Henderson hails 'phenomenal' Palace togetherness

Crystal Palace's culture and togetherness will help them navigate a potentially tricky end to the transfer window, so says Dean Henderson.

Palace face Nottingham Forest on Sunday in their first home game of the 2025-26 Premier League season.

The Eagles come into the clash off the back of a goalless draw with Chelsea, a match overshadowed by a controversial VAR decision, in their league opener, though they did claim a 1-0 win over Fredrikstad in the first leg of their Conference League qualifier.

Star playmaker Eberechi Eze missed Thursday's victory over Fredrikstad, as he closes in on a transfer to Arsenal.

And though Eze's departure will leave Palace with a huge void to fill, goalkeeper Henderson is confident the Eagles can push on this season.

He said: “The reality is we're excited for the journey we're going to go on this season. Obviously, bringing European football to the fans for the first time in all these years is exciting for everyone involved with the club – and we're really looking forward to it.

“We’ve just got to go out and enjoy it. As we spoke about, we've earned the right to be in this competition now, and that's the norm for Crystal Palace's season.

“The culture and the togetherness here are phenomenal and I speak for everyone when I say this. We are so together as a group, and you can see that with what we have achieved over the last 12 to 18 months.

“That will continue and hopefully we can take it into this season, because it’s stronger than anything else, really.”

Sunday's clash with Forest comes with added spice following Palace's contentious demotion to the Conference League.

Palace were removed from the Europa League due to their former co-owner John Textor's involvement in French club Lyon.

Forest subsequently took Palace's place in UEFA's secondary club competition, albeit the Tricky Trees were thrown into chaos on Friday when Nuno Espirito Santo suggested his relationship with owner Evangelos Marinakis was at a low point.

A brace from Chris Wood and a debut goal from Dan N’Doye helped Forest to a 3-1 win over Brentford in their Premier League curtain-raiser last week.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Crystal Palace – Adam Wharton

Wharton has not been short of admirers over the last couple of seasons, and since his inclusion in England’s Euro 2024 squad, his pedigree has skyrocketed.

He impressed in Palace’s opener away at Chelsea, ranking second for chances created (two), and making the most final third passes of any Palace player (10).

Nottingham Forest – Chris Wood

The first of Wood’s double on the opening day was the quickest goal scored by any Forest player in matchday one history.

Wood has been in clinical form since Nuno took charge of Forest on December 23, scoring 30 Premier League goals excluding penalties, matching Erling Haaland for the highest total by any player in the league during that period.

MATCH PREDICTION: CRYSTAL PALACE WIN

Although Palace enter as favourites, they have yet to secure a Premier League victory in 10 attempts against Forest, recording six draws and four losses.

This is the longest winless run Palace have had against any team, and simultaneously, it is the longest unbeaten streak Forest have maintained against a single opponent in the competition.

Forest have been particularly strong on their travels to Selhurst Park, remaining unbeaten in their last eight league games there (three wins, five draws) since a 1-0 defeat in the second tier back in December 2003. Notably, their previous four visits to Palace’s home ground all ended in draws.

Adding to the tension, five of the Eagles' last seven Premier League matches have finished all square (with two wins), and since this run began on April 19, no other Premier League team has recorded more than two draws.

This history of closely contested matches suggests the upcoming encounter is likely to be another tight battle, though our supercomputer is just about backing the hosts to get over the line.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY:

Crystal Palace: 40.2%

Draw: 27.9%

Nottingham Forest: 31.9%