Rob Edwards at risk of unwanted 31-year-record in his first game at Wolves

Wolves’ winless run has left them at the bottom of the Premier League, and they’ll be hoping to end that streak at 11 games with a win against Crystal Palace this weekend, or else they’ll create unwanted history.

Rob Edwards’ first few games in charge are far from easy, but he would have seen the fixture list upon signing and would have relished the challenge ahead.

His inaugural match is a home game against Crystal Palace, and the Eagles are an excellent side who boast a great deal of talent within their ranks, making it a tough match-up.

Edwards does have a good record against Palace in the Premier League, and he’ll be hoping to leverage that on Saturday.

As if he does not, history shows surviving relegation is even more challenging than it already is for the Old Gold.

Wolves have not gone on a 12-game winless streak since 1983/1984

Unfortunately for Wolves, going on a winless run in their first 12 league games is not uncharted territory.

Back in 1983/1984, the Old Gold actually managed 14 games without a win as they mustered up just 29 points across 42 games in the First Division, finishing in 22nd place and being relegated.

That era was the start of a landslide for the club, as they would ultimately follow up that dreadful season with further back-to-back relegations.

They fell from the top flight to the fourth division in just three seasons.

This campaign, the Old Gold are now 11 Premier League matches without a win, and Rob Edwards will be hoping to avoid making that 12 and drawing comparisons to the Wolves team of the mid-1980s.

But to do so, he must go against a terrible stat for Wolves against Crystal Palace.

• READ MORE: Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher agree on how Rob Edwards’ first game as Wolves boss will end up

With this record in danger of being matched 31 years on, Edwards will be looking to avoid starting his tenure with unwanted history.

The arrival of Paul Trollope as an assistant will provide a boost after what Ricky Lambert said about the new Wolves coach.

And with a win against Crystal Palace, there’ll be some hope to look back on.

Only three teams out of seven have survived after going 12 games winless in the Premier League

Only seven times in the history of the Premier League has a team not won a game after 12 matches.

And on four of those occasions, it has resulted in relegation. Only Everton in 1994-95, Derby County in 2000-01 and Newcastle United in 2021-22 have had such records and managed to maintain their status as a Premier League club.

Additionally, in those cases, Everton had two more points (4) after 12 games than Wolves currently have after 11.

Derby and Newcastle both had four more (6) than the Old Gold.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
18	West HamWest Ham	11	3	1	7	13	23	-10	10
19	Nottingham ForestNottingham Forest	11	2	3	6	10	20	-10	9
20	WolvesWolves	11	0	2	9	7	25	-18	2

Of course, if Edwards can manage to pull off a victory against Crystal Palace on Saturday, it would put the Wanderers in a better position than Everton were in and just one point off the other two examples.

It would offer a historical precedent for Wolves to draw inspiration from and perhaps provide some hope for their chances.