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Nottingham Post
Nottingham Post
Sport
Matt Smith

Chris Sutton and Paul Merson disagree over Nottingham Forest ahead of Crystal Palace clash

Chris Sutton and Paul Merson have disagreed over the outcome of Nottingham Forest's fixture against Crystal Palace at the City Ground.

Having initially struggled to adapt to life in the Premier League, Steve Cooper's side have shown clear signs of improvement.

First Forest goals for Jesse Lingard and Renan Lodi sealed an impressive Carabao Cup win over Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday, whilst unfortunate refereeing decisions, arguably, robbed the Reds of three points against Brentford last weekend.

READ MORE: Every word Cooper said on Forest 'challenge', Crystal Palace and team news

READ MORE: Forest boss provides team news update ahead of crunch Palace clash

Despite currently sitting bottom of the table ahead of the World Cup break, a win for Forest could move them level on points with 17th-placed Bournemouth.

However, beating Patrick Vieira's side is far from a straightforward task. Palace have enjoyed another admirable Premier League campaign to date and currently find themselves in the top half of the table.

Michael Olise's stoppage-time winner secured an impressive away win against West Ham United at the London Stadium last time out.

And Sutton, who was competing in his weekly BBC Sport prediction column against TV stars Jessica McHale and Olivia Chomczuk, has tipped the Eagles to win on the road again.

He predicted: "No one wants to be bottom of the table going into the World Cup, so this is a massive game for Nottingham Forest, especially as they are at home.

"Forest were good in the first half against Brentford last week but fell away after the break so it is going to be a nervy City Ground crowd this time.

"Still, they will probably take heart from seeing Forest get a last-minute equaliser against the Bees, and then beating Tottenham in the Carabao Cup in midweek.

"Having said all that, Crystal Palace are playing really well right now and are so dangerous in attack. They have got a lot of match-winners in their side, while I am not sure Forest create enough."

Prediction: Nottingham Forest 1-2 Crystal Palace

Although, former Arsenal star Merson believes the continued improvement that Cooper has overseen in recent weeks will translate into a respectable draw. "Nottingham Forest have also changed the way they play," he told Sportskeeda.

"They now have three workhorses in midfield and they let the front three get on with it. Both teams have improved over the past month and could play out a draw this week.

"Crystal Palace have changed it up away from home. They had too many ball-players in their line-up, and now they're playing two holding midfielders away from home. Palace won their first away game of the Premier League season against West Ham last week."

Prediction: Nottingham Forest 2-2 Crystal Palace

Do you agree with Chris Sutton or Paul Merson? Have your say in the comments below

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