Back this 8/1 Nottingham Forest vs Crystal Palace bet-builder on Monday

Nottingham Forest have hit the ground running so far this season, while Crystal Palace are still searching for their first win of the campaign.

Odds Now's Brad Walker has put up his final bet-builder of the weekend ahead of kick-off at the City Ground on Monday.

Remarkably, if you'd have shown me the respective form of both of these sides at the start of the season and asked me to pick whose was which, I'd probably have got them the wrong way around.

Forest have spent the last two seasons battling at the foot of the Premier League table and, if I'm honest, I thought they'd find themselves in a similar situation this time around.

Don't get me wrong, they still could, but you can't help but admire the return Nuno Espirito Santo's men have put in so far this campaign.

Meanwhile, how can you not have sympathy for Oliver Glasner and Crystal Palace?

Much has been made of the high-profile departures in the summer and, while we can't keep harping on about the holes left by the likes of Michael Olise and Joachim Anderson, their absence has clearly impacted the Eagles.

Can they pickup their first victory in this one? I'm not so sure, but that's enough spoilers for my selections.

Let's get into it!

Brad Walker's Nottingham Forest vs Crystal Palace bet-builder selections

Selection #1 - Draw (23/10)

Palace head into Monday in dire need of points and, ideally, a win.

They are one of the four teams in the English top-flight who are yet to record a victory after seven matches played.

And while I'd love to give Eagles fans reason for optimism ahead of kick-off, their recent record against their East Midlands counterparts isn't exactly convincing.

Palace haven't won any of their four matches against Forest since the latter secured promotion back to the Premier League in 2022, though three of those games did end in a draw.

Two of Forest's three home fixtures this season have also ended in a stalemate, making a draw the sensible pick for this one in my eyes.

Not the worst result for the hosts, but dragging out the London club's ever-lasting search for a win by another week.

Selection #2 - Under 2.5 goals (8/11)

For all of Forest's success so far, goals haven't exactly been flowing in their league outings so far.

Six of their seven matches have seen less than two goals scored in total - the only blemish being their hectic 2-2 draw at Brighton last month.

Similar patterns have emerged in recent showings by Oliver Glasner's Palace side.

Not only have the Eagles scored more than once on just one occasion so far this term, but four of their seven games have also seen two goals or less bagged.

Combined with the 1-1 and 0-0 draws from when these two met last season, backing another low-scoring encounter looks a safe bet in my eyes for this one.

Forest's recent 2-2 draw with Brighton is the only time one of their last five outings have seen more than two goals netted. (Photo credit: Alamy Images)

Selection #3 - Over 9.5+ corners (13/20)

Goals haven't been a theme of these two sides' campaigns so far, but the same can't be said of the corners line.

All but one of Forest's last five league matches have seen a total of 10 or more corners - the exception being their 1-0 win at Anfield in September, which saw each side combine for nine.

Palace have also seen their fair share of set-pieces.

Each of their last three league games have seen the corner tally reach double figures before the 90 minutes are up.