Two sides still harbouring ambitions of Europe for 2025-26 collide in Monday's Premier League offering, when FA Cup finalists Crystal Palace host top-five outsiders Nottingham Forest at Selhurst Park.
The Eagles are playing their first top-flight game since booking a Wembley date with Manchester City, while the Tricky Trees have wrongs to right after a dampening defeat to Brentford in midweek.
Match preview
© Imago
Ten years after being played off the park by Arsenal in the FA Cup final, Aston Villa were played off the park by Oliver Glasner's prolific Crystal Palace in the semi-final, as the Eagles deservedly soared into another showpiece match under the famous arch courtesy of a 3-0 triumph.
Eberechi Eze's stunner and an Ismaila Sarr double sent the Palace faithful into pandemonium last weekend, and with little on the line for their side as far as the Premier League is concerned, Eagles fans have every right to let FA Cup final thoughts come to the forefront of their mind.
Taking down the Lions in such ruthless circumstances actually snapped a disheartening four-game winless run for Monday's hosts, who have taken just two points from their last 12 on offer in the Premier League to slip down into the bottom half of the standings.
However, the only home contest in that sequence for Glasner's side was their respectable goalless draw against Bournemouth with 10 men, a result that extended their unbeaten run at Selhurst Park to five matches in all competitions and saw them record their second clean sheet from three on their own patch.
That mean defensive streak was in stark contrast to Palace's overall rearguard efforts in April, as the hosts shipped a staggering 14 Premier League goals last month alone, equalling an unwanted club record in the process; they also conceded that exact number in December 2020.
© Imago
Palace should not take any defensive pointers from Monday's opponents, though, as a Forest side who formerly prided themselves on defensive fortitude have since lost their way at the back, and in turn lost their grip on a coveted Champions League place.
Nuno Espirito Santo's crop firstly failed to repeat the Eagles' FA Cup semi-final trick against Manchester City, and an identical loss followed in midweek, as Kevin Schade and Yoane Wissa struck for a clinical Brentford side at a deflated City Ground.
Now reeling from their fourth defeat in five games across all tournaments, the Garibaldi's Champions League hopes are out of their own hands thanks to Chelsea's superior goal difference, although any form of European competition in 2025-26 would represent significant over-achievement for Santo's charges.
Nine wins on the road in the 2024-25 Premier League season remains the second-best of its kind behind champions Liverpool (11), but in keeping with their recent drop-off, Forest have been beaten in four of their last six top-flight matches on rival territory, shipping 16 goals in the process.
However, the Tricky Trees have been a perpetual bogey team of Crystal Palace's, as Monday's visitors have incredibly gone unbeaten in all of their previous nine Premier League head-to-heads. Unsurprisingly, Forest have never faced another side in the competition without ever losing, and Palace have never met another team more times without ever coming up trumps.
Team News
© Imago
The only slight dampener on Palace's semi-final afternoon last weekend was Tyrick Mitchell coming off with a knock in the dying embers, but the Eagles' first-choice left-back did not sustain anything serious and is fine to line up on Monday.
As a result, knee victims Chadi Riad and Cheick Doucoure are Glasner's only two fitness concerns once again, while on-loan goalkeeper Matt Turner cannot play his parent club but would never have displaced Dean Henderson anyway.
With five full days to rest in between Monday's match and a trip to Tottenham Hotspur on May 11, Glasner has no reason not to go full-strength, and star man Eze needs just one more strike to hit 10 goals and 10 assists for the season across all competitions.
On Nottingham Forest's end, injury was added to insult on Thursday night when Callum Hudson-Odoi came off with a suspected hamstring problem, one that will almost certainly rule him out of the trip to the capital.
Santo is not short of options to step in for the former Chelsea man, though; Nicolas Dominguez was given the nod for the second half of the loss to Brentford, but Ramon Sosa and Jota Silva are alternatives in the final third.
Eric da Silva Moreira (ankle) is the only other fitness concern for Forest, whose attacking talisman Chris Wood could become the first Tricky Trees player to score 10 Premier League goals away from home in a single season.
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Henderson; Richards, Lacroix, Guehi; Munoz, Wharton, Kamada, Mitchell; Eze, Sarr; Mateta
Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Sels; Williams, Milenkovic, Murillo, Toffolo; Sangare, Anderson; Elanga, Gibbs-White, Dominguez; Wood
Match odds from our partners 10bet
Correct at time of writing, check before placing any bet
Welcome offer: Up to £50 in bonus
Get a bonus up to £50 at 10bet
New bettors; Code SPORT; Wager deposit & bonus 8x; Max qualifying bet stake=initial bonus; Valid 60 days; Min odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply; T&C apply; 18+
We say: Crystal Palace 3-1 Nottingham Forest
With Forest's backline increasingly permeable, Santo hinting at changes in his pre-game press conference and the visitors only working with a few days' rest, the Garibaldi's plight will surely continue on Monday.
The manner of Palace's annihilation of Villa was nothing short of magnificent, and even though the magnitude of the occasion on Monday may not be so great, the FA Cup finalists should carry that momentum forward and finally beat Forest in a Premier League match at the 10th time of asking.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ben Knapton
