Nottingham Forest vs Crystal Palace Prediction: Team News and Lineups Preview

The Premier League relegation battle has taken a turn in recent weeks and Nathan Joyes is back on duty with his Nottingham Forest vs Crystal Palace prediction, team news, lineups and fixtures preview.

Is this where Forest’s fortunes turn a corner? Can Nuno and Co put the points deduction behind them and start motoring towards saving their Premier League status? Or will Glasner’s new-look Palace outfit inflict more misery on the banks of the River Trent?

BETSiE Expected Goals Prediction:

Home	Away	Home xG	Away xG	Margin	Total xG
Nottingham Forest	Crystal Palace	1.35	0.92	0.43	2.26

 

1. Nottingham Forest vs Crystal Palace Tip 1: Chris Wood Anytime Goalscorer
2. Nottingham Forest vs Crystal Palace Tip 2: Under 2.5 Goals
3. Nottingham Forest vs Crystal Palace Tip 3: Match Result – Draw

Nottingham Forest vs Crystal Palace Prediction 1: Kiwi key to hosts success

England, Premier League, Saturday, March 30th, 15:00 (UK)

With Forest deducted four points, there’s plenty of pressure on the East Midlands club to start winning games if they are to stay in the Premier League.

It hasn’t been made any easier, as Taiwo Awoniyi is set to sit out the next few matches at least. The responsibility therefore falls to Chris Wood to produce the goods and get Forest firing.

However, under Nuno Santo, the New Zealand international has been revolutionised, and his goal vs Luton last time out was his 10th of the campaign.

Rather than playing with his back to goal as we saw under Steve Cooper, which limited the 32-year-old, Wood is now facing the goal with his positional play, allowed to pick up the ball and run with it, or produce timely runs into the box to head or steer the ball home.

With Anthony Elanga, Morgan Gibbs-White, and Divock Origi in behind, he certainly isn’t lacking service. Back earlier than expected from his injury, Wood hasn’t shown any signs of lacking match fitness and he’ll be key if Forest are to unlock Palace’s defence.

• Nottingham Forest vs Crystal Palace Prediction 1: Chris Wood Anytime Goalscorer
• Best Odds: 3.25
• Bookmaker: bet365
• Stake: 6/10

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Nottingham Forest vs Crystal Palace Prediction 2: Tight tussle on Trentside

Since Forest’s return to the Premier League, this fixture hasn’t been the most glamorous, and with so much at stake, it’s unlikely to change on Saturday.

In their three head-to-heads, they’ve shared the points on two occasions, with just three goals scored across the 270 minutes.

Forest won this fixture last year 1-0 thanks to Gibbs-White’s sole goal, but Wilfried Zaha’s missed penalty should have made it three draws in a row between the two sides.

Last time out at home, the hosts almost held Liverpool to an important draw, only for Darwin Nunez to controversially score in the 99th minute. Before that, it was a similar story vs Man United in the FA Cup.

Yet improvement has come about from a defensive point of view at the City Ground in recent weeks. A 2-0 win over West Ham was a step back in the right direction, and showed they are capable on their day.

The visitors arrive out of form on the road, and although they have scored in their last three away matches, they have been the only goals in their last five.

Expect a cagey afternoon on trentside, and once again, not many goals will be produced in this fixture.

• Nottingham Forest vs Crystal Palace Prediction 2: Under 2.5 Goals
• Best Odds: 1.70
• Bookmaker:
• Stake: 7/10

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Nottingham Forest vs Crystal Palace Prediction 3: All square at full time

Following on from the points made above, this fixture hasn’t been a classic, but it’s one in which neither side will want to lose.

Forest are desperate for points, but they’ll know if they continue to lose home games they won’t be staying in the Premier League beyond this season.

Palace, on the other hand, although eight points clear, won’t want to be dragged into any scrap – especially if Forest’s appeal sees their point reduction reduced.

Although Chris Wood has been in good form this season, there’s a lack of firepower across both teams’ front lines. Forest has only outscored four teams at home this season, while Palace have only outscored Sheffield United on the road.

Everything seems to point towards the draw, and with that in mind, it’s best not to overcomplicate the fixture.

• Nottingham Forest vs Crystal Palace Prediction 3: Match Result – Draw
• Best Odds: 3.40
• Bookmaker: bet365
• Stake: 6/10

Nottingham Forest vs Crystal Palace Prediction odds via bet365 as at 11:00, March 26th, 2024. Odds may now differ.

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Nottingham Forest vs Crystal Palace Team News and Possible Lineups: No Taiwo for the hosts

You can’t help but feel Taiwo Awoniyi’s absence will come back to haunt Forest this campaign, who is likely to miss out on the next few matches. However, it isn’t just the Nigerian striker who will be out. A trio of defenders; Nuno Tavares, Gonzalo Montiel and Ola Aina will also miss the Palace fixture. Willy Boly is also set to miss out after picking up an injury over the international break.

The visitors also have a long injury list to deal with, although most of them have been out for a while already. Fans will be desperate for Matheus Franca to kickstart his career in England, but he hasn’t been seen since the beginning of March.

Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup: Sels; Toffolo, Murillo, Omobamidele, Williams, Sangare, Yates, Elanga, Gibbs-White, Origi, Wood

Crystal Palace possible starting lineup: Johnstone; Richards, Andersen, Ward, Mitchell, Lerma, Wharton, Munoz, Ayew, Eze, Mateta

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The Predicted Nottingham Forest vs Crystal Palace League Standings by BETSiE

Our in-house predictive model, BETSiE, has had a go at predicting the League standings ahead of the Nottingham Forest vs Crystal Palace, currently 18th vs 14th, fixture by utilising the underlying data from the 2023/24 season up until this point.

For more league-specific BETSiE content including standings, probabilities and predictions, visit her page here – it’s worth it.

Nottingham Forest vs Crystal Palace Standings Prediction

Position	Club	Games	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Points
1	Arsenal	38	26.8	5.9	5.3	91.3	31.5	59.7	86.2
2	Liverpool	38	25.7	8.7	3.6	89.3	36.6	52.7	85.8
3	Manchester City	38	25.2	8.0	4.8	84.7	38.1	46.6	83.6
4	Aston Villa	38	20.5	6.2	11.3	73.7	57.6	16.1	67.8
5	Tottenham	38	19.8	7.0	11.2	76.8	61.2	15.6	66.4
6	Manchester Utd	38	18.2	4.1	15.7	53.7	57.7	-4.0	58.6
7	Chelsea	38	16.1	8.2	13.7	68.3	62.6	5.7	56.5
8	Newcastle	38	16.3	6.1	15.6	78.7	65.9	12.8	55.0
9	Brighton	38	14.3	11.4	12.3	63.5	59.7	3.8	54.4
10	West Ham	38	15.0	9.2	13.8	58.9	67.8	-8.9	54.1
11	Wolverhampton	38	14.9	7.1	16.0	54.6	62.0	-7.4	51.8
12	Bournemouth	38	13.5	10.2	14.3	58.2	66.3	-8.1	50.7
13	Fulham	38	14.2	7.1	16.7	56.8	58.7	-2.0	49.8
14	Brentford	38	10.9	7.2	19.9	56.5	68.3	-11.8	40.0
15	Crystal Palace	38	9.9	10.4	17.8	44.9	64.4	-19.5	40.0
16	Everton	38	12.0	9.2	16.8	44.2	54.0	-9.8	39.1
17	Nottingham Forest	38	9.7	8.7	19.6	46.6	62.5	-15.9	33.8
18	Luton	38	7.3	7.9	22.8	53.4	81.4	-28.0	29.8
19	Burnley	38	6.0	7.4	24.6	39.2	78.1	-38.9	25.3
20	Sheffield Utd	38	5.2	7.1	25.7	34.8	93.6	-58.8	22.7

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Match OPTA Stats: Everything indicates a bore draw

• Nottingham Forest has failed to win any of their last five matches in all competitions.
• In two of Crystal Palace’s three Premier League games under Oliver Glasner they have recorded an xG of over two (2.4 v Burnley and 2.7 v Luton Town), as many times as in their first 25 games of the season (2.1 v Wolves in September and 2.2 v Everton in November).
• Crystal Palace have not won away from home in 2024 in any competition.
• Crystal Palace have conceded more goals in the final five minutes of Premier League games this season than any other side (14), doing so in each of their last two matches against Tottenham and Luton. Indeed, only Hull in 2009-10 (16) and Cardiff in 2013-14 (15) have conceded more such goals in a single season in the competition.
• Two of the last three head-to-heads have finished in a draw.
• Chris Wood is one goal away from scoring 10 in the Premier League this season for Nottingham Forest, netting six goals in his last seven games in the competition. It would be the fifth time he’s reached double figures since 2017-18, becoming the seventh player to do so after Mohamed Salah (7), Son Heung-min (7), Harry Kane (6), Jamie Vardy (5), Raheem Sterling (5) and Sadio Mané (5).

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Nottingham Forest Fixtures: Goodison Park trip a six-pointer

• Vs Fulham (H)
• Vs Spurs (A)
• Vs Wolves (H)
• Vs Everton (A)
• Vs Man City (H)

Crystal Palace Fixtures: Tough run incoming for Eagles

• Vs Bournemouth (A)
• Vs Man City (H)
• Vs Liverpool (A)
• Vs West Ham (H)
• Vs Newcastle (H)

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