Wolves welcome Crystal Palace to Molineux in a huge all Premier League clash in Friday Night Football, kicking off the Third Round of 2020-21 FA Cup.
Wolves are looking to avoid five eliminations at this stage in seven seasons, whereas Palace will be keen to avoid losing at this stage for the third time in four campaigns.
Team News
Leander Dendoncker could return for Wolves after missing their last four matches with a knee injury.
Willy Boly (hamstring) is however unlikely to be risked despite also missing the same number of games as Dendoncker, thus could join Fernando Marcal (groin), Daniel Podence (calf), Jonny (knee) and Raul Jimenez (head) on sidelines.
Palace could have Christian Benteke available despite the Belgian suffering a leg injury in Saturday’s Premier League win over Sheffield United.
Luka Milivojevic (back) could miss out alongside Scott Dann, Gary Cahill, Jeffrey Schlupp (all hamstring), Wayne Hennessey, Nathan Ferguson, Connor Wickham (all thigh) and Martin Kelly (calf).
Stat Attack
- Wolves have won just two of their eight previous FA Cup meetings against Crystal Palace (W2, D3, L3).
- Palace are unbeaten in three of four previous FA Cup trips to Molineux (W1, D2, L1).
- Wolves have avoided defeat in their last three matches against Palace in all competitions (W2, D1), whilst winning their last two clashes at Molineux by 2-0 results.
Prediction
Wolves will definitely have to make a better start than they did last weekend at Brighton because Palace made an electric start against Sheffield Utd, although Wolves did a solid job to fight back before blowing a 3-1 lead to draw 3-3 through silly defensive errors.
Roy Hodgson’s Eagles meanwhile were absolutely clinical yet clever at times when on the attack whilst defending strongly when out of possession, which is something that they could look to maximise against this Wolves team if they start on the front foot.
FA Cup fixtures between these two teams though have been quite edgy in the past, with Palace overall having the marginally better edge with just two defeats but have drawn as many as they have won so I sense a draw here with Palace eventually edging it in extra-time.
Prediction: Wolves 1-2 Crystal Palace (After Extra Time)
Result: Wolves 1-0 Crystal Palace
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