I agreed with those saying the team selection wasn’t right at West Ham.
It’s easy to be critical with hindsight and only Bruno Lage knows who was physically up to starting the game so soon after Arsenal, but Wolves looked weak and disjointed.
The main issue was that you had a lightweight from three who needed balls playing into feet and a midfield that wasn’t cute enough to do it so too often the defence were just booting it long or giving it away.
Assuming the likes of Moutinho, Ait-Nouri and Raul really weren’t up to starting, I would have used Cundle and Jonny (if it were viable) to give us more craft.
With a week to recover we can rightfully expect a more energetic and robust performance tomorrow.
Crystal Palace
You’ve got to say Palace saw us off comfortably at Selhurst Park in one of the more disappointing performances of the season.
I remember there not being much in the first half, but once they picked up the pace in the second we just went away. It’s no surprise Bruno still cites that defeat as one we mustn’t repeat.
Since then, however, the teams have largely gone in opposite directions with Palace struggling for wins and currently 10 points behind Wolves having played a game more.
But they thumped Watford the other week, took a point off a resurgent Burnley and progressed to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup on Tuesday so there is a bit of momentum building for Patrick Vieira’s men.
They have a fully fit and firing squad to choose from and despite the considerable talents of Eze, Olise, Gallagher and a few others, it’s still Wilf Zaha you feel will make the biggest impact. He’ll once again be the subject of significant transfer speculation this summer as he enters the final year of his contract.
Their away record isn’t great with just two wins from 13 matches, but as referenced above, they did triumph 4-1 at Vicarage Road in the last outing on their travels.
The away end
Some comments lifted from the pre-match thread on a popular Palace forum:
A lot depends on which Wolves team turns up. They were very ordinary at our place in the Autumn. Likewise they struggled the last time we fans were able to see them at their place (0-2 to us with Ayew and a Luka penalty). ON the other hand a Wolves like the one that went on a run around Christmas time would be a very different proposition. I fancy us extending our 2022 unbeaten away run (currently 5 games including the ‘Wall cup tie) so 1-1.
1-1 was my instinct and a result I will happily settle for. Wolves have the ability to be very good on their day and have individuals that can.. individually, change matches (thinking Moutinho long rangers etc.). They are however somewhat inconsistent, I believe we are better than my anxiety ridden mind tends to imagine, and this game is far from a write-off!
If we turn up without a striker again we may as well not turn up at all, Neves and Moutinho will pass us to death. I watched their game against Arsenal and the Lacazette dropping short idea that we’re using Zaha for was completely nullified until they chucked on a host of attackers with him.
Wolves have only scored 10 goals at home in the PL in 12 games and only Norwich have scored less goals on their home patch. Wolves at home have only conceded 10 PL goals and only Man C and Liverpool have conceded less. My prediction is 1-0 to Wolves.
Wolves
It’s a blow to lose Semedo for at least a month and possibly more. He’s been one of the top performers this season and really thrived under Bruno Lage.
I don’t know if Jonny is up to starting yet but he’d be my preferred choice down the right. Hoever has some good attributes but bad decisions and questionable distribution still mark him out as a potential weak link.
The front three are the attackers who’ve been most effective this season and I thought they caused Arsenal plenty of problems, albeit only scoring once. We need more goals and they give me the most confidence.
Much like Jonny, it’s hard to know how close Pedro is to starting, but he’s a great option to call from the bench.
Last time out
As mentioned above, Palace secured a deserved 2-0 win at Selhurst Park earlier this season courtesy of goals from Conor Gallagher and Wilf Zaha, with Wolves barely threatening at the other end.
Rewind to the start of last season and Wolves comfortably won this fixture with first-half goals from Rayan Ait-Nouri and Daniel Podence in one of the few routine victories in a difficult campaign.
The odds
There’s nothing to choose between the sides according to the bookies. Head to online casinos usa for more traditional gambling fun if you’re reading stateside.
Or if you’re closer to home try online casino uk for the latest odds and offers.
Predictions
Well done to Adrian who was the only person to correctly predict the 1-0 defeat at the Olympic Stadium. He collects a maximum.
Brompton Wolf is clear at the top of the overall table at the end of Gameweek 26.
As always, if you’d like to join in, it’s simple – just leave your prediction in the comment section below using the boxes provided. Then repeat for every preview article throughout the season, making sure you always use the same email address to make your prediction. Your email is what ties you to your overall score.
You can read my prediction for the game in the comment section below.
Up The Wolves!
Polite request – when commenting in the preview article after the game has finished, can you not place score predictions in the boxes, please? It confuses the system. Many thanks.
.
We need a minimum four points from the next two if we’re still interested in looking up the table.
I don’t anticipate either game being easy and this is the tougher of the two, but if we can get things going in midfield there’s no reason we can’t get the win.
Raul and Hwang with the goals.
We need 6 points to get back in the mix.
Max Kilman
Raul
Neto
with the goals
Zaha with his usual whinging and diving sent packing.
A Palace on its day can be a handful and they are much more aggressive under Veiara, but like us a bit inconsistent. Can’t see Bruno risking another strange selection, if the first reamers are all fit and rested. Semedo will be a miss, but Jonny and Neto starting to fire up, think we will take the 3 points.
Will be missing a few games now as I have a work project in Thailand until mid – April. So the blog will my source of all things WWFC. so shout the boys on for me.
Keep the faith.
First Teamers, that should be, doh!
Am going to stop going to London matches after last week
Think I am a Jonah
West Ham weren’t great we were worse
Semedo going to be a big miss bu be good to get Johnny back on the pitch
Right, I’ve got very little right since the Brentford match (which strangely the prediction league algorithm, in a Gavin Williamson like moment, chose to ignore! – any chance of sorting this Ben/Tim?). I went to the Arsenal and West Ham matches which were very disappointing experiences. Should have least at got 2 or 3 points. And wow, are Arsenal fans always that angry and unpleasant? Sat amongst them fearing for the life of a couple who seemed in imminent danger of strokes. I will be travelling to Molineaux tomorrow for the first time for yonks so am anticipating and expecting a better outcome. Saw Palace at Brentford and both teams were so deary. Nothing like that please. A win, please god!
If you get this prediction wrong, in another Gavin Williamson like moment, you win the league and will be showered with honours.
Hi Avebury. I did respond to your query about the Prediction League. Check your spam folder for my message.
Your current points tally according to the table is 33 points, but I’ve just manually been through all your predictions and seems like you should only have 28.
Your predictions:
Leicester – 2-1 – 2 points
Man U – 2-2 – 0 points
Watford – 0-2 – 3 points
Brentford – 2-2 – 0 points
Southampton – 0-2 – 2 points
Newcastle – 2-0 – 2 points
Villa – 1-1 – 0 points
Leeds – 0-2 – 0 points
Everton – 1-1 – 0 points
Palace – 2-1 – 2 points
West Ham – 0-3 – 0 points
Norwich – 0-2 – 0 points
Burnley – 2-0 – 0 points
Liverpool – 0-2 – 2 points
Man City – 2-1 – 2 points
Brighton – 0-1 – 3 points
Chelsea – 0-1 – 0 points
Man Utd – 0-1 – 3 points
Southampton – 1-0 – 2 points
Brentford – 1-2 – 3 points
Arsenal – 1-1 – 0 points
Spurs – 1-2 – 2 points
Leicester – 2-2 – 0 points
Arsenal – 1-1 – 0 points
West Ham – 1-1 – 0 points
What I will say to you – and everyone else – is that despite it being automated, there is room for human error because I have to input certain things on the back end after the games have been played.
I will double-check all 38 previews at the end of the season to make sure the correct scores are awarded.
Good work Thomas, 1 lv.
Thanks for doing that. I’d rather it was right than wrong!
Thanks for checking it Thomas. I thought I was missing a point or two but seems I’ve been over awarded. Fair enough, I’d rather it was right than wrong. .
Shot yourself in the foot there mate 🙂
Hee hee.
we Praise Bruno, we slate Bruno – Its part of the passion loving a football club. When your football team wins, the weeks are better. We have experienced this for so long – maybe a reminder is needed that we are Wolves… But I cannot help myself thinking we should be up in the top 3/4 with all the unneeded draws/losses we have took….
Norwich away 0-0
Brentford at Home – 2-0 loss momentum.
Leeds 1-1
Burnley 0-0
Ignoring the first 3 games at 1-0 and the absolute robberies of Liverpool, Citeh – and throwing away a chance to take 6 points from arsenal.
What I am getting at is, look at the chain of thought… We are Wolves, Bruno has gave us this vision of being the “Better then the rest” team…..
But he got it so wrong against WestHam, that in untold truth, It makes me doubt him completely and think our results are off the back of having individual players playing there socks off.
It made me think, he was out of ideas and just thought, Meh – “Ill throw this at the dartboard and see where it lands”
Pitiful to be honest, but now he has a run of 6 teams we in all Honestly, should be running ring rounds… and get us back in the fight.
But thats why I love this club, Because I cannot understand it – The process, the drop of performances when they are most vital – The belief and nearness of what we are achieving. I will be there at every game I can, backing this squad – but Bruno really, really needs to learn from that Westham game, if he wants to compete.
I fancy us for a win but not quite sure where goals will come from.
We have got to get back to winning and its got to start now 2-1to the Wolves.
After a couple of disappointing results, the time is ripe for a turn in form and fortune.
I was disappointed and puzzled by the non-appearance of Jonny, even as a sub, as Ki Jana endured an increasingly torrid afternoon. Hopefully this wasn’t down to a fitness issue. With he,and Pedro, we will look a much more threatening outfit, and we’ll need to too, against a Palace squad who have many attacking threats.
Big test too for our defence but the week’s leave will have done us a power of good, both physically and organisationally.
Tough game, but aren’t they all, in the English Premier League.
For a while we were up there being mentioned in the fight for the top four. We could dream, and it was a pleasant few weeks! Three lossess in the past five games has changed the equation. However, the fight for Europe is far from over!
I agree with the analysis by the Crystal Palace blogger. It really depends on which Wolves turn up. If we play our strongest team we should win, but Semedo will be a big loss, and Jony playing in that position does unbalance the team somewhat, but is still the best option.
Play to our potential, and our strength should be too much for Palace.
Jonny was born and raised as a right wing back at Atletico Madrid.
Be just like going home for him.
Well West Ham we’re poor
Wolves, well hearts dropped seeing that team sheet
Okay Silva was better 2nd half but better than what ?
Hope Palace ease off and think about fa cup and that we are rested ??
Would like 5 in mid and 2 strikers to control the game more if we need to
My predictions have been all over the place lately, but I’m still sticking with a Wolves win against Palace, albeit a slim one.
Aspirations of a top four/six finish should see us going for 18 points from the next six games.
Yes, you might loff, but our seventh opponent coming up won’t be if we get all 18.
If we want to break into, and stay, in the elite group, we have to be aiming to win every game.
And why not?
To me, there is no point in even turning up if you are not trying to win.
No “gimmees”
No Mick McCarthorse “play the kids at Old Trafford” bottling.
Go for every match, every point.
And for the next six games we are up against teams who are cannon fodder, just there to make up the numbers, and we must be ruthless, put them to the sword, no mercy, no prisoners!
5-1 to start the 18 point haul.
If Dendoker and Trinco play forget getting any points.
Back to securing some points tomorrow; not sure about shutting them out though.
I’m worried because Lawro has predicted a win for us.But…….in to the final 12 games. Seven at home. five away. Nine of them v teams mid table/ near the foot of the table. Opportunities to accumulate points are therefore before us. As it stands maybe 63/64 points will scrape a top six place. We will definitely require at least another 7 wins (would put us on 61 points) and a couple of draws. Which means room for only three more defeats . The odds are against us and realistically 7th/8th place may be where we are at. Which will still be good. With Fosun publicly stating on the offical Wolves site that they are ‘demonstrating continued commitment to Wolves’ by writing off loans against the club maybe there will be a positive summer transfer window coming up? As for this game. Not many goals. One either way or a draw.
Moving on from the Spam debacle, lets put out a team fit enough and clever enough to shatter the Crystals.
Yes I’m talking midfield general, Moutinho.
We’re three up before shoving on 35 million pounds worth of ballast and they take the opportunity to score.
1 lv & COYW.
Bruno out!
I wouldn’t waste money trying to predict our scores these days as we blow so hot and cold and performances seem to change like the wind.
Overall as our position suggests, I think we are the better team. Like most mid table Premier League teams we’re all prone to inconsistent performances. If Palace play well and we have an off day they win. If we both have off days we win but if we’re on a game it won’t matter how they play because we can beat anyone.
Hopefully, no excuses for resting the best players. I think the team selects itself. The only question is, do we start Neto or bring him on with 20 mins to go?
Going for a 3-1 win.
On a totally different subject R.I. P Shane Warne (from a fellow Aussie). I have just learned about the news a few mins ago.
Wow, Rodney Marsh too Vic. Two Australian cricket lwends. RIP. Sadly missed in the cricket World.
Legends… Fingers not working today
One of the comments from the Crystal Palace page was ‘depends on which Wolves team turns up’. Well, it will literally be a different team to the almost second string side we put out at West Ham
A fully rested squad, Semedo out but options with Neto and Jonny back playing – no excuses. Keep Zaha quiet, take one or two of our chances and move onto the next one.
Seems that most of us thought that Bruno got the starting lineup completely wrong. Let’s put that disappointing West Ham result behind us. I’m going by my default 2-1 to Wolves.
Need to bounce back
As quoted above .. predicting a Wolves score is harder than knowing who will be West Brom’s next manager….
We’ve not been in the best of attacking dynamics over the past couple of games.. admittedly to tough opposition… but Semedo’s absence means an opportunity for that diva diver Zaha to exploit.
So .. can Jonny Otto pocket him or will we suffer from weak refereeing again.
My gut feeling is that Semedo’s absence will be felt and we will be pegged back by the Bus Parking strategy of The Palace…
Sorry guys but a draw is all that I can think of…
Me too m’Lord. Last week’s team selection baffled me completely and I hope Bruno comes back to normal this week.
Even so, given the difficulty we have scoring goals, I can’t see further than a disappointing low-scoring draw either.
C’mon Wolves! Prove me wrong……..(in the right way obviously)!
Fence sitting time, I’m afraid, as that’s possibly the most likely result.
Not surprisingly, events of the last few days have brought upon me intimations of mortality.
Only yesterday, Shane Warne was writing on social media to mourn the death of Oz cricketing legend Rodney Marsh.
Today, Warney has gone too.
Meanwhile, the psychopathic lunatic, Vladimir Putin, is destroying an entire country with over 100,000 troops – mainly conscripts it seems, who were told they were going on an exercise – randomly shelling civilians and using cluster bombs.
A Third World War could possibly be the result of all this mayhem.
And we’re talking about a football match. Not particularly important in the great scheme of things.
But when things are happening that are totally out of your control and could end up very nasty, one has to grab whatever positive pleasures one can.
A might sound crass but a win over Palace will be a decent start.
It’s a funny old World.
And we can be taken from it at any time and for any reason.
Let’s make the most of it while we’re in it.
“Mine’s a large one!”
(Shut up Clive).
Not what Sue said.
DRAW 1-1
The best thing about the Wet Sham game was the wonderful seat, but then I reckon I own it as a London council tax payer (no! I’ll never shut up about it).
But now to Palarse. Really should beat them. I think I’ll stick my neck out and go 3-1, based on nothing at all and just to be different .
Interesting that China are blocking the Wolves and Villa matches because they are planning a show of support for Ukraine.
I wonder if Jeff Shi or Fosun will be prepared to comment.
I don’t think Fosun can control what the government in China do DG.
The important thing is that they join the others in condemnation of these grimmest of events.
I agree mate.
However, it would be a big statement if Jeff, or someone from Fosun, actually came out and said so.
But I wouldn’t put money on it.
It would buddy, but I wouldn’t want them to annoy their government when they can achieve exactly zilch.
As I moved from seat to seat …..the stunned by world events recliner to the Parker Knoll wing back of baffling team selections …. a thought came to me that like most conspiracy theories there was a sub plot involved….having argued with myself as to the why’s and wherefore of imagined subtifuge …a conclusion (double underscored in red) could not be arrived at without a counter argument seeming more than valid …..so this Saturday evening I’m moving from the bean bag of confusion to the Arne Jacobsen Egg clenching both fists in the air bellowing 3-0
Don’t forget to Go out into the garage and sit in the deckchair of Dudley as well or you might end up in the pond of prayer ..
Just saying
2-0
I do agree with Matt as to the importance of Semedo. It’s a shame that he’s injured just as he had shown his value to the side. I reckon Hoever will be an important player in due course too; he needs more time.
Maybe Semedo bashers will now realise what an important player he is for us. He has left a massive hole in the team. Hoever has not convinced and not sure Jonny is ready. Hopefully Joao is back and I think it’s time to unleash Pedro and play front three of him, Raul and Podence. Also need Ait-Nouri back in the team. That said I think Place will be a tough nut to crack
Very dispirited by the WHam and Arse results just as we had a real chance of cementing a top 6 position. Particularly annoyed at the attack that Bruno sent out last time around as well. Afraid Semedo is out for many weeks, for me Johnny has to start.
Anyway enough pessimism time to get this Wolf-mobile moving again with a comfortable win, but please keep Wilfred quiet, or better still sent off for being a pain.
Stop the rot. 1-0 please
Every reason to
Expect a Zaha penalty
But at some stage this season our shots will go in
Why not now?
Surely we pick a stronger team and get a vastly improved performance.
After two depressing journeys back from London (always positive beforehand) I am hoping for a win. Worried about Semedo replacement. Hope Jonny is fit enough to play 90 minutes as Hoever does not seem to be making progress and was one of the weak links at west ham. Ait Nouri to start in place of Marcal and Moutinho back in the team. Podence Jimenez and Hwang up front with Neto coming on for at least the whole of the second half.
A big loss losing Semedo for so long. I’ve got a nasty feeling Neves will get another booking resulting in his suspension too.
I’d have Johnny over Hoever, though he doesn’t look match fit yet.
Can’t wait for Neto to be starting each game too.
We need to get a win and another nice run now. Palace will be difficult but I expect us to be strong enough.
In my younger days, when my Sister was going out with a season ticket holder at Selhurst Park (Terry Venables days), I smuggled a bog roll in, and let it go from the top of the stand. Wasn’t as impressive as launching one from the top of the old South Bank, farty little ground in London.
The only predictable thing about Wolves is our inconsistency, lets hope we can get back to moving forward again after our two setbacks on the smoke.
Wolves 1 – 0
P.S Anyone else living outside UK having problems receiving the blog via e-mail. 18-30 Sat evening here and nothing , last week my e-mail popped up 2 hours before kickoff
Looking to right the ship.
KA/TNs
Think we’ll double and triple guess ourselves into a loss. Hope I am wrong…
See you in the Lych Gate, lunch time Matt.
Wolves to bounce back with Bruno Ball. Come on you mighty Wolves.
Leaving here soon. Will try and get to Lych Gate around 1.30. Tell Matt, mine’s a bitter.
Doesn’t narrow it down too much.
Must win 3 points to keep us up there I hope Saha doesn’t play he’s someone we could of bought apparently..
Jimenez time is now to have a big game..
No idea what will happen but we need to win.
Hope the good Wolves tirn up not the bad ones
As always against this lot the answer is to keep Zaha quiet. If we can do that we can win this one.
With a moaning, whinging mouth like that? No chance.
It’ll seem disappointing at the time but if we beat Watford it won’t be a bad result. Hwang with our goal!
This is 3 points and four lovely goals for us.
A couple of lucky goals for palace
Come on you wolves
It’ll be interesting to see who starts as there are many recovered players to contest places but, with some following serious injuries, needing time to get up to speed safely, it is not easy to choose a best eleven yet in my opinion. Neto and Jonny would normally be in our chosen starting eleven, but we, they, can’t afford more setbacks. I hope Cundle gets more chances to prove his creative worth at this level. His last appearance was outstanding, but, again, young players can flatter to deceive initially. So, again, introducing him to this level gradually seems the safest option. Silva would have benefited from this last season but had to be thrown in, in my opinion, far too soon and received criticism and guys expecting the finished article with regard to his fee. I thought he did well enough in the last game where the midfield was below par and outnumbered; I’d have liked to see Cundle bolstering this central area at the expense of one of the three up front personally. I’m going for a 2-1 win stuck here in Suffolk with a heavy cold, dammit! Will be there by hook or by crook on Thursday…
You say that young players can flatter to deceive initially…?
I’ll take a bit of flattering to deceive, all day long from Fabio Silva!
Im in doogs camp after the shocking early departure of two of the greatest aussie cricketers ever in the last forty eight hours.
Not a big cricket follower but i certainly knew who they were and it puts (along with loony tunes putin ) things back into perspective after the normal drift away from reality we all suffer from now and then.
Reality regarding our football team could mean anything from sublimity to mind blowing seat throwing frustration.
What team will Bruno pick ? because NO one saw that coming at west ham so what team will he pick ?
Logic says no more experimenting because everyone is fit (hopefully apart from semedo) so the strongest side should play and if that transpires we will win and that leaves me playing musical chairs along with shrewdsimon as i just dont know where i sit with Bruno anymore.
Is he playing games with jeff ? is he sorting out who will be on their bike come the end of season? although that would have been an odd time to try that theory out. Or has he completely lost the plot ? which i doubt.
Not got a scooby doo whats going on apart from if he plays that side again today i will assume he has lost it big style.
Prediction time even though i said i wouldnt do it until i saw the team sheet but i cant wait that long so my assumption Bruno is winding jeff up wins and today we will play our strongest eleven.
I have found my chair to watch the game in .
Whether I’m still in it come the end remains to be seen !
Totally changing the subject, I just seen a black and white pic of Doog and Denis Law arm in arm at the end of our victorious win at Wembley 1974.
The question I have, for 10 bonus points, is who did Denis Law change shirts with at the end of the game?
I know, coz I was there!
frank munro
I’m trying to banish any negative thoughts but this fixture has the capacity go any number of ways. Okay: win, lose or draw.
That said Wolves have had the best part of a week to recharge batteries and shake off the last two results. For me, it’s a back on course win.
.
No idea what will happen here but need to play better than last week!!
COYW
Does anyone know how to live-stream the match today? I don’t think I’m capable of setting up a VPN so I need a less-techy solution. Thanks in advance.
Hesgoal is my go to mate.
The stream can be a bit dodgy sometimes and can change from an English commentary to either none or Malaysian in the blink of an eyelid, but you will get to see the match.
Thanks!
Unfortunate news from hesgoal:
We dediced to stop putting any link of the English Premier League matches on the site “www.hesgoal.com” any more .
Sorry for that but we respect the English Premier League holder’s rights .
PS There is the glittering consolation prize of Hull v WBA though!
Oh Bum!
But on today’s match, you were lucky!
If we play how we can, with our best players on the pitch, this should be a win.
Tough game particularly with Hoever at RW B
Can’t bet against the lads
We will miss Semedo, but hope a more muscular Jonny will get the nod ahead of Hoever – they have a lot of attacking threat and I really do feel we will need to be on the front foot and attack this team. Palace are a better team than some people perhaps give them credit for, so if we just pass side to side (as we did in the last loss to Palace), I fear we will not keep them out. Tricky game – draw for me.
35 mins in and 2 down.
With this team selection is Bruno trying to send Jeff a message or is he making certain we don’t quality for Europe. Either way he is doing a great job
If we all had hopes of some sort of European football next season, then this first half has truly put those hopes to bed. I can’t understand why AN hasn’t started. Is Luke Cundle injured? Not even on the bench.will Neves want to stay for another season?
Well that was f**kin s**t.
Cannot understand the reason for the starting 11. It’s as if Bruno is trying to f..k it up.
Does he want European football..? Does Jeff..? On the last three games I’d say no.
Team selection for this game and West Ham very suspect if I didn’t know better I’d say we were trying to lose.
Thats it im done
i dont need the stress.
definitely a conspiracy to keep us from finishing too high which we are more than capable of doing.
going on holiday to get away from this shit booking now !!!!
Headache started when I drove into town later than I hoped. Apologies to Witley and London for not getting to the Lych Gate. Apologies to Dougie, Barbara, Tricia, Mark, Sue Mike and Lilian for leaving early after the match. Headache worsened and started to ease when I got onto the A1(M). Now back home and am glad I am not going down for the Watford game. Today was quite crazy.
Steve, Dougie is in possession. Hope it is better than today. Enjoy the Steve Bull Upper.