Football writer Adrian Clarke looks at key tactical points and players who can be decisive in Matchweek 35.
Player analysis: Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace)
Nottingham Forest’s quest for a top-five finish may well depend on how they handle in-form Wharton in the final fixture of Matchweek 35 on Monday.
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The Palace star has been outstanding in recent weeks, consistently dominating the midfield with his quality, on and off the ball.
Oliver Glasner's side are a dangerous proposition when Wharton runs matches from the heart of midfield, just as he did against Aston Villa in the FA Cup semi-final.
Positive passes
Wharton’s one and two touch football makes a hugely positive difference for Palace.
Using his composure on the ball and natural awareness to great effect, the 21-year-old gets a lot of early passes into the feet of the Eagles' menacing front three.
Eberechi Eze, Ismaila Sarr and Jean-Philippe Mateta all benefit from Wharton's positive distribution.
The eye test tells you he is good at moving the ball vertically, and with accuracy, but the stats also confirm this key strength.
Ahead of this round of matches, Wharton averaged the joint-highest number of progressive passes per 90 minutes, alongside the 4.8 of Newcastle United’s Bruno Guimaraes.
Most PL progressive passes 24/25
| Player | Mins. played | Prog. passes | Per 90 |
| Bruno Guimaraes | 2,923 | 157 | 4.8 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adam Wharton | 1,265 | 67 | 4.8 |
| Youri Tielemans | 2,921 | 138 | 4.3 |
| Morgan Gibbs-White | 2,393 | 108 | 4.1 |
| Mateo Kovacic | 1,962 | 78 | 3.6 |
To put that number into perspective, fellow Palace midfielders Will Hughes and Daichi Kamada managed 3.1 and 2.8 per 90 respectively.
Breaking the lines
It is crucial for the Eagles to get quality possession into players such as Eze and Sarr if they are to maximise the potential of Glasner’s 3-4-2-1 formation.
When Wharton plays they are far better in this regard, because he has the ability and confidence to thread clever passes between opposition midfielders.
Indeed, no Premier League midfielder completes more successful passes between the lines numbers-wise than Wharton.
Most PL passes completed between the lines 24/25
| Player | Total |
| Adam Wharton | 3.77 |
|---|---|
| Harry Winks | 3.56 |
| James Maddison | 3.47 |
| Casemiro | 3.43 |
| Bruno Guimaraes | 3.33 |
*Minimum 1,000 mins played
Palace forward Mateta is excellent at pinning centre-backs with his physicality, so Nuno Espirito Santo’s central midfield unit must work hard to ensure the gap between themselves and the Nottingham Forest back four is small.
There is a balance to be struck though.
If they get tight and are bypassed by one touch passes from Wharton, it will free up the Palace front three.
Alternatively, if they sit too deep, Wharton could hurt them when given time and space.
He is never afraid to clip a longer pass in behind, and has made significantly more successful passes into the final third than any of his team-mates.
Successful passes into final third by Palace players 24/25
| Player | Total per 90 |
| Adam Wharton | 11.31 |
|---|---|
| Daichi Kamada | 9.89 |
| Justin Devenny | 9.43 |
| Will Hughes | 8.53 |
As shown below, Wharton's wonderful outside-of-the-foot pass with his gilded left boot, put Eddie Nketiah in the clear at home to Ipswich Town.
It is the kind of quality that marks him down as a special talent.
All-round excellence
Wharton’s impact for Palace is not just restricted to clever distribution.
Yes, he creates plenty of chances and controls the rhythm of matches, but the midfielder also frequently breaks up play.
The dynamic radar map, below, shows just how strong he is, in so many different ways.
Physically dominant
Wharton has grown in stature physically this season, and is now a central midfielder who can out-muscle rivals too.
He was magnificent in this aspect of the game in Palace’s FA Cup semi-final success against Villa, overpowering Unai Emery’s side with a string of forceful challenges.
Wharton's duel with Youri Tielemans helped turned the ball over inside the opposition half for Ismaila Sarr to race through and score Palace's second goal.
The image below shows how Wharton anticipates a square pass into Tielemans.
Wharton made up ground in a flash and by the time the ball reached Tielemans, the former was onto him, winning a strong 50-50 challenge.
The ball ran kindly for Mateta from this tackle and he freed up Sarr to run on and score.
When fit and available, Wharton has been a consistent ball-winner over the course of the 2024/25 campaign.
No one at Palace has regained possession more often than Wharton, whether it is coming out on top in duels like this or picking up loose balls in the centre of the pitch.
Most possession won by Palace players 24/25
| Player | Total per 90 |
| Adam Wharton | 6.83 |
|---|---|
| Cheick Doucoure | 6.27 |
| Jefferson Lerma | 6.15 |
| Will Hughes | 5.13 |
Must stop Wharton
A trip to Palace will be far from easy for Nottingham Forest, who have lost three of their last four matches in all competitions.
Nuno's side have looked physically and mentally jaded of late, which is not ideal ahead of a match against a side who apply more pressures inside the middle third than any other Premier League team.
FA Cup finalists Palace will also be fired up to keep spirits high in their first home match since reaching the Wembley showpiece.
Nottingham Forest's Elliot Anderson, Ryan Yates, Nicolas Dominguez and Ibrahim Sangare will need to be at their sharpest to curb Wharton's influence and spoil the mood.
Wharton is enjoying his best form of 2024/25 and has the potential to be Palace's most dominant individual on Monday evening.