Wolves vs Crystal Palace Prediction: A winner to be found in entertaining encounter at Molineux

After eight desperate previous attempts, Crystal Palace finally won their first Premier League game of the season last Sunday, beating Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 at Selhurst Park. The Eagles' next opponents, Wolverhampton Wanderers, are looking to break their own duck at Molineux on Saturday (17:30, Sky Sports Main Event), with Gary O'Neil hoping that it is 10 games lucky for the Old Gold.

Below you can find my Wolves vs Crystal Palace prediction, complete with all the latest team news and match odds, ahead of this meeting between two lowly sides.

Team News

Wolves captain Mario Lemina was forced off at half-time of last weekend's 2-2 draw at Brighton & Hove Albion but there is confidence that the Gabon midfielder can shake off a calf complaint for the visit of Palace on Saturday.

Former Eagles goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, who swapped Selhurst Park for Molineux in the summer, could also return in goal in place of Jose Sa after missing the Old Gold's last two matches, the first of which was an injury-time 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on October 20.

However, Hwang Hee-chan, Boubacar Traore, Yerson Mosquera, Sasa Kalajdzic, Leon Chiwome and Enso Gonzalez are all ruled out due to injury.

Football Odds

Crystal Palace made just three changes to their starting XI for Wednesday's Carabao Cup clash with Aston Villa, which they won 2-1 at Villa Park. Matt Turner, Will Hughes and Eddie Nketiah came in for Dean Henderson, Jefferson Lerma and Ismaila Sarr.

Henderson is set to return between the sticks on Saturday, relegating Nottingham Forest loanee Turner to the substitutes bench, while Sarr may come in for Eberechi Eze, who was forced off injured just 10 minutes after opening the scoring in the eighth minute.

There was further first-half injury agony for Palace head coach Oliver Glasner, who lost Adam Wharton in the 27th minute. Wharton and Eze are now major doubts for the trip to Molineux, and with Lerma still sidelined, the Austrian's midfield options are depleted.

Jeffrey Schlupp came on for Wharton on Wednesday and may start alongside Hughes in the engine room on Saturday, while Daichi Kamada, who has endured a difficult start to life in England, is another option after opening his account for the club against Villa.

Matheus Franca, Chadi Riad and Chris Richards remain in the treatment room.

Wolves vs Crystal Palace Odds

*Please click on the link above to be taken to the main Wolves vs Crystal Palace page on betfred.com (or app) for all the live betting prices on this match.

Wolves are 6/4, or a 40% chance, to win at the 10th attempt on Saturday, while Crystal Palace are 15/8 (34.8%) to record back-to-back Premier League wins.

The draw is priced at 12/5, both teams to score at 4/6, and over 2.5 total goals at 5/6.

Wolves forwards Matheus Cunha and Jorgen Strand Larsen (both 15/8) lead the anytime goalscorer market, followed by Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta (2/1).

No Draw Both Teams To Score - Yes @ 6/4

I'm pretty bullish on both teams scoring on Saturday evening, with 89 per cent (eight) of Wolves' nine Premier League games this season ending with at least a goal on either side. Unsurprisingly, the Old Gold are joint-top (alongside Leicester City and Brentford) in that particular table.

Meanwhile, only Manchester United and Liverpool (both three) have seen fewer matches finish with both teams scoring than Crystal Palace (four), but BTTS - Yes is a much more regular occurrence for the Eagles on their travels, with 75 per cent (three) of their four road games finishing with a goal on either side, while Carabao Cup trips to Queens Park Rangers and Aston Villa have both brought about a strike from the hosts and visitors.

So, five of Palace's six away matches in all competitions have seen both teams score, and there has been a winner in four of them - a 1-1 draw at Chelsea on September 1 proving to be the outlier.

Wolves are yet to record a stalemate at Molineux this season, with all four Premier League matches ending in defeat - but they have scored at least once in all four.

Both meetings between Wolves and Palace last season produced plenty of goals, although it was the Eagles that took the points at Selhurst Park and Molineux, winning 3-2 in south London in September 2023 before securing a 3-1 victory in Wolverhampton in May this year.

Remarkably, the previous 10 head-to-heads have produced a winner, with the last stalemate all the way back in September 2019.

Some of the pressure is off Palace now after they beat Spurs last Sunday, but they are still fourth-bottom heading into this weekend and could start the game at Molineux in the relegation zone if Ipswich Town beat Leicester City earlier in the day.

O'Neil, meanwhile, probably needs a win to save his job.

As such, the conditions are there for an entertaining encounter in the West Midlands, and we should see both sides going for a winner even if they are level late on.

Bet Builder - Matheus Cunha (WOL) & Jean-Philippe Mateta (CRY) Anytime Goalscorers @ 7/1

Cunha and Mateta are their respective clubs' top Premier League goalscorers this season, the former having struck four times for the Old Gold and the latter three times for the Eagles.

Both were on the scoresheet last weekend as Wolves and Palace picked up positive results.

Cunha struck in the third minute of second-half stoppage-time to steal a point for Wolves at Brighton and make it three goals in his last five games, all of which have come away from home.

The Brazilian hasn't found the net at Molineux since the 6-2 hammering at the hands of Chelsea on August 25, so he will be desperate to score in front of the Old Gold faithful this weekend.

Cunha scored home and away against Palace last season and will fancy his chances of making it three in a row on Saturday.

Mateta, meanwhile, was restored to the Eagles' starting XI for last Sunday's game against Spurs following two matches as a substitute, and he rewarded Glasner's show of faith with an effort in the 31st minute which proved to be the winner.

The Frenchman subsequently led the line in Wednesday's Carabao Cup victory at Villa Park and is a sure-fire starter this Saturday, particularly with Eze a major doubt.

Like Cunha, Mateta has two goals to his name in this fixture, scoring his first in a 2-0 win for Palace in March 2022 before netting at the same venue in May this year.

I can see goals in this game, and with both Cunha and Mateta most likely to score for Wolves and Palace, respectively, I like the odds of 7/1 for the star strikers to find the net on Saturday.

Offers

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