Crystal Palace and Wolverhampton Wanderers meet at Selhurst Park on Sunday after both winning the EFL Cup in midweek.
The Eagles battled back from a 2-0 deficit to upset Plymouth Argyle 4-2 on Tuesday, while the Wanderers demolished League One side Blackpool 5-0.
Match preview
Crystal Palace appeared to be heading for an early EFL Cup departure on Tuesday, trailing 2-0 midway through the second half to Plymouth Argyle, but Roy Hodgson’s players flashed their Premier League muscles to seal their place in the third round.
Following Odsonne Edouard’s goal, Jean-Philippe Mateta scored a 22-minute hat-trick to complete Crystal Palace’s comeback, meaning the Eagles have now lost just one of their four matches this season across all competitions.
The Eagles began their season with a 1-0 win over newly promoted Sheffield United before losing 1-0 at Arsenal, but Hodgson’s team came within a whisker of a point after Takehiro Tomiyasu was sent off in the 67th minute.
Last Saturday, Palace came from behind to draw 1-1 with London rival Brentford thanks to Joachim Andersen’s 76th-minute equalizer, but they left the Gtech Community Stadium disappointed after registering 15 shots and limiting the Bees to a single attempt on goal.
Still, there is no disputing that the Eagles are making significant progress under Hodgson, who has lost only three of his 14 games since returning to the club in March, winning seven and drawing four.
To say Wolverhampton Wanderers dominated Blackpool in midweek would be an understatement, as Gary O’Neil’s side had 73% possession and 13 shots at Molineux, while the visitors failed to register a single shot on goal.
Following up on his 87th-minute winner against Everton last weekend, Austrian striker Sasa Kalajdzic started the scoring on Tuesday, with Fabio Silva increasing Wolves’ lead before the break.
After the break, the returning Matt Doherty scored two quick goals to put the game out of reach, while 18-year-old forward Nathan Fraser came off the bench to score his first senior goal and complete the thrashing.
Wolves were defeated 1-0 by Manchester United in the opening weekend of the Premier League season, despite having 23 efforts on goal at Old Trafford, but they were thoroughly overpowered by Brighton & Hove Albion in their second match, suffering a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of the Seagulls.
However, with clean-sheet wins over Everton and Blackpool, O’Neil will be sure that he is the perfect man to lead the club forward following the unfortunate resignation of former manager Julen Lopetegui, who left only days before the start of the new season.
Crystal Palace are still without key playmaker Michael Olise due to injury, although everyone involved with the club will be happy that he remains at Selhurst Park following interest from Chelsea earlier in the transfer window.
The Eagles will also be without new signing Matheus Franca this weekend as the Brazilian youngster continues to recover from a back issue, while midfielder Will Hughes is a doubt for Sunday’s clash due to a knee problem.
Fresh from netting a hat-trick in midweek, Jean-Philippe Mateta could make his first Premier League start of the season, with one of Odsonne Edouard, Jeffrey Schlupp and Jordan Ayew likely to make way for the French striker.
Wolves’ 20-year-old midfielder Joe Hodge is out with a hamstring injury, while South Korean forward Hwang Hee-chan is a doubt after suffering a minor hamstring injury.
Matheus Nunes has left Molineux for Manchester City in a £53 million move, following Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho, Adama Traore, Raul Jimenez, Nathan Collins, and Conor Coady on the Wanderers’ summer departure list.
Sasa Kalajdzic, who has scored in back-to-back games, should lead the line for the visitors at Selhurst Park, with Matheus Cunha providing attacking assistance to the lone striker.
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Johnstone; Ward, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell; Doucoure, Lerma; Ayew, Eze, Edouard; Mateta
Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Sa; Semedo, Dawson, Kilman, Ait-Nouri; Neto, Gomes, Lemina, Sarabia; Cunha; Kalajdzic
We say: Crystal Palace 1-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
This fixture has a low-scoring history, with 10 of the previous 11 meetings between Crystal Palace and Wolves producing fewer than three goals.
With that in mind, we expect Palace and Wolves to serve up a tense and cagey encounter on Sunday, sharing the spoils for their troubles.
