One of the biggest stories of the summer was Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace battling it out in the courts to decide who would play Europa League football and who would fall into the Conference League.
Forest ultimately won and will now play in the Europa League, but the court drama could add some fire to this fixture. While Chris Wood says the players aren’t bothered about it, fans certainly will keep it in mind.
Additionally, despite the court proceedings, Palace confirmed Evangelos Marinakis will be welcome at Selhurst Park.
The two sides are now set to play against each other in the second gameweek of the season, and it will be interesting to see how it plays out.
And Gary Lineker has now dropped his verdict, and he says that Nottingham Forest will lose due to one thing Crystal Palace has.
Gary Lineker working as a pundit for BBC
Photo by Michael Regan – The FA/The FA via Getty Images
Gary Lineker says Crystal Palace’s momentum will help them beat Nottingham Forest
Ahead of this week’s games, Gary Lineker sat down with the Premier League to go through each of this week’s fixtures.
The former England striker had a go at predicting how each game would play out, and when it came to Forest, it wasn’t what fans would hope to hear.
The footballer-turned-pundit says that Nottingham Forest will lose 2-1 to Crystal Palace because of the “momentum” that the Eagles have.
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Oliver Glasner has had a decent start to the season, winning the Community Shield before the Premier League kicked off.
It was a great performance and an even better result for the London club, which was then followed by a good defensive display against Chelsea in a 0-0 draw.
However, Palace are set to lose Eberechi Eze, so their squad will be noticeably weaker when they face the Garibaldi.
Whereas, Nottingham Forest have added more quality, with Douglas Luiz, who has a skill that could transform Forest.
Nottingham Forest vs Crystal Palace head-to-head record
Gary Lineker’s prediction would mean that Crystal Palace would finally buck a trend.
Since Nottingham Forest’s promotion to the Premier League in 2022, the Eagles have failed to beat them on six separate occasions.
In fact, the last time they recorded a win against the Tricky Trees was a 1-0 win back in December 2011 in the Championship.
It is important for Nottingham Forest to continue where they started this season, and the previous matches certainly look good for their chances.
However, Crystal Palace are a good side, so Nuno’s squad will need to be at their very best at Selhurst Park.