Once again few goals at Selhurst Park?
With Crystal Palace against Wolverhampton, a duel of two similarly match-filled teams rises at the start of the English week in the Premier League. Both teams picked up five points each in the review of the past five rounds of matches and are just one point apart in the table.
The visitors were recently victorious in a 1-0 home win over promoted Nottingham, ending a previous run of three defeats. The home side, meanwhile, were held to a goalless draw by bottom side Leicester.
The forecast for the match at Selhurst Park between Crystal Palace and Wolverhampton is for a maximum of two goals.
Crystal Palace – Statistics & current form
The “Eagles” cannot currently rely on a home bonus. After five games on home soil, their record is completely balanced with two wins, two defeats and one draw – this also applies to the goal difference (7:7).
However, the two defeats were only against the two top teams Arsenal and Chelsea in the London derbies on the part of the 117-year-old club.
Meanwhile, the Londoners will rely on Wilfried Zaha in the attack: The Ivory Coast striker led the club’s scoring charts with four goals.
With that haul, the 29-year-old is well on his way to a double-digit goal haul for the fourth time since 2018 for the Glaziers! The upcoming opponent also suits him, with Zaha netting in each of their two clashes last season.
Will Zaha strike for the third time in a row?
With that in mind, the betting odds on his next goal in the clash between Crystal Palace and Wolverhampton are also interesting.
Last season’s twelfth-placed side have also made defensive improvements of late: They ended two of the past four league games with a clean sheet. Only three goals conceded in this review also represent a very tidy record for French coach Patrick Vieira’s eleven.
A quality feature of the home side is also their strong morale. They have conceded the first goal of the game three times this season, and two of those games were still victorious (2-0-1)!
This corresponds to a success rate of 67 per cent and is, together with Chelsea, the highest in a league-wide comparison. By comparison, the visitors have been behind by the first goal four times and have not won any of these encounters. Only Nottingham (5) and Leicester (3) also have such a 100 per cent failure rate in this fixture.
Predicted line-up of Crystal Palace:
Guaita – Andersen – Guehi – Ward – Schlupp – Eze – Doucoure – Olise – Ayew – Edouard – Zaha
Last matches played by Crystal Palace:
Premier League
15/10/2022 – Leicester 0 – 0 Crystal Palace
09/10/2022 – Crystal Palace 2 – 1 Leeds
01/10/2022 – Crystal Palace 1 – 2 Chelsea FC
03/09/2022 – Newcastle 0 – 0 Crystal Palace
31/08/2022 – Crystal Palace 1 – 1 Brentford
Wolverhampton – Statistics & recent form
The Wanderers have been a welcome visitor so far this season, with none of their five away games won by the side currently managed by interim coach Steve Davis, and only one not lost.
Especially the attack is very weak away from home: Only one goal in the first match of the season at Leeds (1:2) was scored.
Since four away games, the guests are waiting for the next away goal. This is the longest such streak in their PL history. In the Championship alone, between October and December 2007, they once had to wait over six away games for the next goal.
Wolves have numerous absentees up front
The problems in attack have not least a personnel background. Several players from this part of the team, such as Mexican Raul Jimenez, Portuguese Chiquinho and Austrian Stuttgart newcomer Saša Kalajdžić, cannot play due to injuries. The tenth-placed team of the past season obviously cannot compensate for the large number of these absences.
The weakness of the 1972 UEFA Cup finalists’ attack is also illustrated by the fact that the visitors scored in the second half for the first time this season in their recent 1-0 win over Nottingham.
In addition, the Wanderers have a value of – 6 in expected goals – the worst yield in a league-wide comparison.
In light of this and the home side’s recent defensive revival, a clean sheet for the hosts against the four-time FA Cup winners is also worth considering when Crystal Palace and Wolverhampton meet.
Predicted Wolverhampton line-up:
Jose Sa – Toti – Kilman – Jonny – Matheus Nunes – Moutinho – Traore – Podence – Guedes – Costa
Last matches played by Wolverhampton:
Premier League
15/10/2022 – Wolverhampton 1 – 0 Nottingham Forest
08/10/2022 – Chelsea FC 3 – 0 Wolverhampton
01/10/2022 – West Ham 2 – 0 Wolverhampton
17/09/2022 – Wolverhampton 0 – 3 Manchester City
03/09/2022 – Wolverhampton 1 – 0 Southampton
Crystal Palace – Wolverhampton Direct comparison / H2H record
Crystal Palace has won the last three duels and always by nil! The latter characteristic has also been observed in this pairing for quite some time.
For six meetings in the Premier League and FA Cup, only one of the teams has scored. The record is also even within this flashback with three wins each.
Crystal Palace – Wolverhampton Tip
In the showdown between Crystal Palace and Wolverhampton, the tip aims for a maximum of two goals. The games of the visitors are the lowest-scoring in the Premier League so far. Only 1.6 goals were scored on average and only three ended with more than 2.5 goals – only West Ham (2) undercut this number. The average of goals scored away from home is also very meagre at 1.8. Wolves also have the weakest away attack in the league with only one goal scored.
The prediction is also supported by the hosts’ likewise manageable offensive performance. With the exception of Wilfried Zaha, the two-time FA Cup finalists have an attack that is average at best.
Few goals have been the rule on top in this pairing recently: in none of the last four duels has the limit of 2.5 goals been exceeded.
