Crystal Palace vs Wolves Preview: Wolves on the hunt for their first three points

Neither team have got off to a lightning start this season. However, will Wolves be looking to secure their first win of the season?

Crystal Palace vs Wolves Preview: Wolves on the hunt for their first three points
Wolverhampton Wanderers Jonny holds of Crystal Palace's Wilfried Zaha during match between Crystal Palace and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Selhurst Park stadium (Photo by Action Foto Sport/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
will-laing
By Will Laing

Crystal Palace sit contently in 12th in the league after a steady opening five games. Whereas up in the Midlands, at Wolverhampton Wanderers, things are looking a lot less certain. Wolves are currently winless in the bottom three - a far cry from where they finished last season.

Nuno Espirito Santo's side are coming into this game off the back of suffering two defeats in a week, one being a heavy 5-2 defeat to Chelsea and the other being an unsavoury 1-0 loss in the Europa League.

It hasn't been all plain sailing for Palace in the lead up to this fixture either. Last week they were picked a part by a rampant Tottenham Hotspur including two Hueng-Min Son goals.

What happened last time?

The last time Palace hosted Wolves at Selhurst Park it was a tight affair. Wolves allowed the Eagles their fair share of possession in that meeting, but in typical Wanderers fashion, they snatched the three points thanks to a second half winner from full back Matt Doherty.

Maybe it's an unconventional goal from an unusual goalscorer that Wolves are crying out for.

Palace struggling in front of goal

We are only five games into the Premier League season and Palace have already failed to get off the mark on three separate occasions.

Their top goalscorer this season is Jordan Ayew who has managed to score twice so far - both of which came in Palace's only wins of the season.

Wolves having a wobble

Their 1-0 defeat to Braga at Molineux on Thursday night brings up three straight competitive defeats for the visitors. Not only that, but they haven't even managed to keep a clean sheet since beating Pyunik Yerevan in the Europa League Qualifiers all of seven games ago.

Nuno's men have only kept one clean sheet in the league so far this season, and that came on the opening day of the season against Leicester City - of course they failed to score in that one too.

Key players

For the home side, it will be key to take the scoring pressure off of Ayew. Wilfried Zaha is going to have put this summer transfer window behind him and step up to the plate.

He is yet to grab a goal in the opening five league games, surely the Ivorian forward be desperate to restore himself as the key man at Palace and put himself back in the shop window.

It's clear that in a team that is struggling to grab goals, Raúl Jimenez will be hoping to add to his goal tally of two in the Premier League.

The Mexican forward has eight goals in all competitions, and will no doubt kick into gear in the league anytime soon. Unfortunately for him, Palace's defence won't be a walk over and he may have to wait another week.

Team News

It appears as though there is only one absentee for Sunday and that will be Connor Wickham. Plenty of players will be returning this weekend however.

For Palace they will be glad to welcome back James McArthur and Cheikhou Kouyaté following their recent injuries. Someone who is most likely to make a start will be centre half James Tomkins who made the bench last week at Spurs.

Wolves are fortunate to not have to worry about injuries and it is likely that Willy Boly will feature following his one-match suspension.

Due to a promising performance from new man Patrick Cutrone in the Europa League, he may by vying for another start tomorrow afternoon.