Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace boss Pierre Sage has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game against Nottingham Forest at Selhurst Park (14:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Sage confirmed last season's top scorer Ismaila Sarr is in contention to start on Sunday, having played just eight minutes for the Eagles so far this campaign: "He is now able to start. He had his best session for us this week and I hope we can re-find the player."

• The Palace boss also hinted that a new contract for the winger, who was the subject of interest from Galatasaray and Liverpool during the transfer window, is close: "It's not already signed, it's in discussion, but it's in a good way."

• Sage also confirmed Jean-Phillipe Mateta, Dean Henderson and Takehiro Tomiyasu remain unavailable for the visit of Forest, but "we expect all three of them to come back for Lyon, or Brighton", while Ana Khalaili has recovered from a hamstring injury picked up on international duty and is "ready to play 90 minutes".

• On Mateta, he added: "For Mateta, it was his first training with us, but it's a good step. He was out a long time, but it's a good sign, both for him and also for us. He will not be available for the game this weekend."

• Sage was asked about the guilty verdict, external handed to Manchester City in relation to breaches of the Premier League's financial rules: "First of all, we already played against Manchester City which is why I don't really have interest to look at them in depth. The second thing is, now the facts are here I think it is for a court to make the decision, and quickly."

• On what delays with the sanctions could mean for the rest of the league: "I think that is why the court have to make a quick decision. We will see after this first decision because there is another chance to have an appeal."

• On former Eagles boss Oliver Glasner and defender Daniel Munoz, who both departed Palace over the summer: "Everybody has to remind themselves what happened with this manager. They won three titles here for the first time for the club. I have big respect for him, as I have for Daniel Munoz who also left this summer. When you leave, some people are upset because they like you, but you can like a manager at another club if you remind yourself what they did for you. I hope for a good reception."

• On if there will be an increased atmosphere against Forest: "The two teams are close in the table, close in how they are playing. There is a former manager and player coming back, which is why [the atmosphere] will be more than normal. That's why details are important and the atmosphere is one of those details to deal with in a good way. I hope and expect all the fans will be with us. I know they will be. If they can give us one percent more, it will be better for us."

Listen to full live commentary of Nottingham Forest v Crystal Palace on BBC Radio Sports Extra 2 and BBC Sounds from 14:00 BST on Sunday

Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

Chris Collinson
BBC Sport statistician

Just five games in, it might seem a bit early to pay much attention to the Premier League table - but it's probably more settled than you think.

If we look at the Premier League after five games last season and where teams ultimately ended up, the final table was already starting to take shape as 13 of the 20 sides finished within four places of where they sat even at this early stage (65%).

Eventual champions Arsenal were second, Sunderland were already seventh - where they finished eight months later - and two of the three sides that were relegated were already in the bottom three.

The eventual champions have been in the top two at this point in the past four campaigns, suggesting - potential punishments aside - it will be Manchester City or Arsenal that lifts the trophy.

The top end of the table overall has sometimes settled surprisingly quickly in recent years. The top eight after five games in 2024-25 finished as the top eight at the end of that season (although not in the same order), while the top six in 2019-20 and top seven in 2016-17 were also in place at this early stage.

While being top after five games has not meant much in recent seasons, being bottom certainly has.

Tottenham could well be in trouble once again as the side bottom of the Premier League after five games has been relegated in six of the past seven seasons.

Being bottom this early did not used to be such a bad omen. Between 2013-14 and 2018-19, only one of the six sides that were propping up the table after five games ended up going down - Newcastle in 2015-16 - while Crystal Palace finished as high as 11th in 2017-18.

Looking at the relegation battle more broadly, at least one of the teams in the bottom three at this stage has been relegated in the past eight seasons - so one of Tottenham, Fulham and Coventry City are very likely to be heading to the Championship in May.

The pool of contestants for this season's relegation battle may already be decided too because the three sides that ultimately went down in the past three seasons were all in the bottom six after five games, which would add Bournemouth, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace to the mix.

The last sides to be outside the bottom six at this point but relegated were Leeds United and Southampton in 2022-23, who were both in the top half (seventh and ninth). With their teams currently in eighth and 11th place, Hull City and Ipswich Town fans will hope that is still the case at the end of this campaign.

While the season may well have barely begun, the Premier League table is already starting to take shape.

Read the piece in full here

Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Oliver Glasner should return to Crystal Palace on Sunday as a hero.

With the Eagles he won the FA Cup, Europa Conference League and the Community Shield to etch his name into Selhurst Park history. His final match in charge was that 1-0 win over Rayo Vallecano in Leipzig in May.

Yet his summer move to Nottingham Forest, after opting to leave Palace at the of last season, has left his legacy tarnished in the eyes of Eagles fans.

A new modern-day rivalry means the reception he gets when Forest travel to Selhurst Park on Sunday could be mixed.

Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis is currently suing Palace over a banner which was unfurled by home supporters at Selhurst Park last season.

That animosity grew from when Forest took Palace's spot in the Europa League for 2025-26 due to Palace breaching Uefa's multi-club ownership rules.

Of course, that inadvertently helped Glasner lift the Europa Conference League, following Palace's demotion into that competition.

Because of that success and others - leaving him as the most successful manager in Palace's history - the Austrian deserves to be lauded in south London on Sunday afternoon.

Palace owner Steve Parish has urged fans to give him a "fantastic reception" and ignore the "pantomime narratives".

He is right, Glasner left and moved on to something else, that is the nature of the game. He is not the first and will not be the last.

Of course part of football is tribal rivalry but Glasner deserves to be recognised for what he achieved, not to be painted as the villain after so much success with Palace.

Image source, Getty Images

Is it make or break for Pierre Sage?

Jack Pearce, of the Five Year Plan Podcast, believes Crystal Palace's October fixtures are important for the Eagles manager's future at the club.

Palace have had a slow start to the Premier League campaign, earning just four points from the opening five games.

Following the international break, Sage's side have Europa League ties at Lyon and Besiktas to contend with in the next five games, alongside a trip to rivals Brighton and beginning with Sunday's match against former boss Oliver Glasner's Nottingham Forest.

"He will either end October with his reputation furthered and fans feeling more comfortable with him in charge, or he might end up unemployed," Jack told BBC Radio London.

"It really could be that much of an important time for Sage.

Listen to the full discussion by pressing play below on on BBC Sounds here

Image source, Getty Images

A number of Premier League clubs want Manchester City to be hit with both "retrospective punishments" and sanctions for the future for their mass financial rule-breaking, sources have told BBC Sport.

An independent commission found City guilty of all charges relating to breaches of the Premier League's financial regulations between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons.

City have appealed against the verdict, while the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is poised to look at the findings to see if there may be any suggestions of potential misconduct.

However, there is said to be a consensus among a group of top-flight club executives that if City's appeal is unsuccessful, the sanctions should make reparations for the period when they broke the rules, while also limiting their powers in future.

There is also a feeling from at least four Premier League boardrooms that a "one-hit" points deduction resulting in relegation to the Championship would be an insufficient punishment given the severity of City's wrongdoing.

Read more on what rival clubs want

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

Image source, Getty Images

The Premier League has opened a Pandora's box of problems which cannot be closed. However well-intentioned, however morally upright they mean to be, the way the product is perceived around the planet by fans will be negatively affected.

This looks like a gigantic mess, but could also become a bit of a joke, especially if they attempt to rewrite history, and change the winners' names on the Premier League and cup trophies over these past 15 years. I wouldn't want the engraver's job.

I believe financial rules brought in to prioritise financial sustainability were also aimed at limiting the money being spent by the clubs, especially the staggering, ever-inflating sums spent on sometimes fairly average players. It could lead to a de facto salary cap, which many fans would approve of.

The long-term problem for the league is easy to see here: if the top players are then offered significantly more money to play elsewhere, they will be off before you can say 'man on'.

I always thought the Premier League had taken a huge risk going down this regulatory road. As with Manchester City's future, nobody knows what the real long-term ramifications will be.

I have a suspicion it could end up being the greatest own goal in the sport's entire history.

The big take: If City are cast out of England's top leagues, what might the owners do – hang around the lower reaches, or find something else? Wasn't there the idea of a Super League? Keep that thought in the back of your mind.

Pat Nevin writes weekly in the Football Extra newsletter. If you're outside the UK and would like to receive it, sign up here.

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

Image source, Getty Images

Most of the time it is not that big a deal if you go into the international break having just lost a club game if I am honest, as teams lose games frequently.

That is just the life of a professional footballer. You have to be able to cope with disappointment as an individual and as a team.

‌Admittedly, players will sometimes say that they want another domestic game quickly, but it is almost always specifically after a 'bad' defeat as opposed to just a run-of-the-mill loss.

‌However, if the team has genuinely played terribly, or lost a game they were expected to win comfortably, you will commonly hear the phrase "we want to have a chance to get back out there and put it right quickly".

‌Players who have had a stinker, even if their team won, might also want to get out again as soon as possible to put it right in front of their fans, or 'reset'. The 'reset' argument is just current football jargon to say, "we will try to get it right next time, and we blew it this week, sorry".

‌The international break can also have the beneficial effect of taking your mind away from a bad defeat. This is not to say that you don't care, it is just that you must compartmentalise your thoughts and feelings. Footballers are among the best at this.

‌You simply cannot go to play for your national team and spend the time brooding about what happened against Brentford last week. That way lies madness and another poor performance, only this time in front of the entire nation.

Pat Nevin writes weekly in the Football Extra newsletter. If you're outside the UK and would like to receive it, sign up here.

Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta, 29, is a target for Manchester United as they look to strengthen their attacking options. (TeamTalk), external

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Chelsea are monitoring Crystal Palace's England left-back Tyrick Mitchell, but may face competition from Manchester United and Liverpool. (Caught Offside), external

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Crystal Palace, Liverpool, Nottingham Forest and Brighton are monitoring Lyon's 23-year-old midfielder Tyler Morton. (Teamtalk), external

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Image source, Getty Images

We asked you to rate Crystal Palace's start to the 2026-27 season and to tell us what Pierre Sage should be concentrating on in the extended three-week break.

Here are some of your comments:

Mark: Overall, 7/10. Only to be expected that it would take time for things to gel, given a new manager, players coming back late from the World Cup and new arrivals. I'm very happy with Sage. He needs time but it's good to see an attacking focus and some transparency around his team selection. The defence needs stability but our European success masked the cracks that appeared over the second half of last season.

Bill: I actually fear for Palace. Our cup successes have blinded some of us to our league form, which has been pretty poor. We only won five matches at home last season and we have only won two of our past 12. Trying to fight on four fronts with this squad is insane. Unless we focus on the bread and butter stuff, we could be in big trouble - just ask Leicester City or West Ham.

Martin: I'm feeling increasingly positive after a poor start. The patterns are beginning to emerge and the defence is improving. Sage is a similar profile to Oliver Glasner - and look what happened there! Steve Parish, take note.

Pedro: A really mixed bag of frustration and hope. Sage has had key defenders sold and attackers unsettled, but he is still working away and fashioning a potentially deeper and more exciting squad. A few more bumps in the road to come, but we'll be OK. Maybe we won't get a trophy this season but we stand firm, remaining happy and hopeful. Still south London and proud!

Crystal Palace's Adam Wharton is among Chelsea's primary midfield targets, with the Blues no longer interested in Monaco's Lamine Camara. (CaughtOffside), external

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As we enter the season's first international break, we want to hear your thoughts on the opening five games of the Premier League.

It has been a mixed start to life under Pierre Sage after a summer of change at Crystal Palace. Sage replaced arguably the Eagles' greatest manager in Oliver Glasner and saw some key players leave and others become unsettled.

But the new boss got off to a winning start in their maiden Europa League campaign, and in the Premier League Palace have rallied after losing their first two matches.

A win and a draw in their past three games is more like it - but the Eagles have still conceded the joint-second highest number of goals in the division.

How do you rate Palace's start to the season and why? And what should Sage be focusing on during the extended break?

Get in touch with your views here

Crystal Palace left-back Tyrick Mitchell, 27, is attracting growing interest from Manchester United and Liverpool. (Teamtalk), external

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We asked for your thoughts after Sunday's Premier League game between Leeds United and Crystal Palace.

Here are some of your comments:

Leeds fans

Ian: Leeds battled hard and could have easily lost. Lots of mistakes all over the pitch and nobody really stood out. Substitutes added nothing. Thought there should have been a straight red in the first few minutes when Ampadu was kicked in the head. On another day, we may have had a first-half penalty, but Palace turned up and gave better than we did.

Thomas: Very tight game, with Palace creating more chances, but I think Dominic Calvert-Lewin will be disappointed with missing the fantastic opportunity he had to settle the match. Didn't really create much so a draw was a fair result

Hillsy: Sometimes it's more difficult when you're expected to win against a side lower on quality but possessing great grit, so it's important to be defensively resilient. Leeds will be top half and perhaps challenging for Europe with a little luck.

Richard: Lacklustre at best against a team supposedly tired from European adventures. Never mind - three weeks at least in the top five and most Leeds fans would have given an arm and a leg for that back in August.

Palace fans

James: The Eagles' best league performance to date. Quality starting to show. Important that Sarr gets a start soon to sharpen attack. Defence looking solid. Wharton not quite there yet but not far off.

Hughie: The positivity generated on Thursday carried through. Defensively, we needed that clean sheet and there was a better balance in midfield with more targets for Wharton to pass forward to. A very encouraging performance against a very competitive Leeds side. I'm happy with the point.

Steve: Palace are certainly showing signs of improvement with some delightful one-touch patterns of play. The defence restricted a dangerous Leeds attack to very few opportunities, which was great to see. With more clinical finishing, the much-improved second-half display deserved all three points. The future is definitely looking brighter with every game.

Gary: A greatly improved defensive performance and I'm loving the way we are attacking. We always look dangerous and are creating chances. Two clean sheets is very much a positive and, if we can improve further after the international break, I have high hopes for the rest of the season.

Crystal Palace manager Pierre Sage, speaking to BBC Match of the Day, said: "We made a good game and a good performance. Maybe we deserved better but I remember that our goalkeeper made a big save, that's why in football when you have the opportunities you have to score. It was not the case but I'm really proud of the performance and commitment.

"It was our first clean sheet and we continue to play offensively well which is why we created chances but I'm a bit frustrated today. The most important thing is to create the chances and that was the case.

"We feel better in our team and defended better than we have done and that's the first step, now we have to take more points. We've deserved more than four points after five games."

Did you know?

• Among ever present sides in the Premier League across the calendar year of 2026, only Tottenham (18) have picked up fewer points than Crystal Palace (23).

• Palace's Anan Khalaili has made the most tackles of any player in the Premier League this season (21), while he won possession more times than anyone else in today's match against Leeds (11).

Michael Emons
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

This was a good test for boss Pierre Sage, with the Eagles playing on Thursday in the Europa League and having three days less preparation time than Leeds.

But he would have been pleased with the energy his side showed throughout, despite nine of the players that started on Thursday featuring again from the beginning.

Crystal Palace created the first chance of the match, only for Quinten Timber to fire over from 25 yards, before Adam Wharton and Tyrick Mitchell had their only other chances of note in the first half, with both strikes deflected and easily dealt with.

But Palace's best spell came just after the break, although a failure to convert their chances saw them unable to make the breakthrough.

Palace had conceded a late goal to lose 3-2 to Ipswich Town last weekend and it would have been harsh on them if something similar had happened here. Leeds, whose main threat came from the impressive long throws of Ethan Ampadu, won a deep free-kick in injury time, but Palace dealt with the threat by heading clear to gain a deserved point.

Sage's side are 15th in the table with four points from five games, but this performance will give him great belief that the Eagles can quickly progress up the table after the international break.

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Leeds' performance

What did you make of Crystal Palace's display?

Reaction and analysis to follow - and come back on Monday for a selection of your replies.

There are four games in the Premier League on Sunday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Bournemouth v Liverpool - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Leeds United v Crystal Palace - listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2

• Manchester City v Sunderland - listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

• Fulham v Manchester United (16:30) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

Kick-off times 14:00 BST unless stated.

Follow all of the action and reaction here

How to follow the Premier League weekend across the BBC

You can also listen to today's 5 Live Premier League commentaries on your smart speaker. Just say "Alexa, ask BBC Sounds to play Bournemouth v Liverpool" or "Alexa, ask BBC Sounds to play the Sunderland match", for example.

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Simply follow your favourite football teams on the BBC Sport app for updates throughout the 2026-27 season.

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New this season: Match of the Day Predictor

Simply predict the outcome of the six fixtures we've selected from across domestic and European competitions every week.

Players can join at any time, get involved with the latest round and start building a streak.

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I think I am in love with Leeds boss Daniel Farke. What a guy.

We were talking about him on the Monday Night Club before Leeds walloped Newcastle and only idiots question whether he is the right man to move the club forward now.

To see them beat Newcastle, and how emphatically they did it, was massive and more proof of their progress.

In contrast, Crystal Palace are almost on the precipice after their shaky start under new manager Pierre Sage, and I just don't see the Eagles getting anything here.

Leeds are so well organised at the back with new goalkeeper James Trafford, who is an upgrade on last season, and and a new centre-half I like too in Tarik Muharemovic.

Apart from me, no-one else could say Muharemovic's name on the Monday Night Club, not even the posh Rory Smith, which I quite enjoyed.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin is flying up front as well. He is fit, motivated and a real handful, which is another reason I can't see past a Leeds victory.

Sutton's prediction: 2-0

Read the full predictions and have your say here