One final trek away from Selhurst Park for Palace this weekend as they head to the Black Country to take on a resurgent Wolverhampton Wanderers.
MATCH INFORMATION
- 3pm – 11th May 2024
- Molineux Stadium, Waterloo Road, Wolverhampton WV1 4QR
PREVIOUS MEETING
The last time these two sides met at Molineux was in April 2023 when the hosts ran out 2-0 winners thanks to a very early own goal from Joachim Andersen and a very late second from Ruben Neves.
WHO SCORED MAN OF THE MATCH – Ruben Neves (8.8)
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Tom Bramall Assistants: Wade Smith, Akil Howson. Fourth official: Simon Hooper VAR: Michael Salisbury. Assistant VAR: Sian Massey-Ellis.
TEAM NEWS
PALACE – Sam Johnstone, Cheick Doucoure, Jefferson Lerma, Rob Holding and Matheus Franca are all likely to miss the rest of the season. Will Hughes could be a doubt and may face a late fitness test.
WOLVES – Craig Dawson, and Leon Chiwone are not expected to feature while Noha Lemina, Mario Lemina and Pedro Neto are doubts.
DISCIPLINARY RECORD
RED CARDS – Jordan Ayew (1), Mario Lemina (1), Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (1)
YELLOW CARDS (8+) – Nelson Semedo (11), Joao Gomes (11), Mario Lemina (10), Matheus Cunha (8), Jefferson Lerma (8)
FORM GUIDE
Last FIVE meetings between the two sides;
- 03/09/23 Palace 3-2 Wolves
- 25/04/23 Wolves 2-0 Palace
- 18/10/22 Palace 2-1 Wolves
- 05/03/22 Wolves 0-2 Palace
- 06/11/21 Palace 2-0 Wolves
Last FIVE results for Palace:
- 06/05/24 Palace 4-0 United
- 27/04/24 Fulham 1-1 Palace
- 24/04/24 Palace 2-0 Newcastle
- 21/04/24 Palace 5-2 West Ham
- 14/04/24 Liverpool 0-1 Palace
Last FIVE results for Wolves;
- 04/05/24 Manchester City 5-1 Wolves
- 27/04/24 Wolves 2-1 Luton
- 24/04/24 Wolves 0-1 Bournemouth
- 20/04/24 Wolves 0-2 Arsenal
- 13/04/24 Forest 2-2 Wolves
LEAGUE POSITION
Heading into the fixture, Palace are 14th in the Premier League with 43 points from 36 games, while Wolves are 12th with 46 points from the same amount of games.
RECORD AGAINST WOLVES
- Played 75
- Won 26
- Drawn 19
- Lost 30
FORM PLAYERS ACCORDING TO WHO SCORED
- Michael Olise 7.55
- Eberechi Eze 7.33
- Matheus Cunha 7.15
- Pedro Neto 7.02
ONE TO WATCH
MATHEUS CUNHA
FORMER CLUBS – Coritiba, Sion, RB Leipzig, Hertha BSC, Atletico Madrid
The 24-year-old Brazilian has worked his way round a few prominent clubs and found himself arriving at Wolves in January 2023, initially on loan which was made permanent that summer. He has netted 11 times in the Premier League this season as he has become an important part of Gary O’Neil’s side.
KEY CLASH
MICHAEL OLISE v JOAO GOMES
The big question is, who can manage to keep Olise quiet in the remaining games of the season in the form his is in. The French international will obviously be a marked man and will likely come up against the Portugal midfielder who has had a good season for the hosts.
PRE-MATCH STATS
- GOALS – Mateta (12 – 12th in PL)
- ASSISTS – Ayew (7 – 21st in PL)
- PASSES – Andersen (2009 – 17th in PL)
- TACKLES – Mitchell (98 – 4th in PL)
- TOUCHES – Andersen (2505 – 16th in PL)
- SHOTS – Eze (75 – 15th in PL)
- FOULS – Ayew (45– 18th in PL)
- DISPOSSESSED – Ayew (79 – 2nd in PL)
- SAVES – Henderson (49)
- CLEARANCES – Andersen (189– 1st in PL)
- BIG CHANCES MISSED – Mateta (7)
THE NUMBERS
Wolves have lost 5 of their past 6 Premier League games against Palace. However the exception was a 2-0 win in this exact fixture last season.
Palace have won 55% of their Premier League games against Wolves (6 from 11). Of sides they have played at least 10 times in the competition, only against Stoke (70%) do they have a higher win rate.
Wolves have conceded 60 Premier League goals this season – their most in a single top-flight campaign since 2011-12 – when they finished bottom (82). Since the start of February they have conceded 29 times in 15 games, with only Sheffield United (46), Luton (40) and West Ham (38) shipping more in that time.
Palace have won 4 of their past 5 Premier League games, as many as they had in their previous 24 combined. They have scored four or more goals in two of their past four Premier League games, as many times as they had in their previous 82.
Following goals against Luton and Manchester City in his last 2 games, Hwang Hee-chan is looking to score in 3 consecutive Premier League games for the first time. He has 12 goals overall this season – only Raul Jimenez has scored more in a single Premier League campaign for Wolves (13 in 2018-19, 17 in 2019-20).
Michael Olise has been involved in 12 goals in his past 12 Premier League games – scoring 8 and assisting 4. Meanwhile, team-mate Jean-Philippe Mateta has scored 6 goals in his past 6 league appearances.
TEB PREDICTION
The Eagles are in the zone and with two games to go Oliver Glasner has set his players the aim of ending the season unbeaten. It is five without a loss at the moment with the demolition of United on Monday night but the last away game at Fulham ended up a struggle in getting a point. Having said that, this Palace side are playing with plenty of freedom and a win will take them above Wolves. We are going for this magical run to continue with a tight victory.
FINAL SCORE: 2-1 to Palace
