High riding Wanderers looked likely to continue their impressive run against West Bromwich Albion whilst bottom of the table Palace were still searching for that illusive first victory of the season.
So much for the form book then...
Albion convincingly defeated Bolton 2-1 at the Hawthorns whilst Palace ground out a hard earned win at home against their London rivals Fulham, both ironically staged in front of the television cameras.
Saturday's game may seem like a home banker but as that good old form book tells us you can't always rely on things to go right hence the reason why struggling Palace must not be taken lightly.
The last time the two sides met in the top division was at the Reebok Stadium way back in May 1998 when Bolton thumped the Eagles by five goals to two in one of the most entertaining matches of that season.
Saturday's game could see Bolton manager Sam Allardyce set to recall striker Kevin Davies and defender Nicky Hunt to the team after they missed the defeat against the Baggies. Midfielder Kevin Nolan (ankle) is a doubt but Jay-Jay Okocha (thigh) could return. Ricardo Gardner is set miss out due to international commitments with both Julio Cesar and Anthony Barness standing by. Florent Laville and recent signing Khalilou Fadiga are pushing for places in the squad.
Palace boss Iain Dowie welcomes back quartet Tony Popovic, Ivan Kaviedes, Joonas Kolkka and Aki Riihilahti from international duty. New Greek signing Vassilis Lakis is once again expected to be named amongst the substitutes. Nicola Ventola, Neil Shipperley and Danny Butterfield are all on the injury list.
LAST SEASON (2000-2001)
16/04/2001 CRYSTAL PALACE 0 BOLTON WANDERERS 2
28/10/2000 BOLTON WANDERERS 3 CRYSTAL PALACE 3 (DIVISION ONE)
PLAYED FOR BOTH
Chris Armstrong
Cam Burgess
David Burke
Matt Clarke
Sasa Curcic
Wyn Davies
Tony Evans
Jamie Fullarton
Jamie Pollock
Neil Redfearn
John Salako
Paul Warhurst
Terry Wharton