Crystal Palace welcome Nottingham Forest to Selhurst Park on Sunday, a game that will mark the return of Oliver Glasner to South London, where he enjoyed an incredibly successful spell. 

The tension between the two clubs from last summer has seemingly fizzled out, but an underlying sense of bite still exists, and both sets of fans will be keen to see their sides win, which may be difficult considering the history that this fixture holds. 

Ahead of the game, here’s everything you need to know about the fixture, and the expected teams for the match. 

On Sunday, you can find a live blog covering the entire matchday on the homepage of the Crystal Palace RoundTable. 

Forest are somewhat of a bogey team for Palace, and that might come as a surprise to many fans. Palace’s last win against Forest came all the way back in 2011, in a Championship fixture between the two sides at the City Ground. 

Before that, Palace’s last win was in 2008, another away win, this time by two goals to nil. 

Since that win, Forest have won three of the eleven games, the other eight ending level, which is a common result in this fixture’s complete history. 

After Forest’s promotion to the top flight in the 2022/23 season, the sides have met eight times, with six draws and Forest winning twice. 

The two sides have met 63 times, Palace winning just 15. 23 meetings have ended level, with Forest coming out on top on 25 occasions. 

This suggests that a draw is the most likely outcome, and given how both sides have started the season, it does have the feeling of a game where both sides will find it difficult to find a breakthrough. 

Goals are also limited in this fixture, and in the last seven meetings, the score has ended 1-1 on five occasions, with one 0-0 draw too. 

Forest are currently two places above the Eagles in 13th, with two losses, two draws and one win. In those games, Glasner’s side have scored just four goals, conceding five. Palace have managed to score six, but conceded eleven goals in their opening five games in the league. 

Based on this, a tight game can be expected, with both sides likely to miss chances.

Both sides have had relatively poor starts to the season, with each losing to a newly promoted side, Palace to Ipswich and Forest at home to Coventry. 

Palace fans will be more than familiar with the typical start of a season under Glasner, having previously struggled with long runs without victory too. 

A win for each side could take them into the top ten, depending on results elsewhere, but for Forest, the focus can fully be on this game, with no European football on offer for the club this season after losing in the Europa League to Aston Villa. 

Palace have a demanding schedule upcoming, with two big away games in the Europa League, which sandwich a trip to the AMEX to face rivals Brighton. 

Whilst the priority will be to win at Selhurst Park on Sunday, there will understandably be one eye on the midweek clash in France with Lyon. 

In his press conference ahead of the game, Pierre Sage confirmed that Jean-Philippe Mateta, Dean Henderson and Takehiro Tomiyasu would all miss this weekend’s fixture, with the medical department targeting a return next week for those players.

One big talking point was Ismaïla Sarr, and the fact that the club’s top scorer from last season is fit to start. Palace fans will be hoping that he can rediscover the form that made him so important to the side over the last two seasons. 

There is also going to be further reshuffling of the back three. Axel Disasi remains out after his red card against Ipswich, and with Tomiyasu out due to injury, there is sure to be a shake up in the back line. 

Jaydee Canvot featured heavily for the French under-21 side, and Honest Ahanor played in a big 6-2 win for Italy’s under-21 side over the break too. Jefferson Lerma played the second half in central defence at Leeds, and put in a really strong performance, so that could be an option for Sage. 

Predicted lineup: W.Benítez; A.Khalaili, J.Canvot, C.Richards, J.Lerma, T.Mitchell; A.Wharton, Q.Timber; I.Sarr, Y.Pino, J. Strand Larsen. 

For Forest, they are without Igor Jesus who misses out through injury, but their lineup will likely be something similar to: M.Sels, J.Cunha, O.Diomande, Murillo; D.Muñoz, N.Williams, J.McAtee, I.Sangaré, D.Ndoye, L.Delap, M.Gibbs-White.