West Ham United will be hoping to make it three Premier League wins on the bounce when they take on Crystal Palace at the London Stadium in a capital derby on Saturday.
The Hammers won the season opener at Newcastle United 4-2 in thrilling fashion before mauling 10-man Leicester City 4-1 at the London Stadium on Monday.
David Moyes’ side are top of the table for a reason and will truly fancy their chances against Patrick Vieira’s Crystal Palace, who are without a goal and a win from their opening two games of the new Premier League season.
Team News
Arthur Masuaku will be absent for West Ham again as he continues his recovery back to match fitness after having undergone a knee surgery. Winston Reid is sidelined as well with a knee injury.
Predicted West Ham lineup vs Crystal Palace (4-2-3-1)
Goalkeeper
Lukasz Fabianski could have done better to stop Youri Tielemans from scoring for Leicester. He’ll be raring to keep a clean sheet against Crystal Palace, however and will start in the West Ham lineup.
Defence
Craig Dawson and Angelo Ogbonna looked solid at the back against Leicester and Moyes will be hoping for a repeat showing from the pair. Vladimir Coufal’s energy and intensity gives the Hammers’ attacking threat down the right flank. He’ll have to be at his best to stop the tricky Wilfried Zaha at the weekend.
Meanwhile, Aaron Cresswell will keep his place at left-back in the West Ham lineup.
Midfield
Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek have been a reliable pair in the middle of the park for Moyes over the last couple of years. There’s no way the West Ham boss tinkers anything in midfield on Saturday.
Pablo Fornals was excellent against Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester, linking well with his teammates in the final third and causing all kinds of problems. He had opened the scoring with a well-taken left-footed strike from inside the box and was fortunate to survive any major damage to his ankle following a horrific tackle made by Ayoze Perez.
Attack
Jarrod Bowen and Said Benrahma were equally good in the Hammers’ attack, with the latter grabbing a goal and an assist. Benrahma, in particular, was all over the Foxes rearguard in the second half and his incisive passing from promising areas of the pitch was a treat to watch for the London Stadium faithful. The duo will retain their places in the West Ham lineup.
Attack
Michail Antonio became West Ham’s top scorer with a brace against Leicester on Monday as he moved past Paolo Di Canio’s previous record tally of 47 goals. He was too hot to handle for the Foxes and will be licking his chops at the prospect of going up against Crystal Palace’s centre-backs.