Crystal Palace host Nottingham Forest at Selhurst Park on the final day of the 2022-23 Premier League season.
A win would see Palace move up to 11th in the table, while Forest could finish 15th with a win if Bournemouth lose elsewhere.
Team news
Jeffrey Schlupp is unlikely to return to Palace after he missed the draw with Fulham for personal reasons, having previously been sidelined with knock.
Vicente Guaita (knock) is a doubt, but Luka Milivojevic, Nathan Ferguson (both hamstring), James Tomkins (calf) and Wilfried Zaha (hamstring) remain ruled out.
Forest will be without goalkeeper Keylor Navas after he picked up a groin injury against Arsenal last weekend.
Gustavo Scarpa (knee) could return, but Danilo, Felipe (both knocks) and Jesse Lingard (Achilles) are doubts.
Dean Henderson (muscle), Neco Williams (jaw), Scott McKenna (collarbone), Omar Richards (foot), Julian Bianco (knee), Jack Colbeck (concussion), Jonjo Shelvey (knock) and Chris Wood (thigh) continue to be absent .
When is the start?
Palace host Forest in a 4.30pm BST kick-off at Selhurst Park on Sunday 28 May, albeit not broadcast live in the UK.
Stat Attack:
- Crystal Palace have failed to beat Forest in their previous five Premier League matches (2, L3).
- Forest are unbeaten in their previous two visits to Crystal Palace (W1, D1).
- Palace have conceded their only penalty against Forest in their previous five Premier League matches, while Forest are yet to win a modern top flight against Palace.
- Palace are unbeaten in eight of their last nine home matches (W3, D5, L1).
- Forest have scored in five of their last six away games (neither 1 nor 5), apart from a 2-0 defeat at Aston Villa in April 2023.
Prediction
Although the top ten is out of their reach, this fixture is far from a dead rubber, given that they could actually finish as the fifth best team in London, above Chelsea, which seems an unlikely but entirely achievable goal.
However, Roy Hodgson’s side need to avoid the sloppy defending that cost them a possible win at Fulham, where they were otherwise excellent with impressive pace and movement on the counter-attack, but I expect them to get more attacking activity here.
Meanwhile, Forest have been poor away from home all season with just one away win, but there is no doubt they are a solid attacking unit, frustrated defensively, but fair credit to their defense for a resilient display to beat Arsenal last weekend. clean sheet
However, I hope the performance can spark more life into Forest and they can get an away win to give them more positive vibes next season, although the home atmosphere at Selhurst Park will be harder to handle than on previous Premier League visits. :
Anyway, the pressure is off for both teams a lot, but part of me hopes that the idea of finishing above Chelsea will keep Palace on their way to victory, otherwise this could be a close but quiet match of the season.
Prediction: “Crystal Palace” 2-1 “Nottingham Forest”.