With the Premier League table looking very disjointed due to teams having played a different number of games, the Eagles will need to shake off the exhilarations of their cup exploits and get back to picking up points now that the thirty point barrier has been broken
DATE
5th March 2022
KICK OFF
3pm
VENUE
Molineux Stadium, Waterloo Road, Wolverhampton WV1 4QR
LAST TIME
This fixture was last played out in January 2021 when a first half goal from now Barca player Adama Traoure was enough for the hosts to take all three points.
WHO SCORED MAN OF THE MATCH – Ruben Neves (8.0)
OFFICIALS
Referee: Andy Madley. Assistants: Eddie Smart, Derek Eaton. Fourth official: Craig Pawson. VAR: Graham Scott. Assistant VAR: Sian Massey-Ellis
TEAM NEWS
PALACE – Nathan Ferguson (thigh) and Joel Ward (groin) are both unlikely to feature
WOLVES – Nelson Semedo (thigh) is the only absentee
DISCIPLINARY
RED CARDS – Wilfried Zaha (1), Raul Jiminez
YELLOW CARDS (5+) – Ruben Neves (9), Joel Ward (6), Conor Gallagher (6), Raul Jiminez (5)
FORM GUIDE
Last FIVE meetings between the two sides;
- 06/11/21 Palace 2-0 Wolves
- 30/01/21 Palace 1-0 Wolves
- 08/01/21 Wolves 1-0 Palace
- 30/10/20 Wolves 2-0 Palace
- 20/07/20 Wolves 2-0 Palace
Last FIVE results for Palace:
- 01/03/22 Palace 2-1 Stoke
- 26/02/22 Palace 1-1 Burnley
- 23/02/22 Watford 1-4 Palace
- 19/02/22 Palace 0-1 Chelsea
- 12/02/22 Brentford 0-0 Palace
Last FIVE results for Wolves;
- 27/02/22 West Ham 1-0 Wolves
- 24/02/22 Arsenal 2-1 Wolves
- 20/02/22 Wolves 2-1 Leicester
- 13/02/22 Spurs 0-2 Wolves
- 10/02/22 Wolves 0-1 Arsenal
RECORD AGAINST WOLVES
- Played 70
- Won 22
- Drawn 19
- Lost 29
FORM PLAYERS ACCORDING TO WHO SCORED
- Conor Gallagher 7.27
- Rayan Ait-Nouri 7.12
- Romain Saiss 6.99
- James McArthur 6.88
ONE TO WATCH
DANIEL PODENCE
FORMER CLUBS – Belenenses, Sporting, Moreirense (loan), Olympiacos
The Portuguese winger joined the club in 2020 and made a slow start to life at Molineux but he has found more opportunities under the new manager and has contributed to the clubs push for a top ten finish
KEY CLASH
CHEIKHOU KOUYATE v RUBEN NEVES
One of the key battles across the pitch will be this one between two very good midfield players. Neves has been in good form of late for Wolves and is never shy to shoot from distance while Kouyate has himself bagged a goal in midweek and has shown what Palace have been missing since he returned from the AFCON
PRE-MATCH FACTS
- Wolves have won their last 3 home matches against Palace, keeping a clean sheet in each of them
- Palace head into the fixture unbeaten against Wolves in the last 2 games
- Wolves have won 2 and lost 3 of their last 5 games while Palace have only lost once
- Palace last beat Wolves away in January 2019 (2-0)
PRE-MATCH STATS
- GOALS – Gallagher/Zaha (8 – 12th in PL)
- ASSISTS – Michael Olise (5 – 10th in PL)
- PASSES – Marc Guehi (1721 – 6th in PL)
- TACKLES – Tyrick Mitchell (83 – 2nd in PL)
- TOUCHES – Marc Guehi (1991 – 7th in PL)
- SHOTS – Wilfried Zaha (41)
- SAVES – Guaita (59 – 13th in PL)
DID YOU KNOW?
Wolves were the first team in English professional football to win all four divisions, and they have won every competition presently being played in the country
PREDICTION
The hosts come into this game fresh having had no involvement in the FA Cup midweek, so it will be key how Patrick Vieira choose to use his squad of players for this trip. Meanwhile, Wolves head into the fixture off the back of two league defeats so a point from this with all things considered will be decent.
FINAL SCORE: 1-1
BETTING ODDS
- Home – 13/10
- Draw – 2/1
- Away – 23/10
- Both teams to score – 11/10
RESOURCES