Key events
17 min: Two huge chances for Chris Wood! The striker is first denied from a corner at the back post by a last-ditch goalline clearance, and hacked clear by Munoz. The ball is recycled, Anderson picking the ball up in plenty of space, and he delivers a Beckham-esque deep cross on a dime for Wood, who heads wide. Oooooh, you’d expect him to put that away, but the New Zealander mistimed his diving header.
15 min: Anderson with some quick feet that would make Di Maria blush! The former Newcastle man twice dances through Palace tackles, the latter expertly past Munoz and Hughes, before forcing Henderson into a save. Wow, genuinely haven’t seen dribbling like that in a while.
13 min: Of course, just as I say that, Hudson-Odoi breaks a tackle, gets to the byline but his cut back to Yates was just behind the midfielder, and the move fizzles out. Hudson-Odoi may have been offside, but that was better from Forest.
12 min: First real spell of possession for Forest, who haven’t created anything of note.
9min: Kamada is the next to try his luck from range, but the Japanese loses his balance as he strikes it, and it’s a tame effort. Yates and Dominguez, the two sitting Forest midfielders are struggling to get to grips with Palace’s two attacking creators, Eze and Kamada.
6 min: An early booking for Lerma, who dragged back Elanga. That is a frustrating yellow card for the combative Palace midfielder, who will now have to watch his step.
5 min: Close from Eze! The England international cuts in from the right flank and drives straight at goal. Milenkovic retreats all the way to his 18-yard box without putting a glove on the Palace man, who shifts the ball and shoots just wide of the top corner! Oooooo, that was close. Sels was rooted to the spot and must have breathed a sigh of relief to see it fly just past the upright.
2 min: Aina at right back is a tidy little player for Forest. He’s lightning quick, too, and has to deal with the dual threat of Kamada as a floating playmaker just inside him and Mitchell, who will be looking to push up from left wing-back.
Peeeeeeep! And we’re off. Forest in their famous red and white, Palace in an all-yellow number.
The teams are out! Interesting to see what sort of reception Dean Henderson gets tonight in goal. He had a loan spell at Forest a couple of seasons ago.
Forest look like they are lining up in a 4-2-3-1. It will be interesting to see who fills in for Gibbs-White in the No 10 role. Both Anderson (acting as a sort of all-action Scott McTominay-style playmaker) and Dominguez are capable of playing there.
Nuno speaks:
We are missing some players but the squad is ready to go. Palace are a tough team. I don’t see any positives in being up in the stands [for this game]. I’ll be communicating with my staff.
Interesting to see Nketiah start ahead of Mateta, who was on fire for Palace at the back end of last season and one of the players of the tournament at the Olympics for France in the summer, but already looks fatigued … and it’s October. Nketiah has often (and perhaps a little surprisingly) been deployed as a wide forward but gets his chance in the centre tonight.
Forest have a physically strong duo in Milenkovic and Murillo, who would have been expecting a battle with Mateta. Nketiah will hope to drop deep, drag Milenkovic and Murillo out of position, and then find some space in the box to finish instinctively.
The teams!
Nottingham Forest: Sels, Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Alex Moreno, Yates, Dominguez, Elanga, Anderson, Hudson-Odoi, Wood.
Subs: Boly, Sosa, Jota Silva, Toffolo, Omobamidele, Awoniyi, Williams, Morato, Carlos Miguel.
Crystal Palace: Henderson, Lacroix, Guehi, Chalobah, Munoz, Hughes, Lerma, Mitchell, Kamada, Eze, Nketiah.
Subs: Matthews, Ward, Sarr, Mateta, Schlupp, Clyne, Wharton, Kporha, Agbinone.
Preamble
We are seven games into the season and still nobody is any of the wiser as to what these teams are, or where they will finish. Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace could feasibly both finish in the top half come May 2025, or could easily be relegated and most people would just shrug and think ‘yep, makes sense’.
Palace finished last season like a train under Oliver Glasner, with Michael Olise, Eberechi Eze, Adam Wharton all starring under the Austrian manager. But this time around, Olise is departed, Eze is woefully out of form and Wharton, struggling with a groin injury picked up over the summer at the Euros, has yet to find the form or fitness that saw him included on the latest ‘Golden Boy’ list. New signings Maxence Lacroix and Eddie Nketiah are talented but have so far failed to fill the voids left by Joachim Andersen and (whisper it) Jordan Ayew. But the truth is that Glasner, along with the rest of us, are still trying to figure out what is going wrong.
Forest are another conundrum. Very mediocre home form and excellent away form (four matches that include a win at Anfield and Southampton and draws at Chelsea and Brighton) mean Nuno Espírito Santo’s side could spring into eighth with a victory tonight.
Any win will be without their talisman, Morgan Gibbs-White (who is suspended for his red card against Brighton), manager Nuno (who is serving the first of a three-match suspension for his reaction to that red card) and a stadium ban for owner Evangelos Marinakis (who was found guilty of improper conduct following Forest’s defeat against Fulham in September).
That said, the City Ground under the lights always fun, especially with Big Chris Wood leading the line. Vibes are high in the east Midlands. Do join me for the 8pm BST kick-off. I have absolutely no idea what is going to happen.
