Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace both continued their pre-season preparations on Friday.

Forest split their squad across two friendlies against Portimonense and Sporting CP, while Palace rounded off their Como Cup campaign with a convincing victory over Al-Ula.

Below, we pick out the key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points.

READ MORE: FPL 2026/27 Pre-season Minutes, Goals + Assists Tracker

We’ll begin with the behind-closed-doors clash against Portimonense, before turning our attention to the meeting with Sporting.

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 2-1 PORTIMONENSE

• Goals: Awoniyi, Schlager
• Assist: Hutchinson

SCOUT NOTES

• There was very little public information available from Forest’s behind-closed-doors friendly with Portimonense. As a result, we have relied on the club’s official match report, along with unconfirmed reports surrounding the line-up.
• Those reports suggested the likes of Ryan Yates (£4.5m), Ibrahim Sangaré (£5.0m), Murillo (£5.5m) and Callum Hudson-Odoi (£6.0m) all featured.
• Forest opened the day with a 2-1 victory, courtesy of goals from Taiwo Awoniyi (£5.5m) and Xaver Schlager (£5.0m).
• The Reds created the better chances before the break. Sangaré struck the crossbar after Awoniyi’s clever hold-up play, before Omari Hutchinson (£5.5m) drove into the box and picked out Awoniyi, whose first-time effort cannoned back off the post.
• Forest eventually made their pressure count just before half-time. Luca Netz (£4.5m) delivered into the area before Hutchinson won a penalty, allowing Awoniyi to calmly convert from the spot.
• Forest responded well after the equaliser and regained the lead through Schlager. The Austrian midfielder collected the ball outside the box, beat his marker and rifled an excellent strike into the net.
• The club revealed little else about the contest, with no detailed team news or tactical information released after the final whistle. Focus then shifted to Friday’s second friendly against Sporting CP, where a different group of players featured.

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1-4 SPORTING

• Goal: Jesus
• Assist: Wood

Nottingham Forest XI: Sels, Abbott, Milenkovic, Cunha, Williams, Domínguez, McAtee, Aina, Gibbs-White, Jesus, Wood

SCOUT NOTES

• Nottingham Forest rounded off their training camp in Portugal with a 4-1 defeat to Sporting CP. While the result disappointed, Oliver Glasner’s side still offered several encouraging signs from an FPL perspective.
• One of those came from Igor Jesus (£6.0m), who continued his superb pre-season form by scoring for the fourth consecutive match. The Brazilian reacted quickest after Chris Wood’s (£6.0m) initial effort was saved. Having also scored against Notts County, Blackburn Rovers and Vitória de Guimarães, Jesus continues to strengthen his case ahead of Gameweek 1.
• Forest again lined up with a back three and attacking wing-backs, a system Glasner has favoured throughout pre-season. Neco Williams (£5.0m) started on the right but swapped to his usual left-flank in the second-half. He also took some indirect free-kicks.
• The Tricky Trees made a bright start and looked dangerous going forward. Matz Sels (£5.0m) produced two excellent saves to deny Rodrigo Zalazar and Gonçalo Inácio before Sporting eventually equalised from the resulting corner. Wood lost his aerial duel with Inácio, allowing the Sporting captain to head home.
• Forest continued to create chances after the break, with Wood heavily involved. The New Zealand international saw two close-range efforts blocked before heading a Williams cross wide. He then squandered Forest’s best opportunity of the second half after pressing the goalkeeper into a loose clearance. The ball broke kindly for Wood, but he somehow fired wide with the goal at his mercy.
• Jesus again impressed beyond his goal. The Brazilian linked play well, worked tirelessly out of possession and continued to look sharp whenever Forest broke forward. He has undoubtedly emerged as Forest’s standout performer across pre-season.
• However, Sporting took control after the hour mark. Issa Doumbia restored the hosts’ lead before Rafael Nel struck twice as Forest struggled to cope defensively.
• Despite the heavy defeat, Forest still produced encouraging moments in attack. The wing-backs continued to operate high up the pitch, while Jesus extended his impressive scoring run. Conceding four goals will concern anyone considering Forest’s defensive assets. However, the result deserves some context. Glasner split his squad across two friendlies on the same day, so workload management remained the priority rather than the final score. Sporting also did most of their damage after the hour mark.

CRYSTAL PALACE 3-1 AL-ULA

• Goals: Devenny, Nketiah, Canvot
• Assists: Cardines x2, Hughes

Crystal Palace XI: Benítez, Canvot (Walker-Smith 76), Richards (Jemide 46), Sosa (Tomiyasu 60), Cardines (King 46), Hughes (Doucouré 60), Devenny (Sarr 76), Mitchell (Benamar 76), Kamada (Ozoh 46), França (Drakes-Thomas 60), Nketiah (Rak-Sakyi 46)

SCOUT NOTES

• Crystal Palace ended their Como Cup with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Al-Ula, producing arguably their most fluid attacking display of pre-season.
• The match saw the returns of Chris Richards (£5.0m) and Daichi Kamada (£5.0m), with both players making their first appearances since the World Cup. Pierre Sage handed the pair 45 minutes before withdrawing them at the interval, while Cheick Doucouré (£5.0m) also returned from the bench. Ismaïla Sarr (£6.5m) made his first appearance since the World Cup too, playing around 15 minutes late on.
• Palace again lined up with a back three, with Borna Sosa (£4.5m) continuing on the right side of the defence. The wing-backs remained aggressive throughout, particularly Tyrick Mitchell (£4.5m), who regularly pushed into advanced positions whenever Palace attacked.
• One player who continued to impress was Justin Devenny (£5.0m). Operating in an advanced role once again, he linked up brilliantly with Rio Cardines (£4.5m) inside the opening minute before finishing confidently to give Palace the lead. Devenny continued to influence proceedings and later slipped Matheus França (£5.0m) through on goal, but the Brazilian fired over from a promising position.
• Cardines was arguably Palace’s standout performer. The wing-back registered assists for both first-half goals, first picking out Devenny before drilling a dangerous low cross across the six-yard box for Eddie Nketiah (£5.5m) to convert. He also created two big chances and handled Palace’s left-sided corners, making a real impact going forward.
• Nketiah enjoyed another encouraging outing. Alongside his close-range finish, the striker linked play well, forced another save from the goalkeeper and remained a constant threat before making way at half-time.
• Mitchell also played an important role going forward. His advanced positioning caused problems throughout the opening half. One dangerous run ended with a pass into França, although the Brazilian could only blaze his effort over the bar.
• Palace’s only setback came from an error at the back, which allowed Abdulmajeed Al Sulayhim to reduce the deficit. Despite conceding, Palace were rarely under sustained pressure.
• The third goal again highlighted Palace’s threat from set-pieces. Will Hughes (£4.5m) took their right-sided corners throughout the first half, and another delivery eventually led to the third goal. His corner flicked off an Al-Ula defender before Jaydee Canvot (£5.0m) reacted quickest to rifle the loose ball into the roof of the net.
• Pierre Sage praised Palace’s attacking football afterwards but challenged his players to maintain those standards across the full 90 minutes.

“The first 15 minutes of the first half were even better. This is because we played how we choose to play. It’s a kind of success. But now we have to do that for the whole game.” – Pierre Sage

• The Palace boss also stressed the importance of creating chances against different types of opposition.

“Sometimes you are faced with a low block against you and you have to create chances. For me that’s the most difficult thing in football.” – Pierre Sage

• Overall, Palace delivered one of their strongest attacking performances of pre-season. Devenny, Cardines and Nketiah all impressed during a blistering opening spell, while the returns of Richards, Kamada, Doucouré and Sarr provided another timely boost ahead of the new campaign.