CRYSTAL PALACE and Nottingham Forest can both be hugely encouraged at the start to their seasons and they meet in a Saturday night showdown in the capital.
Palace are in the top half of the table with Roy Hodgson proving age is just a number at 76 years old. He guided his team to a win at Old Trafford last week when they won at crisis club Manchester United.
That added to a win against Wolves and an away success at Sheffield United in the opening game of the season and they have lost to Arsenal and Aston Villa. In short, they look nailed on for a mid-table position and are unlikely to face a relegation battle.
For Forest, they are three points behind, but would have taken plenty from their 1-1 home draw with Brentford last week where they went a goal and a man down after Moussa Niakhate was sent off and still got a point.
The highlight of their season so far was a 1-0 win at Chelsea and they also came close to getting something at Old Trafford when they netted twice in the first four minutes and eventually lost 3-2.
How the bookies view it
Crystal Palace are favourites here due to both home advantage and being higher up in the table. You can get 6/5 on a home win at bet365 and Paddy Power and Coral.
Nottingham Forest can be backed at 5/2 with William Hill and the draw is 23/10 with bet365.
Recent head to heads
It ended in a 1-1 draw in London last season while Forest won the corresponding fixture at the City Ground 1-0.
Interestingly, Forest have proved something of a jinx for Palace over the years. They have failed to beat them on their last six occasions at Selhurst Park.
Players to watch
Jordan Ayew is in need of a goal this season. His only strike has been for Ghana rather than Palace this term. He is 23/5 to score anytime with UniBet.
Taiwo Awoniyi started the season on fire with three goals in his first three games of the season, but has since gone five games without a goal. The Nigerian hitman is 12/5 with bet365 to score anytime.
Anything else catch the eye?
It's been a draw in three of the last four meetings between the clubs and that could be the case on Saturday night too.
Forest have drawn two of their last three league games and would happily take a point in Croydon too.
The visitors have gone under 2.5 goals in all of their last five games and Palace in their last two games too.
It should be another tight one and here and it could be a slow burner. Go for under another 2.5 goals at 4/6 with Betfred.
This English Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest will be played on Oct 7, 2023 and kick off at 17:30. Check below for our tipsters best Crystal Palace vs Nottingham Forest prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
