It is a London derby on Sunday, as Crystal Palace and West Ham United lock horns at the London Stadium in the Premier League.
The Eagles have endured an up-and-down season so far. They have won three of their last five league games and lie tenth in the table. Patrick Vieira’s side edged Southampton 1-0 at Selhurst Park last time out, responding immediately to the chastening 3-0 defeat at the hands of Everton.
Up next for Vieira’s men is a trip to West Ham, who are 13th in the table and lost their last league game 1-0 to Manchester United away.
Patrick Vieira could be without up to four players for Crystal Palace’s clash with West Ham.
Odsonne Edouard scored the winner against Southampton but was forced off 15 minutes from time after picking up a knock. Cheick Doucoure missed the Southampton game due to injury and remains doubtful for the upcoming Premier League game.
Chris Richards remains out with a thigh issue, while James McArthur is yet to feature this term due to a severe groin problem.
Nathan Ferguson played 45 minutes for the U-21s and is slowly building match-fitness.
Goalkeeper
Vicente Guaita will feature in between the sticks for Crystal Palace after keeping a clean sheet in his last league game. He will hope to come good when called upon against West Ham.
Defence
In a 4-3-3 setup, Joachim Andersen should resume his centre-back duties alongside Marc Guehi. Joel Ward and Tyrick Mitchell are likely to keep their spots at right-back and left-back in the Crystal Palace lineup, respectively.
Vieira will hope the Palace backline stays robust and stops West Ham from scoring during the 90 minutes.
Midfield
Cheick Doucoure will be assessed in training a day before the match but there is an expectation that he will be fit in time. The Mali international should start in his usual defensive midfield role in the Crystal Palace lineup, protecting the Eagles’ defence whilst ticking things over.
Doucoure should join Eberechi Eze and Jeffrey Schlupp to complete the Eagles’ midfield. Operating as two No.8s, Eze and Schlupp will be responsible to dictate the flow of the game for the visitors and manufacture meaningful opportunities in the final third for the forwards.
Attack
If Odsonne Edouard is not fit, Vieira could turn to Jean-Philippe Mateta to lead the Crystal Palace lineup in the London derby. The lanky Frenchman will look to impress at the weekend, combining well with wide forwards Wilfried Zaha and Jordan Ayew and getting himself on the scoresheet against David Moyes’ side.
Zaha has been Palace’s standout performer and is a shoo-in to start on the left flank, whereas Ayew should get the nod over Michael Olise on the other side of the attack in the Crystal Palace lineup.
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