Two improving sides meet at Selhurst Park on Saturday afternoon as Crystal Palace bid to follow up their stunning win at Manchester City when they host Wolves.
How it started: worries about new, first-time-in-the-Premier-League bosses replacing proven managers with records of success. How it’s going: pretty darn good actually.
That description can be applied to both Crystal Palace and Wolves ahead of Saturday afternoon’s meeting between the sides at Selhurst Park.
There have been a few too many draws for the Eagles – six in 10 games to be precise – but last weekend’s fantastic win at Manchester City suggests Patrick Vieira is an able successor to Roy Hodgson.
Bruno Lage’s tenure at Wolves has been even more of a success, Wanderers sit seventh in the table – fifth under Infogol’s Expected Goals metrics – and with some verve too, as opposed to the drab final few months of Nuno Espirito Santo’s spell.
Kick-off time: 15:00 GMT, Saturday
Palace have actually outscored Wolves this season (13 to 11) despite the Molineux men’s average Expected Goals per game figure being much higher (Wolves 1.73 xG per game, Palace 1.26).
That’s because Wolves were wasting a bucketload of chances in the season’s opening weeks but they do seem to have found their shooting boots more recently.
With the stats and form slightly favouring Wolves, but with Palace enjoying home advantage and having a habit of halving the honours, this is a tough one to call result-wise.
A draw seems the value play on the outcome but with both sides beginning to fire in attack – Wolves with nine goals in five games, compared to two in their previous five, and Palace eight in five – the goalscorer markets are a good place to head here.
And I’m incredibly surprised to see some generous stand-out prices on two players that have been right among the goal mix for their respective sides.
South Korea star Hwang Hee-chan leads the way in Wolves’ scoring charts with four goals from five starts and two substitute appearances.
Hwang has been clinical for Lage’s side, scoring with all four of his shots on target and that would have been five if not for a marginal offside decision that denied him a goal in Monday’s win over Everton.
Given he’s averaging a goal every 129 minutes this season, the 3/1 Unibet put up on HWANG HEE-CHAN TO SCORE ANYTIME looks at least half a unit too big.
An even stranger price is the 9/2 Bet365 offer on Palace prodigy CONOR GALLAGHER TO SCORE ANYTIME.
The all-action Chelsea loanee has been a revelation for the Eagles, scoring three goals and setting up two in nine appearances as well as averaging 2.3 shots per game – comfortably Palace’s highest SPG.
In a game between two sides in decent nick, it makes sense to back the men who have been right at the forefront of those improvements to make their mark on the scoresheet for their respective clubs.
Crystal Palace v Wolves score prediction and best bets
- Hwang Hee-chan to score anytime at 3/1 (Unibet)
- Conor Gallagher to score anytime at 9/2 (Bet365, Sporting Index)
Score prediction: Crystal Palace 1-1 Wolves (Sky Bet odds: 5/1)
Odds correct at 1600 GMT (04/11/21)
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