Two of the Premier League’s in-form teams meet at Selhurst Park on Saturday afternoon, and Paul Robinson thinks that there will be plenty of goals.
The Eagles are soaring
Patrick Vieira achieved his first real flagship result as manager of Crystal Palace last weekend, as his team went to the Etihad and won 2-0. It could be argued that that kind of result was coming given their performances this season, but at 20/1+ it was still a big upset.
The victory extended their unbeaten run to five matches, and only Liverpool and Chelsea have managed to beat them in the league this term. Too many draws have left them in the bottom half of the table, but the three points at City could prove the catalyst for a run of victories.
The big team news for the Eagles is that Eberechi Eze is nearing a return, and he could even be included in the match-day squad this weekend. Other than that, Vieira has pretty much a full quota of players to pick from, so expect something similar to what lined up last Saturday.
Wolves beginning to show their teeth
Bruno Lage has Wolves in fine form, and they head into Matchday 11 sitting in seventh place – just one point behind Manchester United in fifth.
Like Palace, Wolves are also unbeaten in five, but the difference for them is that they have won four of them. It was another victory on Monday night, as they beat Everton 2-1 at Molineux, and the team are now getting the results that their performances at the start of the season deserved.
Raul Jimenez scored against the Toffees, which was his second in four games. The Mexican forward appears to be nearing his way back to his best, following a long spell out with a serious head injury.
As for the team news, Lage has not fresh injury concerns ahead of the trip to Selhurst Park, so after another win on Monday, I wouldn’t expect too many changes – if any.
The hosts are the favourites to pick up what would be just their second home victory of the campaign. They are available to back at 2.6213/8 on the Betfair Exchange, with Wolves at 3.1511/5 and the draw at 3.259/4.
This is a really tough game to call given the respective form of both clubs. At the prices I slightly favour the visitors, as they have already won at Watford, Southampton and Villa this season.
Palace are unbeaten in front of their own fans, but this is all about price, and I feel that they are a little bit too short at 2.6213/8.
The Over/Under 2.5 Goal market has a stand-out bet on offer, as I am very keen on Overs at 2.447/5.
This isn’t Hodgson v Nuno, it’s Vieira v Lage, and I am not convinced that that is reflected in the odds.
Palace’s matches this year are averaging 2.7 goals each time, with six of their 10 ending with at least three goals. Wolves have a lower average at 2.1, but that is being dragged down by their opening three games, where they were hugely unlucky not to score.
Three of their last four have finish with the ball in the net on three occasions or more, and the one that didn’t was a 1-1 draw. On that basis, Under 2.5 is far too short at 1.684/6.
My Bet Builder for this match is a massive 27/1 shot on the Sportsbook that consists of Wolves to Win or Draw – Double Chance, Over 2.5 Goals, Over 3.5 Cards and Wilfried Zaha to be shown a card.
The first two I have already outlined the reasons for, and for the cards angle, there will be a number of players on the pitch who rack up bookings – one of which is Zaha.
Key Opta Stat
Crystal Palace have scored the highest proportion of their Premier League goals in the second half of games this season (85% – 11/13). Both of their goals in the opening 45 minutes have been netted by Wilfried Zaha (vs Brighton and Manchester City).
Source: Betfair Premier League
