace’s place in UEFA’s second-tier competition, a switch that has sharpened animosity between the two sets of supporters, not least because Forest were open in pressing UEFA to intervene.

The affair has cast a shadow over what had otherwise been a remarkable summer for Palace. Oliver Glasner’s side lifted the FA Cup, claimed the Community Shield and enjoyed their first taste of European football, edging Fredrikstad 1-0 on Thursday. 

That victory was tempered by the absence of Eberechi Eze, with the England international reportedly close to joining Arsenal, a significant setback for the club with less than a fortnight before the transfer window shuts.

Palace team news

Eberechi Eze’s omission from Palace’s Conference League squad on Thursday has all but confirmed his impending exit from the club. Marc Guéhi, strongly linked with Liverpool, kept his place in the back three, while Jefferson Lerma came in for Chris Richards and Borna Sosa was preferred to Tyrick Mitchell. Aside from the absent Eze, the same side that started against Chelsea is expected to line up again.

READ MORE | The latest for Palace fans looking to be 'glad all over'

Daichi Kamada is close to a return from injury, though Eddie Nketiah, Chadi Riad, Cheick Doucouré and Matheus França remain unavailable.

A brier look at the opposition

Forest arrive buoyed by a 3-1 win over Brentford on the opening weekend. Nuno Espírito Santo’s team looked sharp despite a winless pre-season in which five of their seven matches ended goalless. Confidence is growing after a busy summer in the transfer market, and their supporters will sense an opportunity to deepen Palace’s frustrations.