Crystal Palace‘s four-game unbeaten run in the league came to an end last weekend when they lost to Newcastle United at St. James’ Park. The Eagles now turn their attention towards West Ham United, who they play at Selhurst Park on Thursday.
Roy Hodgson’s side are just outside the top 10 and are four points ahead of the Hammers on the league table. The last time these two sides faced off earlier this season, Palace won the game 2-1 at the London Stadium.
Let’s take a look at the Crystal Palace lineup for the game against West Ham United:
Team News
Defenders Gary Cahill, Scott Dann and Joel Ward will all miss the game against West Ham, as they did last weekend against Newcastle. Andros Townsend will also miss the game due to an injury. But, there’s some good news for Hodgson as defender Mamadou Sakho is set to return to the side, following his three-match ban due to a red card.
PREDICTED CRYSTAL PALACE LINEUP vs WEST HAM UNITED (4-3-2-1)
Goalkeeper
Vicente Guaita should start in goal for Palace against West Ham United in the Crystal Palace lineup.
Defence
Sakho should return to the heart of the defence against the Hammers, playing in place of Cheikhou Kouyaté, who had moved to centre back for the game against Newcastle. He should play at the back alongside James Tomkins. Martin Kelly and Patrick van Aanholt should retain their places in the Palace team at right-back and left-back, respectively.
Midfield
Sakho’s return to defence means that Kouyaté could move ahead to his natural central midfield position for Crystal Palace. He could replace James McArthur or James McCarthy in the middle of the park. The former could get the nod to play in midfield, alongside Kouyaté and captain Luka Milivojevic.
Attack
Christian Benteke had a very good game against Newcastle United, despite not getting on the score sheet. The big Belgian won 11 aerials in the game – more than any other player on the pitch, and was a handful. He should keep his place in the team despite not scoring yet this season.
Wilfred Zaha should start off the left in the Crystal Palace lineup and Andros Townsend’s injury means that Jordan Ayew could continue from the right side of attack.
CRYSTAL PALACE LINEUP
