Crystal Palace vs West Ham preview, analysis and possible line-ups

Manchester City got even closer in the race to oust Arsenal to the Premier League title after a decimating 4-1 win saw the defending Champions move within two points of the league leaders, despite the former still having two more games to play. Chelsea recorded yet another awful loss, this time a 2-0 defeat to Brentford as The Blues further plunged into devastating woes.

This weekend sees Crystal Palace and West Ham open the action on Saturday 30 minutes past lunchtime whilst Brighton versus Wolves and Brentford versus Nottingham Forest roll in a couple of hours later. United play host to Aston Villa on Sunday, Fulham welcome Manchester City to the Craven cottage, Liverpool lock horns with Tottenham in a classic one, Southampton visit Newcastle and a couple of games.

This weekend would paint a bigger picture of Arsenal’s status as either prospective runners-up or still-strong title contenders in the Premier League. While it would not spill out all of the beans, it would at least satisfy our curiosities by giving a better definition and orientation to the title race between City and Arsenal.

Crystal Palace vs West Ham

Palace welcome The Hammers to the Selhurst Park. Just four days after hosting thirteenth placed Wolves at their home ground, The Eagles mete out the same treatment to David Moyes and his boys. Palace sit three points clear of Saturday’s opponents, West Ham. Three wins and a draw in the bag, Palace were ousted by the Wanderers midweek and would now be hoping to hop back onto the bandwagon of wins when they lock horns with Moyes’ side on Saturday.

A win over the Hammers would see Roy Hodgson’s men in hot pursuit of Chelsea who are two points ahead of The Eagles but with a game in hand. West Ham are four points clear of the relegation zone despite holding a game in hand (32 compared to the 16th to 20th placed teams which have 33 each) and after failing to clinch a point
have the pressure on their backs a little intensified.

A loss against Palace would close their lead to a definite four points while a win over Palace would see them climb all the way to safe haven in 12th place displacing their opponents.

Crystal Palace vs Wolves last time:

Crystal Palace:

Crystal Palace vs Wolves:

The Eagles were on the receiving end of a 2-0 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday night. The hosts took a hit after a scramble from a corner kick went in off Joachim Andersen for an own goal. Late on in the game, Johnstone’s slothfulness in dispatching the ball pressured him into tackling Pedro Neto in the area, conceding a penalty. Ruben Neves stepped up in the 94th minute of play, firing into the bottom left of the Palace goal to complete a 2-0 win.

West Ham:

West Ham vs Liverpool:

West Ham had their armor of good form stripped off as Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool ran over the Hammers at the London Stadium. Lucas Paqueta struck for the hosts inside 12 minutes but Cody Gakpo levelled things up six minutes later with a replica of the former’s effort. David Moyes’ men had a goal called off due to offside in the second half and Liverpool clinched the win via a 67th minute Joel Matip bullet header.

Crystal Palace vs West Ham last encounter

The Eagles were the happy side the last time the two slugged it out in the Premier League. Said Benrahma scored an electrifying opener for the hosts, a fine strike from 22 yards out in the 20th minute of play. Thilo Kehrer gave the ball away in the 41st minute to Eberechi Eze who teed up Wilfried Zaha for the equalizer and finally Michael Olise scored a dying minute goal, a sweet, top-notch curler to help the away team run away with all three points.

Crystal Palace vs West Ham Head-to-Head:

The sides have met 33 times before now with the 34th encounter set to happen on Saturday. The Hammers have been victorious fourteen times and have lost eight times. There have been eleven draws recorded between both teams to date.

Crystal Palace vs West Ham key stats

• In all 33 meetings between both sides, Crystal Palace and Wolves have never played out a stalemate.
• Both teams have scored in their past eleven fixtures against each other. The last time a clean sheets was kept was in January 2017, when West Ham defeated Palace 3-0.
• Crystal Palace host their opponents at the Selhurst Park where they(Palace) have recorded only one win over them(West Ham) out of seven home matches; a 2-1 win in the Premier League in December 2019.
• West Ham are unbeaten in their past four games away from home in all competitions this season.
• Both teams had fine runs of form terminated midweek, West Ham saw their five-match unbeaten run end in a 2-1 loss to Liverpool while Palace’s 2-0 loss to Wolves ended their four-game unbeaten run(three wins and one draw).

Crystal Palace vs West Ham key players:

Crystal Palace:

Wilfried Zaha(6 goals, 5.9xG)

West Ham:

Said Benrahma (5 goals, 6.7xG)
Jarrod Bowen (5 goals, 7.9xG)

Crystal Palace vs West Ham injuries
Crystal Palace:

Nathan Ferguson (muscle tear),
Likely for Saturday:
Wildfried Zaha, Joachim Andersen, Nathaniel Clyne

West Ham:
Gianluca Scamacca (knee injury)

Crystal Palace vs West Ham possible line-ups

Crystal Palace:

4-3-3: Johnstone, Mitchell, Guehi, Andersen, Richards, Hughes, Milivojevic, Sambi Lokonga, Eze, Olise, Ayew

West Ham:

4-3-3: Fabianski, Cresswell, Aguerd, Zouma, Coufal, Paqueta, Rice, Sousek, Benrahma, Bowen, Antonio