Tuesday's Premier League Predictions: Crystal Palace set for home win

Greg Lea

17 October 2022

The Premier League returns with a set of midweek fixtures, two of which are being played on Tuesday night. Greg Lea provides his thoughts and predictions for both games.

Brighton v Nottingham Forest

Kick-off: 7.30pm Tuesday

Roberto De Zerbi is still awaiting his first win as Brighton boss after his team lost 2-0 against Brentford on Friday night. The Seagulls have now taken just one point from the last nine available, although early meetings with Liverpool and Spurs were never going to be easy assignments for a new manager.

De Zerbi will be keen to get off the mark as soon as possible and the visit of Nottingham Forest offers him an excellent chance to do exactly that. Steve Cooper’s side is yet to get going this term and, although the Welshman was handed a new contract earlier this month, he could come under pressure unless results pick up soon.

A 1-0 loss to Wolves on Saturday was Forest’s seventh defeat of the season and meant they returned to the foot of the table after Leicester picked up a point against Crystal Palace. The two sides are level on five points each, but Forest’s goal difference of -16 is by far the worst in the division.

Forest fans have not had much to cheer so far this season and I do not expect that to change on Tuesday. Brighton will look to make a fast start in front of their own fans, and this is likely to be the match in which their attack sparkles again after blanks against Spurs and Brentford. Leandro Trossard looks like a particularly attractive choice to find the back of the net anytime.

Predictions: Brighton to score in both halves @ 2.2, Leandro Trossard to score anytime @ 2.54

Crystal Palace v Wolves

Kick-off: 8.15pm Tuesday

Crystal Palace played out a goalless bore draw against Leicester in the early kick-off on Saturday. Palace were solid defensively and kept the in-form James Maddison quiet, but Patrick Vieira will have been disappointed with how insipid his team were in attack against the division’s leakiest backline so far this season - Palace mustered just a solitary shot on target.

Wolves are not exactly the freest scorers in the Premier League either, so this is a match which may well be branded 'an intriguing tactical battle' by the commentators. Wolves did at least manage to find the back of the net against Nottingham Forest last time as Ruben Neves’ penalty earned them a much-needed 1-0 win.

Steve Davis will remain in charge for the trip to Selhurst Park, and the fact Wolves have only scored three open-play goals this term will be cause for concern for the interim boss. Remarkably, they have not notched a goal away from home since the sixth minute of their defeat by Leeds United on the opening weekend.

Palace, on the other hand, have found the net in each of their home games since they lost to Arsenal in the campaign’s curtain raiser. Vieira is still searching for the right combination in attack – Michael Olise will hope to return to the starting XI for this one – although his team have tended to grow stronger as matches wear on. It may therefore take Palace a while to get going on Tuesday.

For that reason, draw at halftime and a home win at full-time is tempting at 5.2. However, if you want to play it safe, Palace without conceding is at a good price too.

Predictions: Crystal Palace to win to nil @ 2.62, Draw/Crystal Palace half-time/full-time @ 5.2