West Ham United and Crystal Palace will lock horns tomorrow in what could turn out to be an entertaining game. The two sides seemed destined to go down until a few months ago before they decided to part with their managers.
While Palace went with the safe option by appointing Roy Hodgson, the Hammers went after David Moyes. Both the managers have been able to turn their respective club’s season around.
Moyes’ side are in good form in the league, having lost just once in the last nine games. Although their defeat to Wigan Athletic and the injury list will raise a few concerns, they are well on their way to finish in the top half of the table if they can keep up their league form. Their last game against Bournemouth ended in a 1-1 draw.
Palace were resoundingly beaten by Arsenal in their last game but were on a three-game unbeaten streak before that. They stopped Manchester City and beat Burnley in that run, so they’ll be fairly confident of stopping the Hammers at the London stadium.
Team News
Jason Puncheon Scott Dann, Connor Wickham, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Jeffrey Schlupp are still unavailable for Palace. The positive news is that Yohan Cabaye and Mamadou Sakho are in line to start the game. Sakho’s return will definitely fortify the defence as Palace push to challenge for a spot in the top half of the table.
Pedro Obiang will miss the clash owing to a knee injury suffered in the defeat at the hands of Wigan. Arthur Masuaku has been suspended for six games after a petulant act of spitting during the FA Cup game, so we expect Aaron Cresswell to play on the left.
Probable lineups
West Ham XI: Adrian; Cresswell, Ogbonna, Collins, Zabaleta, Noble, Mario, Kouyaté, Byram, Martinez, Hernandez
Crystal Palace XI: Hennessey, van Aanholt, Sakho, Tomkins, Fosu-Mensah, Cabaye, Milivojevic, McArthur, Sakho, Benteke, Zaha
Head to head
West Ham have managed to remain unbeaten in the last five games involving the two sides. Palace’s last win came in 2015 when a brace from Glenn Murray and a header from Scott Dann put the Hammers to the sword (yeah, that does sound awkward).
The two sides have faced off 13 times in the Premier League and West Ham have the edge with six wins. Palace have mustered four wins while the remaining three have ended in draws.
Odds
West Ham United: 39/20
Draw: 23/10
Crystal Palace: 8/5