Wolves kick off a Halloween weekend of Premier League action as they welcome Crystal Palace to Molineux in Friday Night Football.
Both teams come into this match locked on ten points apiece with victory for either team sending them third ahead of Saturday’s Halloween matches.
Team News
Wolves have no fresh injury concerns after Sunday’s 1-1 draw against Newcastle as Jonny remains absent with a serious knee injury picked up at end of last season.
Palace could be welcome back Jordan Ayew after missing their last two matches as he self-isolated after a positive Coronavirus test, alongside Jack Butland who could make his Palace debut in goal.
James Tomkins and James McCarthy could also return from thigh injuries whilst Jairo Riedewald is a doubt due to a knock.
Conor Wickham, Wayne Hennessey (both unspecified), Nathan Ferguson (knee) and Gary Cahill (shin) remain ruled out.
Stat Attack
- Wolves are unbeaten in three of their last four Premier League meetings against Crystal Palace (W2, D1, L1)
- Palace are unbeaten in three of their last five trips to Molineux in all competitions (W2, D1, L2).
- After four previous Premier League meetings, Wolves are yet to be awarded a penalty against Palace who scored their only penalty kick against their hosts.
- Palace’s Vicente Guaita has already produced more goal kicks than any other keeper in the Premier League across the opening six rounds this season, having played 57 goal kicks in six appearances.
- Wolves’ Raul Jimenez has hit just eight of his 21 shots this season onto target in six league appearances.
Prediction
Wolves have begun to find their groove again as Nuno Espirito Santo continues to experiment with a more attacking style, although they really could do with beginning to score more than once per match for the first time since their opening match at Sheffield.
Palace meanwhile produced a decent performance to defeat Fulham last weekend despite failing to show strong defensive quality, with Vicente Guaita thankfully saving their blushes for majority of match despite an impressive attacking display.
This match could consequently very well come down to clinical finishing given the quality of both teams in attack but Palace do look the most inconsistent at the back, which is a worry coming into a fixture like this.
Prediction: Wolves 2-1 Crystal Palace
Result: Wolves 2-0 Crystal Palace