WOLVES welcome Crystal Palace to Molineux on Friday night for an all-Premier League FA Cup third round tie.
The Old Gold occupy 13th place in the top-flight standings, but it's a measure of the job that Nuno Espirito Santo has done that it feels like something of a slight disappointment.
Last time out Wolves extended their winless run to four as Brighton battled back to pinch a point from a thrilling 3-3 draw at the Amex Stadium.
Therefore, Santo will be hoping he can inspire a response from his troops when Crystal Palace come calling in the FA Cup this weekend.
Palace continue to punch above their weight under Roy Hodgson's astute management and the south Londoners go into this clash level on points with their opponents following last Saturday's 2-0 win over Sheffield United.
The Eagles could well be on a revenge mission on Friday night after finding themselves on the wrong end of a 2-0 reverse at Molineux back in October.
Outright Betting
Wolves have won just one of their last seven matches but the odds suggest the bookies are expecting a home win here after pricing Nuno's men at even-money with PaddyPower.
Crystal Palace have triumphed in three of their nine top-flight road trips this term but an away win here is an unfancied 3/1 with Unibet, while the draw is also deemed unlikely at 9/4 with the same firm.
Betting Angles
Each of the last five meetings between these two sides have featured fewer than three goals and I suspect another low-scoring affair could be in store at Molineux on Friday night.
Therefore, I'm going to head to the Bet Builder market and combine Wolves double chance, under four match goals, over zero Crystal Palace cards and over one match card, which is a 20/21 shot with Bet 365
The under 2.5 goal play has landed in six of Wolves' eight top-flight tussles on home turf this term and seven of those fixtures have featured less than four match goals.
What's more, six of Crystal Palace's last nine Premier League away fixtures have produced less than three strikes and this is reflected in the odds of a repeat here at a general 4/6.
David Coote will officiate this cup tie and he is averaging 4.2 yellow cards per game this season and he has flashed at least two cards in 11/12 games that he has taken charge of this term.
With that in mind, I'll add over one match card to the recommended Bet Builder but I'll also back Palace to pick up at least one caution, something they have done in 14/17 Premier League matches this season.
It's also worth noting the above-mentioned Bet Builder has banked in five of Wolves' Molineux matches this season, one of which was against the Eagles.
I'll also dip into the player props market and take the 4/5 on offer with Coral for Wilfried Zaha to have one or more shots on target Friday night.
Whether or not Zaha starts remains to be seen, however, the Palace talisman has notched eight goals already this season and he has hit the target in 13/15 top-flight appearances this term.
This FA Cup match between Wolves and Crystal Palace will be played on Jan 8, 2021 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Wolves vs Crystal Palace prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
