Most will see this as little more than a nice kick about in the sunshine.
After all, both teams should be content enough with what they’ve done over the 36 games to date and feel there’s cause for optimism heading into 24/25.
But according to this article, each position in the Premier League table could be worth as much as £3 million and with Wolves still able to finish as high as 9th or as low as 14th, that’s a potential £15m swing.
So climb back off the sun loungers lads – I wanna win this.
Palace
The Eagles are unbeaten in their last 5, winning 4 of those matches. When you consider they saw off Liverpool and Newcastle as well as demolishing (an admittedly poor) Man Utd in that sequence, eyebrows should be raised.
Personally, I’m not surprised. When they came down at the end of last season I thought Olise and Eze ran rings around us all night. It was astonishing that we managed to keep them out and win the game.
The problem has been keeping those two fit and firing. Those who know better about the goings on at Selhurst Park might say I’m wrong, but I suspect had they both been available all season, Roy Hodgson would still be sitting in the dugout.
That’s not to say Oliver Glasner hasn’t taken them forward. His arrival along with midfielder Adam Wharton and full-back Daniel Muñoz seems to have refreshed a previously tired looking Palace side.
There’s a vibrancy to them at the moment that spells big danger for us on Saturday in a fixture we don’t win too often. Yes, we got the slightly unjust win last season but lost each of the previous 4 before that and also the game earlier in the season down at Selhurst.
As well as those mentioned above, Jean-Philippe Mateta has been on a red-hot scoring run, so that’s another issue for our weary looking defence to contend with at the weekend.
Wolves
I’m really hoping Pedro Neto is back for this one, but it’s probably a sub appearance at best given that he didn’t make the squad for City.
Without the cut and thrust of our own flying winger, we need to have more possession in this game and that means reverting to a proper front three or bringing Doyle back into the side.
If we don’t keep the ball well and it becomes all about Olise/Eze running the game for long periods with us sitting back and hoping for a counter, I really fear the worst.
I lifted this from the BBC site, which is something Gary needs to think about over the summer: 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.
I do think that stems from personnel as Semedo and Ait-Nouri don’t offer too much resistance and with the midfield more aggressive in the press, the defenders don’t get much protection generally. That needs addressing.
Predictions
A few said 4 but nobody was bold enough to predict a 5-1 walloping at The Etihad last weekend.
Given Palace’s recent upturn in form and our bungling end to the season, I’m mightily tempted to forecast another defeat. It doesn’t take great imagination to see them tearing us a new one, does it? But maybe the sun is going to my head because against my better judgement I’ll back Gary to extract one last big effort to see us sign-off at Molineux with a flourish – 3-2.
As always, if you’d like to join in with the Prediction League this season, 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.
Up The Wolves!
Flying over tonight and will be at park view tomorrow ready for early start Saturday
Yeay …plus bloggers gig to follow
Happy days
Now in the meantime we do need to see a return to
Liquid football and let’s end
On a high note lads !
I’d play Doyle before Sarabia and really really hope to see Pedro back to his dazzling best
Palace will be a challenge but …
COYW
Safe journey over to the home of the Golden Palace Marin ..
.. please get Linda to practice get .. “Wolves aye we..”
thanks Twixey
she still sounds a bit French I’m afraid..but working on Black country twang
Ahh yes, Liquid football! It’s been a while!!
looking forward to seeing you all .
Safe journey to you Marin . it’s fantastic and amazing that you always seem to make that journey .
Bloggers ball …. always a good laugh and great drink
looking forward to the Wolves winning tomorrow too
U T W
There’s still time if you fancy a great night out .. just let us know you’re coming by adding a note here ..
GO .. WHATS HOLDING YOU BACK ..
Great bunch of lads ..
Have a great evening everyone. Can’t make this one. I’ve a gig on that night. Maybe a 1st game back beer should be aimed for?
KTF.
Learning from mistakes
We don’t keep clean sheets anymore do we, maybe because they don’t have Lopetegui buying them pizzas anymore for doing so….incentive has gone!
Palace on a good run of form and our season has fizzled out. Still see it being close though
Gone for my normal 2-1 to the Wolves hope the defence is better than last week.
Me too mate
I’d really like a win for the final home game, but a draw might be our best hope.
We’ve got to win again before the end of the season and this game against Palace is the last chance saloon I think.
Let’s end this at the Mol on a high! It’s a 2-1 for the boys in gold.
COYMW!!!!!!
Lets finish the season at home with a win.
Despite their recent run of form if we are at the races we can win this and finish above them.
We don’t seem to be able to keep a clean sheet without Dawson in the side and I’m not convinced Cunha is anywhere near back to his pre injury form to provide the cutting edge we lack.
The comment about keeping Olise and Eze fit for Palace can easily be said about Cunha and Neto for us- we were flying too when both were fit and firing.
Hopefully an entertaining match but can’t see us winning, happy with a high scoring draw and a runout for Pedro.
I can see us winning at Liverpool though as their focus will be on celebrating Klopp’s departure?
Congratulations to Daniel Podence on reaching a European final with Olympiacos, the forgotten man , has he got a future at Wolves, does he want to return, would he fit our style of play now.
I think we all know the answer to that!
Palace flying at the moment and having seen them recently, they will be formidable opponents. Would love us to finish off at home with a win, but not sure it’s going to happen.
Agree with previous poster, we need to win as I don’t think we will get anything at liverpool. Sorry about the defence which is shopping goals but still live in hope of a win.
The last score was a “Clive” — in reverse!
Well, we are almost back to full strength except Dawson and maybe Neto.
Not quite back to full form!
Will be tough but feel a draw is on the cards.
Bit of a bogey team and a form team to boot,cant see us handling those two Herbert’s up front but might give their defence something to think about
Season has finished and a massive 3 months awaits for Shi and Fosun. I hope we are not looking for a new manager 10 days before the start of 24/25 season
Considering the teams that Palace have beaten recently, I wouldn’t be surprised if the best we can achieve is a draw. Therefore a 1-1 for me.
Would love to see a win for the final home game. Palace have been flying; however, if our 12th man can raise the roof and up the atmosphere, we could just pull it off (as we will against the odds next Sunday.)
Come on lads.
Not sure many Wolves fans have a great feeling about this one. Palace are flying and, as an overseas manager might say, very much in a good moment. Olise and Eze already giving me nightmares.
We’ve ended the season on something of a whimper, despite a decent display against Luton last time at home. This sort of game frightens me a bit. We’ve been better than Palace all season but I can see them coming here and running rings round us, looking bright, vibrant and fizzing in attack.
We’re sort of crawling to the finish line with our injuries this season, and they all look a bit knackered and in need of a break after what overall has been a solid season, If this wasn’t the last home game I’d probably predict defeat but I’ll be a tad more optimistic.
The final three games of this extraordinary season were always going to be tough, with Palace the most likely to yield reward. However, their recent form and return of their terrific front players renders this just as difficult as the other two and our defence and midfield will have to do their best Scrooge impression to keep them out.
Our team is full of surprises and although from the outside looking in we should be swept aside, the reality on the day is still to be realised. Our lads will be desperate to end the season at the Mol on a high. I feel they will.
I really don’t know why Palace aren’t higher up the table. They have some fantastic players, plenty of goal threat and play some very attractive football.
The stats Thomas mentioned re-goals conceded tell an important story. Perhaps Gary should be using these last few games to concentrate on not conceding – boring as that may be (and I don’t mean play for a 0-0 draw), I think it needs sorting before next season.
Having said that, a 0-0 draw would encourage me somewhat against a Palace who are rampant at the moment.
There’s nothing about our form or Palace’s that suggests we should get anything from this but it’s the last game of the season so…
Scoring is still the issue and we continue to concede.
Hoping to get something out of it but not sure we will.
Palace are on a rare streak of form and will be a real handful, but let’s be hopeful that we will finish the home season on a high. I would also try to find room for Tommy Doyle, as we miss his range of passing and Lemina and Gomes – while both excellent – seem to do much the same job. Wouldn’t have Sarabia – not much was made of him completely missing the ball to score against City, but he just hasn’t impressed this year and I’d give Tommy his place.
Also I’d be very happy if Neto doesn’t play in the last two matches. Why risk a player who has had two major hamstring injuries in matches that don’t really matter much? He was brought back too early last time and look what happened. Let’s get him right for next season – and not sell him.
As for the score, I’m going for a nervy 1-o win. Haven’t got one right all season but maybe this is the day … !
A tinge of sadness with it being the last home game of the season .. and normally teams without much to play for sometimes just go through motions .. I hope not tomorrow as we’re on a pretty abysmal run right now with only Luton’s scalp to parade in the past 6/7 games.
Ok injuries play a part but so does poor top end management and we can’t hide behind FFP forever..
Our squad depth is awful and it’s completely unfair to expect too much from 15-18 year olds.
I think tomorrow will be just like Everton last year .. us holding on to a lead and then messing up at the last knockings to result in a draw…
This sequence mirrors that of lunatic Lage when he was creating havoc .. and it ran on into the next season so we need to snap out of it now and go to Liverpool with a bit of form …
Sorry but it’s a draw for me ..
Hoping to make tomorrow and tomorrow night but her Ladyship is still poorly … fingers crossed…
The weather is likely to be ‘on the beach’. Like the players fans and everyone connected with WWFC. Even Jeff will be on the beach in his Chinese Communist Party pants. And the seagulls by the burger vans. They are on the beach. The Man on The Oss over the road from The Lych Gate. On the beach. The number 1 bus from Dudley to Wolverhampton. On the beach. In fact everyone is on the beach. Even me. The only slight problem is there is no beach in Wolverhampton. But hey. Just dip your feet in the canal! So. With everybody and everything on the beach it will be samba time at The Golden Palace. Goals galore. One individual not on the beach is Next Door Neighbour’s Cat. He is digging a tunnel underneath Stockley Park as we speak. And bang on 3pm tomorrow will emerge in to the room where the numerous clowns are sitting on VAR. NDNC will then administer a severe dose anaesthetic this knocking the clowns out for 2 hours. So raise a glass to Next Door Neighbour’s Cat for another successful mission to fuck VAR over. This game ends 3-3. And everyone slopes off happily to the beach after the match. Despite knowing had we not been constantly screwed over by VAR ALL SEASON we would probably be heading off on a European tour next season. But we stayed up. Job done. WWFC 3 PALACE 3
Good post, as usual COD.
I’d like to see VAR suspended for the final two games over the PL, forget the prolonged forensic analysis we currently see and then gauge reaction from interested parties as to how they view the improved flow of the games.
Refs decision final and keep the match momentum we used to enjoy.
Agreed mate. It needs to be radically reformed. Stop the finger nail offsides. Stop making subjective decisions on penalties or the ludicrous ‘foul’ by Cunha v Bournemouth. It should only get involved if the offside is a clear clanger. Say a ‘referee call ‘ like cricket if there is just 5 inches in it. But the toe nails and finger nails and where and when they draw the lines. Nah. Bin it.
It’s only palace at home lads, not man citeh ??
If for no other reason than that there’s a bunch of wolves bloggers from all corners meeting up after the game ( lucky buggers) it’s a home win for me
Last home game of the season, all you lucky peeps who are able to attend, make it loud and proud as only wolves can
Us 3 them 1
Come on you mighty wolves
Well … change of subject.. the panel judging controversial decisions agree that the first penalty against us v Man City should NOT have been given ..
What can you say ..
Craig Pawson .. you’re a wanker ..
Got a decent bet on for Wolves to finish in top ten so fingers crossed
I think that starting Tommy Doyle is essential tomorrow.
He is the least likely to give the ball away when we’re under pressure.
It’s cost us a lot of goals this season and we need to cut it out.
Come on lads, give us a good performance. Give us a reason to renew our season tickets.
Old age creeps on and it’s a long way to come. We need to be entertained.
Talking of which, hope to meet up with a few fellow bloggers tomorrow night.
I have no idea whatsoever as to what the result will be and what team will be put out.
On the theory that I get most forecasts wrong, I’ll go for a 2-1 loss.
With no real building work to the stadium since our present ownership, I remain puzzled as to what may happen in the close season. I would not even be surprised in another change of managership.
Whatever does occur, I shall be there supporting the team despite the way VAR is operated and the increasing ineptitude or worse, corruption, which I feel I can’t discount personally.
I hope the lads, who have done well despite the nonsense visited on us over the past few seasons, can send us away happy because our fans deserve, as does the team, better.
I just couldn’t post a loss in the end despite Palace’s great form…
Could be a painful end of season going on their current form, let’s hope not. Keep the faith UTW
.
Last home game of the season so all I want to see is a good game of football where two teams have a good go at each other with no VAR nonsense. Hopefully some goals!
Hoping to sign off at home with a good feeling.
Last home game of what I think we can class as a successful season we all now the reasons why it’s petered out recently. Most of our players are back and even though Palace are flying I am backing us the get a fitting end to our home campaign
I can’t fathom this team this season at all if my predictions are anything to go by. Hoping for a win.
The eagles get there comeuppance as the sneaky wolves stalk there way into the eagles nest and pinch the points bringing the soaring eagles crashing back down to earth
Our form seems to be all over the place at this tail end of the season. Can’t see it changing here I’m afraid……
Go for it lads and sign off the home season in style.
And afterwards, looking forward to the 2024 Bloggers Ball. See you there.