After a fierce off-pitch battle for European football dominated the summer for both Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest, on-pitch matters can finally take centre stage on Sunday as the two meet at Selhurst Park. Palace's famous FA Cup final victory over Manchester City in May, the first major trophy in the club's history, was supposed to be followed by a debut Europa League campaign.
After a fierce off-pitch battle for European football dominated the summer for both Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest, on-pitch matters can finally take centre stage on Sunday as the two meet at Selhurst Park.
Palace's famous FA Cup final victory over Manchester City in May, the first major trophy in the club's history, was supposed to be followed by a debut Europa League campaign. However, they were demoted to the Conference League for breaching multi-club ownership rules, opening the door for Forest to replace them in the competition.
That means Oliver Glasner's side have the added complication of a two-leg play-off against Norwegian side Fredrikstad to contend with. They won the home leg 1-0 on Thursday, thanks to Jean-Philippe Mateta's first European goal.
Glasner voiced his concerns over the club's transfer business after the game, suggesting that he might need to fill in if Liverpool target Marc Guehi departs before next week's second leg: "If Marc leaves, I will try my boots because I was a centre-back, and this could be a good option."
The Austrian coach also all but confirmed Eberechi Eze's departure from the club, adding: "Ebs will not play for us any more so it does not make sense to talk about him. It's gone."
Forest, in contrast, held on to their star man earlier this summer when Morgan Gibbs-White penned a new deal with the club despite strong interest from Tottenham Hotspur.
The England international underlined his importance to Nuno Espirito Santo's side last weekend with a standout performance in their 3-1 home victory over Brentford. He registered his 27th Premier League assist for Forest, equalling the club record set by Ian Woan in the 1990s.
The Reds may hand debuts to new signings Omari Hutchinson, Arnaud Kalimuendo, Douglas Luiz and James McAtee, although none of the forward players are likely to dislodge Chris Wood from the starting line-up.
The New Zealand striker, who found the net with his first shot of a league campaign for a third year in a row last weekend, has now scored 30 non-penalty goals since Nuno's first game in December 2023, equalling Erling Haaland over the same time period, with no other player scoring more.
However, there is a cloud over the fixture for Forest after the developments on Friday, with Nuno's future as manager uncertain after a breakdown in his relationship with owner Evangelos Marinakis.
At his pre-match news conference, NUno said "where there's smoke, there's fire" amid rumours about his job.
The internal tensions are believed to centre around disagreements over the Reds' transfer business, with Edu having taken control of recruitment following his appointment as the club's global head of football earlier this summer.
Category: General Sports
