
Gary O’Neil’s Wolves host Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace on Saturday evening with both sides looking to improve on what’s been a disappointing start to the campaign.
Wolves are currently 2nd bottom in the table with just 2 draws from their 9 PL games so far. Their opponents Palace are just above the relegation zone, 2 places and 4 points ahead of the West Midlands side after gaining their first win of the season against Tottenham last weekend.
O’Neil and his coaching staff will feel hard done by not having more points on the board than they have this term. Particularly at Molineux, where they have lost 3 games narrowly by the odd goal against Manchester City (last kick of the game), Liverpool and Newcastle.
For Palace, it’s been a stuttering start, to say the least, with The Eagles suffering their joint-worst start to a PL season prior to their 1-0 win against Spurs. The win in midweek at Aston Villa was a fine result but I’m not sure the confidence from that will offset the reduced recovery and prep time for this weekend.
Despite gaining just 2 points from a possible 27 on offer, the feeling around Molineux is the tide could be starting to turn for Gary O’Neil’s men.
As open as they have been defensively, one thing Wolves can’t be criticised for under O’Neil is their attacking style of football and ability to score goals. Wolves have found the back of the net in 10 consecutive matches in all competitions and only failed to score once all season, that on the opening weekend at Arsenal.
After battling from 2-0 down to earn a late 2-2 draw away at Brighton last time out, Wolves have shown they have the character to fight back in adversity, as well as the attacking threat to cause many sides a problem. Their performance against City should also have given them confidence they can create opportunities against any side in the league.
Glasner’s confidence will also be on an upward trajectory after their first win of the campaign saw them climb out of the relegation zone at Ipswich’s expense. The performance matched the result and they were impressive at home in front of a packed Selhurst against their cross-city rival Spurs.
Despite this victory, Palace have lost 5 of their first 9 PL matches and have only managed to score a mere 6 goals during this time, the joint-lowest in the league along with Southampton. Jean Philipe Mateta’s goal was the first time they had found the back of the net in 4 PL fixtures.
All in all, they have failed to score in 4 of their 9 matches, the joint-worst in the league so goal-scoring has proven a real concern for them this term.
The Eagles have also lost 3 out of their 4 PL fixtures away from home, gaining a single point from 12 on the road. The clean sheet against Tottenham was also only The Eagles’ 2nd all campaign and they are yet to have a shutout away from home so far.
I therefore see Wolves being capable of breaching the backline at some point during the 90 minutes.
After their midweek efforts travelling to Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup, The Eagles could well be a little leggy facing another match on the road again. They had to work hard in that game and I would imagine it would’ve been around 2am before any of the team got to rest their weary heads.
Given Wolves have had a free week to prepare for Saturday’s crunch clash, this should work to O’Neil’s advantage and could be a decisive factor in shaping the outcome of the game, especially the longer it goes on.
Credit to O’Neil and his staff for continuing with the cavalier, almost ‘gung-ho’ approach to each game when some managers would have opted for a change of tactics.
Yes it has made them vulnerable defensively but I believe good old lady luck is due to shine on Wolves with the way they are trying to win each PL match and results will start to turn for them.
This all out attack philosophy from O’Neil and their general lack of respect in the market make plenty of pro-Wolves bets appealing.
Standing out is the Team to Score First market, with Wolves best priced 11/10 with BoyleSports to land the first blow of the match.
Considering Wolves have scored first in 3 of their 5 home matches in all competitions so far and Palace have conceded first in 7 of their 9 PL fixtures, I make this value (should be closer to 10/11).
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Additionally, I am tipping the Draw no Bet market with Wolves best priced at 19/20 with Star Sports to claim the 3 points or your money back in case of a draw.
I expect the dangerous Wolves team to be fresher than Palace and have more energy and tempo to the game the longer it wears on given they have had no game to play during midweek.
O’Neil’s side have scored in every match since the opening weekend and at Molineux. This goal-scoring record goes back to April of this year, a trend that I think will continue. Moreover, it should be enough to earn a result against a Palace team that hasn’t scored more than 1 goal in any fixture away from Selhurst Park this campaign.
In Cunha Wolves have a man in form who could appeal in the shots/shots on target/goals markets and at bigger prices Ait Nouri could be worth considering. The Algerian international has 3 goals already this season which for a defender is an excellent output.
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