Wolverhampton vs Crystal Palace Predictions

• Wolves are yet to win in the Premier League, taking just two points from 11 games.
• The Old Gold have conceded a league-high 25 goals in the top-flight this term.
• Crystal Palace have won seven and lost only one of the last nine meetings between the two sides.
• Palace forward Jean-Philippe Mateta has scored 10 goals for club and country this season.

Edwards era to get underway

Rob Edwards was confirmed as the new head coach of Wolves over the international break and he faces an uphill task to keep the club in the Premier League, as they are rooted to the bottom of the table, a full eight points adrift of safety.

Whichever way it is framed, things are looking bleak for Wolves, who are without a top-flight win since April and have conceded a league-high 25 goals in 11 matches.

The Old Gold have shipped three or more goals in each of their last four games across all competitions and their recent record against Saturday’s visitors to Molineux, Crystal Palace, also makes for grim reading.

Palace have won seven and lost only one of the last nine meetings between the two sides and were 4-2 victors when the pair last locked horns at Selhurst Park in May.

Edwards may be hoping for something of an uplift in his first game in charge, but Wolves look destined to suffer a 10th league defeat in just their 12th top-flight game of the season.

Goals could flow at Molineux

There were six goals scored when these two teams last met in May and that has been a familiar trend across recent head-to-heads, with 19 being netted in the last four clashes alone – 12 for Palace and seven for Wolves

Palace have been in good scoring touch this season as well, including on their travels, as they have netted in five of their last six away games across all competitions, the only exception being last month’s narrow 1-0 loss at Arsenal.

The Eagles most recent away day ended in a resounding 3-0 success at reigning champions Liverpool in the EFL Cup and they will fancy their chances of overcoming a porous Wolves defence.

Each of Wolves’ last four games have gone over the 2.5 goal mark and that trend can continue on Saturday, although it is Palace that should do most of the scoring, perhaps in a 3-1 win.

Mateta the man to deliver for Palace

If Palace do grab three goals on Saturday, the chances are forward Jean-Philippe Mateta will be one of the names on the scoresheet.

The 28-year-old has scored eight times for Palace this season across all competitions, while he has also netted twice while on international duty with France, most recently in Sunday’s 3-1 World Cup qualifying success over Azerbaijan.

Mateta doesn’t have the most prolific record against Wolves, scoring just twice in seven previous appearances, but both of those strikes have come at Molineux and he will be licking his lips at the prospect of facing a defence that has been leaking goals left, right and centre.