Paul Merson suggests two reasons why Nottingham Forest will beat Crystal Palace 2-0 on Sunday

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Nottingham Forest travel to Crystal Palace on Sunday, and tensions will surely be high.

Crystal Palace fans booed the mere mention of Nottingham Forest on the tannoy after the UEFA Conference League win over Fredrikstad on Thursday, a competition the Eagles are only in because the Reds took their UEFA Europa League spot.

Evangelos Marinakis was allegedly the driving force behind that decision after sending a letter of complaint to UEFA over multi-club ownership issues between Crystal Palace and Lyon.

Paul Merson has now shared what he thinks will happen in this presumably feisty Premier League clash, making a good point about Eberechi Eze.

Paul Merson thinks European hangover and losing Eberechi Eze will see Crystal Palace suffer defeat to Nottingham Forest

The 57-year-old believes Crystal Palace will struggle to open Nottingham Forest up without Eze, who is on the verge of joining Arsenal in a £68m move.

Also, just three days of rest for a thin Crystal Palace squad before this game is a factor highlighted by the Arsenal legend.

Merson told Sportskeeda: “Nottingham Forest shocked me last weekend. I know it was only Brentford, but what a brilliant performance. Chris Wood has picked up from where he left off last season and that’s a sign of real promise for Nuno Espirito Santo.

“Crystal Palace will be in action during their Europa Conference League playoff game (Thursday) and Eze is expected to complete his Arsenal medical on Friday. Palace are solid in defence and tidy in midfield, but Eze is the guy who makes things happen for them. I don’t think they can break Forest down without him on Sunday. Forest to make it two wins out of two. Prediction: Crystal Palace 0-2 Nottingham Forest.”

Oliver Glasner sounds like he agrees with Paul Merson as desperation creeps in

Despite winning the FA Cup and the Community Shield, Glasner has not received much backing from Steve Parish this summer.

Crystal Palace are the lowest spenders across the top five leagues in Europe, parting with just £2m this summer which went on Borna Sosa – Walter Benitez on a free transfer is the only other addition made.

Glasner – who RB Leipzig like – made his frustration known after the win over Fredrikstad as Crystal Palace looked toothless without Eze, sternly telling reporters: “It’s not surprising for anyone that Ebs left, honestly it’s not surprising.

“We knew that the chances were very high that this will happen and honestly, again I say it like it is, we missed (the chance) to replace him early enough, that’s completely our fault and nobody else’s fault.”

Glasner had already been vocal about the need for signings at the end of July, saying: “Even though all the players are still here, we haven’t made the most of the transfer window so far. I was promised that we would be more active and bring in the new players earlier this year.

“As of now, I have 17 outfield players! I hope we don’t lose any more. If that happens and we get four new ones on deadline day like last year, another false start is possible.”

Not a single incoming has arrived since these comments were made, and Eze has now departed, so Parish has work to do to keep Glasner happy with just over a week remaining of the transfer window.