Oliver Glasner comes back to Selhurst Park with Nottingham Forest, and the fixture is live with more than just the reunion angle. Crystal Palace go into Sunday’s 2pm BST kick-off on four points from five games, 15th in the Premier League, while Forest are 13th on five points. The gap is only one point, which fits the flat, uneasy start both clubs have made.

Palace's league position and home pressure

Palace’s opening five league games have brought one win, one draw and three defeats. That kind of start puts a bit of weight on the home side before a break, especially with this game coming against the manager who oversaw their most successful period in history.

Forest have not exactly turned into an away force either. They sit just above Palace in 13th, and their five points give them only a narrow edge on paper. The meeting at Selhurst Park is the sort of early-season fixture that can change the tone of a month, even if neither side has really settled yet.

Axel Disasi is among the names around the game, with team news carrying the usual pre-match uncertainty. The bigger point is that Palace do not have much room to carry on drifting before the international break.

The head-to-head that still favours Forest

Palace have played Forest 12 times in the Premier League and have not beaten them once. Eight of those meetings have finished level, and the recent pattern has been even tighter, with the last eight clashes producing only 1-0, 0-0 or 1-1 scorelines.

Five of the last seven have ended 1-1, which is why another draw sits close to the most natural reading of the fixture. That does not mean Sunday will follow the script exactly, but it does explain why Forest arrive with a historical edge that Palace have yet to break.

Sunday’s Crystal Palace vs Nottingham Forest is still about the present as much as the past. Palace need a cleaner result to calm the early table pressure, while Forest can leave Selhurst Park with a small but useful cushion before the pause.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 2 outlets. How we work →