Wolves v Crystal Palace Tips: Zaha to work Patricio as Palace look to end dismal losing streak

Europa League hopefuls Wolves welcome a Crystal Palace side who are massively out of form to Molineux in this evening’s late kick-off (20.15) in the Premier League, aired live on BT Sport.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s men have been impressive again this season and sit 7th in the top-flight standings, so it’s no surprise to see them priced up as solid 1/2 favourites for this clash, given a 66% chance of winning by the odds-makers. 

Palace by contrast are in torrid form having lost their last six league games so enter this one as 15/2 underdogs. 

Indeed, while that price may look appealing on paper, the Eagles have a lot of injury concerns at present and will be without Patrick van Aanholt, James Tomkins, Martin Kelly, Gary Cahill and possibly Jeffrey Schlupp for this one, while Chritian Benteke is suspended - further harming their chances in the West Midlands. 

Wolves have a full squad to choose from with no injury worries, and unlike their mid-table opponents have something to play for which will surely enhance their performance on home turf.

Our three football tips for this evening’s match-up can be found below. 

To kick things off I’m backing Wilfried Zaha to have 1+ shot(s) on target, priced at 5/4 with Betfair (boosted from evens). 

It goes without saying what a huge attacking threat the Ivorian winger is for Palace. The south Londoners rely on their talismanic midfielder to create chances out wide for the likes of Jordan Ayew to capitalise on in the middle. 

However, while his talents mainly lie in taking players on and crossing into the box, Zaha is not afraid to take shots on goal himself.

At 5/4, I think he is tremendous value considering he is one of the few players with natural attacking prowess in the visitors’ line-up. I don’t expect Palace to create too many chances this evening, but if Zaha gets a sniff in front of goal then I’d expect him to at least hit the target. 

Raul Jimenez has been deadly in front of goal this term, netting 26 in all competitions and 17 in the Premier League.

The Masked Mexican is in terrific form right now, scoring a goal in each of his previous two appearances against Everton and Burnley, and could well find more joy against a Palace side who have not kept a clean sheet since the opening game of Project Restart on June 20. 

I’m doubling up this mid-priced selection with Luka Milivojevic to yet again find his way into the ref’s notebook. Not much to say on this one, in truth, other than the fact that the Serbian is Palace’s - and the Premier League’s - most-booked player this term with an astonishing 12 bookings to his name. 

Milivojevic has been booked in his last three games and landed us a huge 66/1 longshot last week when he saw yellow in the 93rd minute against Manchester United; more of the same here please, Luka. 

I think this bet, priced up at 13/2 with Betfair, has fantastic potential and you’re really getting great value considering it’s priced up at just 4/1 with bet365! 

Romain Saiss is Wolves’ most-booked player this season with 10 yellow cards and will be tasked with marking a lively Palace forward-line containing pure speed and trickery in the form of Jordan Ayew, Andros Townsend and Wilfried Zaha. 

Saiss will be present in a Wolves back-three which can at times become quite exposed, and up against the agility of the aforementioned names we could quite easily see the Moroccan pick up his 11th yellow of the campaign.

Patrick van Aanholt will miss this clash after sustaining an injury in the defeat to Manchester United last week, and his replacement is likely to be 20-year-old Premier League novice Tyrick Mitchell, who has only featured for the Eagles for a total of 15 minutes this season. 

And what a player to make your Premier League debut against - Wolves’ pace-merchant Adama Traore - a player who continuously draws in fouls and sees his direct opponent booked through a late tackle. Mitchell’s lack of experience coupled with the speed of Traore is a recipe for a yellow card, in my eyes. 

To round off this three-pronged-punt I’m tipping Palace front man Jordan Ayew to register one or more shots on target. The Ghanian is the biggest attacking threat for the visitors and has nine goals to his name this season.

He will be relied upon to deliver the goods for Palace at the top end of the pitch this evening, and I expect him to get one or two chances in front of goal.

Now in the final stretch of this bizarre campaign, this will be the last game of MNF until September so I hope that it’s a good one and you enjoy it, but please always remember to gamble responsibly.