Crystal Palace v Wolves – Preview

It may be a little early for that, but the signs are certainly promising.

Bruno Lage’s side are now unbeaten in five games, winning four of them. If you go further back to the start of September, too, they have won 16 of a possible 21 points with only Chelsea and Arsenal taking more.

They are now seventh in the Premier League and only four points off the top four.

In recent games the side has not performed, but on Monday night against Everton they played some of the best football Molineux has seen in some time.

Wolves are a work in progress and it is important to note that Lage is working with largely the same squad as last season, but he is producing.

The trip to Crystal Palace tomorrow offers another opportunity for Wolves to gather more momentum before a difficult December.

Patrick Vieira’s side tend to line-up in a 4-3-3, which could pose Lage some issues.

Three midfielders, which includes Conor Gallagher who carries the ball forward well, could overload the two Wolves are likely to play.

Equally, if Christian Benteke plays, he has all the attributes for a striker that has caused Conor Coady issues in the past.

But Wolves should be focused on what threats they themselves pose as the squad’s qualities have begun to shine through.

Even if Fernando Marcal is available after his calf injury, Rayan Ait-Nouri deserves to keep his spot.

The youngster is still improving in defence, but has also avoided any major mistakes so far, while going forward he is a huge asset – something Marcal does not offer.

In midfield, Ruben Neves was at his most influential on Monday and when he is on song, Wolves often are too.

Raul Jimenez, too, is beginning to put together his best performances. Alongside a good goal earlier in the week, he’s linking play extremely well and is forming a superb partnership with Hwang Hee-chan.

And Lage wants his side to consistently stay at the level they reached in the first half against Everton. He said: “The players, and me and my staff, we analyse and understand what we can do better. We work hard for that.

“Our players can do this. This is why the standards should be at this level. They can do it and now we need to continue at this level.

“It’s going to be hard and sometimes we are going to play against top teams and they will have the ball more than us, but we need to come and try and play our game every time. We have our idea, but if the players don’t like it and they don’t want to work hard, then we have no chance. This is why we want competition here, it’s very important.

“I know the players who played will not sleep because the other guys who did not play will be there working hard because they want to play.

“That’s why the competition inside is very important for solid performances.”

Opposition view

Crystal Palace have become draw specialists under new boss Patrick Vieira.

Of their 10 Premier League games so far the London club have drawn six, while winning and losing two apiece.

Only picking up two victories is a concerning statistic, but their 2-0 success over Manchester City last week shows the progress they are making this season.

They are hard to beat, too, and will offer a stern test for Wolves tomorrow in front of a hostile Selhurst Park crowd.

Palace were last beaten on September 18, 3-0 away at Liverpool, but have picked up some good points in the games that followed, putting them 13th in the league.

The mixture of experience and youthful exuberance is working for the new boss, too.

Marc Guehi, Tyrick Mitchell, Conor Gallagher, Michael Olise and Odsonne Edouard are all aged 23 or under and have all played big parts in the team so far this season.

Meanwhile, Vicente Guaita, Joel Ward, Cheikhou Kouyate, James McArthur, Jordan Ayew, Luka Milivojevic and Christian Benteke are all aged between 30 and 34 with plenty of experience.

That blend within the squad is helping Vieira create a solid unit that is hard to beat, but also a side with some flair going forward.

Gallagher has impressed breaking forward from midfield and has so far notched three goals, while Edouard is proving to be a handy signing from Celtic.

Wilfried Zaha offers the usual bag of tricks on the wing, while a solid centre-back pairing of Guehi and Joachim Andersen is difficult to overcome.

In short, Palace have created a well-balanced squad that will offer Wolves plenty of issues.