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

Rob Edwards will take charge of his first Premier League game as head coach of Wolverhampton Wanderers when they welcome Crystal Palace to Molineux on Saturday afternoon.

The Old Gold and the Eagles butt heads for the first time since May when the latter secured a 4-2 top-flight win at Selhurst Park.

Match preview

Just six weeks after penning a new three-year contract at Molineux, Vitor Pereira was sacked as Wolves head coach following a disappointing 3-0 defeat at Fulham at the beginning of November, before Under-21s coach James Collins oversaw another 3-0 loss, this time at Chelsea, prior to the international break.

Rooted to the bottom of the table and already eight points adrift of safety, the Old Gold have failed to win any of their 11 Premier League games this season (D2 L9) - conceding a division-high 25 goals in the process - and they have only ever failed to win any of their first 12 matches in a league campaign back in 1983-84 (14).

Only seven teams have been winless in their opening 12 Premier League games of a season, but Wolves can take comfort from the fact that three of those clubs ultimately avoided relegation (Everton in 1994-95, Derby County in 2000-01 and Newcastle United in 2021-22).

Tasked with turning Wolves’ fortunes around, new boss Rob Edwards knows the club inside out having previously represented them as a player, coach and Under-23s manager. The 42-year-old has signed a three-year contract at Molineux after deciding to leave his job at Championship promotion hopefuls Middlesbrough.

Interestingly, Edwards’s first Premier League home win as manager of former club Luton Town came against Crystal Palace in the 2023-24 campaign in the first fixture after November’s international break.

Edwards will hope to make an instant impact with Wolves this weekend, but success against Crystal Palace is not a given for the Old Gold, who have won just one of their last nine Premier League meetings with the Eagles (D1 L7), having previously prevailed in three of their first five (D1 L1).

After concluding the month of October with an eye-catching 3-0 EFL Cup win at Liverpool, Crystal Palace have since put together a three-game unbeaten run in November across all competitions, with wins over Brentford (2-0) and AZ Alkmaar (3-1) followed by a goalless stalemate with Brighton a fortnight ago.

Four wins, five draws and two defeats have been posted across 11 Premier League matches by the Eagles, who have slipped to 10th in the table - albeit only two points behind the top four - after collecting maximum points from just one of their last five top-flight fixtures (D2 L2).

Only newly-promoted Burnley (39%) have a lower average possession than Oliver Glasner’s side in the Premier League this season (42%), with Palace failing to win either game in which they had more possession than their opponents (0-0 draw with Sunderland and 3-3 draw with Bournemouth).

The Eagles head into Saturday’s clash with Wolves having lost their last two Premier League away matches against Everton (2-1) and Arsenal (1-0), as many as they had suffered in their previous 18 on the road (W9 D7); they last lost three away games on the bounce in February 2024.

Palace boast a stronger record against Wolves, though, as they have won 57% of their Premier League meetings with the West Midlands outfit (W8 D2 L4), their highest win rate against any team that they have faced more than 10 times in the division.

Wolverhampton Wanderers Premier League form:

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Wolverhampton Wanderers form (all competitions):

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Crystal Palace Premier League form:

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Crystal Palace form (all competitions):

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Team News

Wolves quartet Matt Doherty, Leon Chiwome (both knee), Rodrigo Gomes (groin) and Daniel Bentley (ankle) are all sidelined with injuries, but Emmanuel Agbadou is available to return after serving a one-match suspension last time out.

A back-three system, used by Edwards in previous jobs at Luton and Middlesbrough, is likely to be deployed and Agbadou will be pushing to earn a recall at centre-back, but Santiago Bueno, Ladislav Krejci and Toti Gomes could all be preferred in the first XI.

Marshall Munetsi will hope to be recalled in midfield at the expense of either Andre or Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, while Jorgen Strand Larsen - who has scored only one Premier League goals in nine appearances this season - could be joined in attack by either Jhon Arias or Hwang Hee-chan.

As for Crystal Palace, Glasner has confirmed that captain Marc Guehi (foot), Eddie Nketiah (hamstring) and Jean-Philippe Mateta are all fit and available to play against Wolves, with the latter shaking off a minor knee issue picked up on international duty with France.

Cheick Doucoure (knee) and Caleb Kporha (back) remain long-term absentees for the Eagles, while Chadi Riad (knee) and Rio Cardines (groin) have an outside chance of featuring in the matchday squad and will both be assessed ahead of kickoff.

Guehi is expected to replace Jaydee Canvot in the back three and play alongside Maxence Lacroix and Chris Richards, while Adam Wharton could be joined in centre-midfield by either Jefferson Lerma or Will Hughes. Daichi Kamada is another midfield option, unless he is deployed in an advanced role.

Should Kamada be selected to link arms with Wharton, that would open the door for Yeremy Pino to earn a recall and start in the final third with Mateta and top scorer Ismaila Sarr, who has found the net eight times for Palace in all competitions this term.

Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:

Johnstone; S. Bueno, Krejci, Toti; Tchatchoua, J. Gomes, Andre, Munetsi, H. Bueno; Arais, Strand Larsen

Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:

Henderson; Richards, Lacroix, Guehi; Munoz, Kamada, Wharton, Mitchell; Sarr, Pino; Mateta

We say: Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-2 Crystal Palace

The fact that Edwards has won his opening league match at three of his previous four clubs bodes well for a Wolves side who are desperate to pick up their first three points of the season, but Crystal Palace will still be regarded as favourites to come out on top this weekend.

Wolves are the lowest scorers in the Premier League this term (seven), while only the top two teams Arsenal (five) and Man City (eight) have conceded fewer than Palace (nine), who should be strong enough at the back - with or without Guehi - to keep Wolves at bay en route to victory.

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