West Ham United travel to Selhurst Park having lost in the same manner as Palace in their opening game.
They conceded a stoppage time winner at home to London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, young defender Eric Dier making his first senior appearance for the club bagged the winner in injury time.
The Eagles will look to put an incredibly dark week behind them as they look to secure their first points of the season amongst allegations of spying and controversy in what was to be the appointment of new manager Malky Mackay.
Manager Sam Allardyce oversaw a 13th place finish in the Premier League last season, two places below Palace who will go into Saturday’s game knowing that they did the double over the Hammers last season. The East London club have brought in six fresh faces over the summer with Big Sam still expecting to bring in one or two more as they look to improve on last season.
Team News
West Ham United
Argentinian forward Zarate along with Cresswell, Kouyate and Poyet have all recently moved to Upton Park and are available while injury plagued striker Andy Carroll will once again be side-lined. They boosted their fire power with Ecuadorian international Enner Valencia who impressed with three goals at this summer’s FIFA World Cup. However, having only made a cameo appearance in the defeat to Spurs he may feature at the start. Another new signing Sakho did not feature at all after completing his move from Metz last Thursday and found himself ineligible to play so he may debut in trip to SE25.
Crystal Palace
Caretaker boss Keith Millen will be without Jason Puncheon after he was sent off at the Emirates on Saturday evening. Defender Scott Dann limped off just before the end of the match so Damien Delaney may deputise once again alongside goal scoring debutant Brede Hangeland in the back line. Palace have been handed a triple boost with the news that Jonny Williams, Adrian Mariappa and Jerome Thomas should all be cleared to feature although Millen was quick to add that they will be short of match fitness.
Analysis and Predictions
Prediction for West Ham United – 12th
The Irons once again start the season without a star striker fit so the new signings are going to have to hit the ground running otherwise blame may fall squarely on boss Sam Allardyce. Last season it was a case of if they could not win then they did not lose so West Ham are going to have to be able to able to turn draws into wins should they want to succeed and maybe even push for a Europa League spot.
They need to shrug off the injury problems they experienced last year and they must consolidate their Premier League status with a mid-table finish and a decent cup run in an attempt at satisfying the fans. With the club heading to the Olympic Stadium, the most important thing for the Hammers will be to ensure that they are playing Premier League football when they move in.
EPL Index Prediction – Draw
Who Scored prediction – Draw
Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson’s prediction – Draw
My prediction – Palace win
