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Crystal Palace logo
Premier League | Gameweek 21
Jan 30, 2021 at 3pm UK
Selhurst Park
Wolves logo

Crystal Palace
1 - 0
Wolves

Eze (60')
Zaha (90')
FT(HT: 0-0)

Kilman (84'), Coady (90')

Preview: Crystal Palace vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Saturday's Premier League clash between Crystal Palace and Wolverhampton Wanderers, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Two teams with identical records in this season's Premier League will lock horns on Saturday afternoon as 14th-placed Crystal Palace welcome 13th-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers to Selhurst Park.

Palace will enter this weekend's contest off the back of a 3-2 home defeat to West Ham United on Tuesday, while Wolves held Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea to a goalless draw at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.


Match preview

Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson pictured on January 2, 2020© Reuters

Palace are without a win in the Premier League since a 2-0 home success over Sheffield United at the start of the month, losing three of their last four matches in all competitions during a disappointing run.

Roy Hodgson's side managed to pick up a point at Arsenal on January 14 but have lost their last two to Manchester City and West Ham United, and a total of 23 points from 20 matches has left the Eagles down in 14th position in the table heading into the next set of matches.

Palace are 10 points clear of the bottom three but are now six points off the top half, and it is difficult to imagine the capital side pushing for a top-10 finish this term due to their inconsistency.

Hodgson's team have actually only won three of their 10 home league matches this season, while they have lost each of their last three matches with Wolves in all competitions, including a 1-0 defeat when the two teams locked horns in the FA Cup earlier this month.

Chelsea's Ben Chilwell in action with Wolverhampton Wanderers's Adama Traore in the Premier League on January 27, 2021© Reuters

Wolves, meanwhile, will enter this weekend's contest off the back of a goalless draw with Chelsea in Tuchel's first game in charge of the Blues.

The former Championship club actually had the best chance of the match at Stamford Bridge, but Pedro Neto scooped his effort just over Edouard Mendy's goal, and a strong defensive performance saw Nuno Espirito Santo's side claim a welcome point for their troubles.

Wolves have finished seventh in each of the last two seasons at this level since earning promotion, but the indications thus far are that the club will struggle to claim a similar spot this term.

Nuno's side have an identical record to Palace this term, winning six, drawing five and losing nine of their 20 matches, which has left them in 13th spot in the table, one position above their opponents here.

Wolves are currently 10 points behind seventh-placed Everton, while they are without a win in the league since December 15, losing four of their last seven during a disappointing run of form.

Crystal Palace Premier League form: LDWDLL
Crystal Palace form (all competitions): DWLDLL

Wolverhampton Wanderers Premier League form: DLDLLD
Wolverhampton Wanderers form (all competitions): DWLLWD


Team News

Mainz 05's Jean-Philippe Mateta scores against Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga on June 27, 2020© Reuters

Palace will again be without the services of Connor Wickham, Jeffrey Schlupp, Mamadou Sakho, Wayne Hennessey, Nathan Ferguson and James Tomkins this weekend through injury.

New signing Jean-Philippe Mateta is in contention to make his debut against Wolves, with the 23-year-old's visa issues now resolved, but it seems likely that the attacker will start on the bench.

As a result, Christian Benteke should continue alongside Wilfred Zaha in the final third of the field, while Andros Townsend is expected to keep out Jordan Ayew to feature in a wide position once again.

As for Wolves, Fernando Marcal, Raul Jimenez and Jonny Castro remain unavailable for selection through injury, while Rayan Ait-Nouri is a doubt with the issue that he picked up against Chelsea.

Nuno is expected to keep faith with the majority of the side that picked up a point at Stamford Bridge, but there might be a change in the final third of the field with new signing Willian Jose potentially coming in for Adama Traore, who is still waiting for his first league goal of the season.

Ait-Nouri's likely absence could see Ki-Jana Hoever feature as a wing-back, while Daniel Podence is again expected to act as a link between the midfield and front two.

Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Guaita; Ward, Kouyate, Cahill, Mitchell; Townsend, McArthur, Milivojevic, Eze; Benteke, Zaha

Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Patricio; Boly, Coady, Kilman; Semedo, Dendoncker, Neves, Hoever; Podence; Neto, Willian Jose


SM words green background

We say: Crystal Palace 1-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Both sides will be desperate to return to winning ways following disappointing runs, but we are struggling to see past a draw in this match. The two teams played out a 1-1 draw in the corresponding game at Selhurst Park last season, and we are predicting the same outcome on Saturday afternoon.


Top betting tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a double chance bet on a home win or an away win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Home/Away:data



Video prediction

Watch the Sports Mole Football Shorts prediction for this game below:



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Written by
Matt Law

Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Wolverhampton Wanderers win with a probability of 38.79%. A win for Crystal Palace had a probability of 31.67% and a draw had a probability of 29.5%.

The most likely scoreline for a Wolverhampton Wanderers win was 0-1 with a probability of 13.43%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (7.65%) and 1-2 (7.64%). The likeliest Crystal Palace win was 1-0 (11.78%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.41%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with an 11.8% likelihood.


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Game History

How you voted: Crystal Palace vs Wolves

Crystal Palace
33.2%
Draw
29.6%
Wolverhampton Wanderers
37.2%
196
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Mainz 05's Jean-Philippe Mateta scores against Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga on June 27, 2020
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