The final game before the second international break of the season sees the Eagles travel to the London Stadium to take on an in form West Ham United ahead of embarking on a very daunting run of fixtures.
DATE
5th October 2019
KICK OFF
5.30pm
VENUE
London Stadium, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London E20 2ST
LAST SEASON
This fixture last season saw Palace take a very early lead through James McArthur who found the ball at his feet and poked it home. The hosts equalised right after the break courtesy of Robert Snodgrass before two goals from Chicharito and Felipe Anderson in three minutes effectively killed off the game. Palace pulled one back thanks to Jeffrey Schlupp with less than fifteen minutes left to play but could not find an equaliser before the final whistle.
OFFICIALS
Michael Oliver takes charge at the London Stadium with assistants Stuart Burt and Gary Beswick. Peter Bankes will be the fourth official while Paul Tierney takes on the VAR role with Andy Halliday his assistant.
INJURIES
PALACE – Mamadou Sakho is a doubt while Connor Wickham is fighting a fitness battle but could make the bench.
WEST HAM – Michail Antonio and Lukasz Fabianski will miss out while Winston Reid is unfit.
SUSPENSIONS
Luka Milivojevic received his fifth booking of the season against Norwich City last weekend so sits this one out.
DISCIPLINE
Red cards – Arthur Masuaku (1)
Yellow cards (2+) – Luka Milivojevic (5), Jordan Ayew (3) Angelo Ogbonna (2), Mark Noble (2)
FORM GUIDE
Last FIVE meetings between the two sides;
- 09/02/2019 Crystal Palace 1-1 West Ham United
- 08/12/2018 West Ham United 3-2 Crystal Palace
- 30/01/2018 West Ham United 1-1 Crystal Palace
- 28/10/2017 Crystal Palace 2-2 West Ham United
- 14/01/2017 West Ham United 3-0 Crystal Palace
Last FIVE results for Palace;
- 28/09/2019 Crystal Palace 2-0 Norwich City
- 22/08/2019 Crystal Palace 1-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
- 14/09/2019 Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 Crystal Palace
- 31/08/2019 Crystal Palace 1-0 Aston Villa
- 27/08/2019 Crystal Palace 0-0 Colchester United
Last FIVE results for opposition;
- 28/09/2019 Bournemouth 2-2 West Ham United
- 25/09/2019 Oxford United 4-0 West Ham United
- 22/09/2019 West Ham United 2-0 Manchester United
- 16/09/2019 Aston Villa 0-0 West Ham United
- 31/08/2019 West Ham United 2-0 Norwich City
RECORD AGAINST WEST HAM
- Played 40
- Won 7
- Drawn 15
- Lost 18
FORM PLAYERS
Top two rated players from each team so far this season according to Who Scored;
- Sebastien Haller 7.62
- Felipe Anderson 7.53
- Wilfried Zaha 7.07
- James McArthur 6.96
ONE TO WATCH
SEBASTIEN HALLER
Former clubs – FCO Vigneux, Bretigny Foot, Auxerre, FC Utrecht, Eintracht Frankfurt
The French striker impressed for Frankfurt last season enough for the Hammers to take a £40million plus gamble on him. He signed a five year deal at the London club after a strike rate of a goal in every two and a half games for the German side.
His career so far has taken in France, Netherlands, Germany and now England having scored goals at every club he has been at. It may be seen as a gamble for the transfer fee but if the Frenchman returns 15+ goals this season, some of the bigger clubs will be wondering why they did not give him a go.
KEY CLASH
CHEIKHOU KOUYATE v DECLAN RICE
The former Hammer faces his old club and a midfielder that has flourished in the Hammers midfield. The tough tacking and energetic performances that the Senegalese international has shown since moving to South London have earned him plaudits from the fans, and there are many West Ham fans that still wonder why the club let him go. In Rice however, they have a player that has acclimatised well after his move from the back line into the midfield which has earned him international call ups with England. With the absence of Luka for this game, Palace will be looking towards Kouyate among others.
PRE-GAME STATS
- West Ham are undefeated in their last 8 matches against Palace in all competitions
- Declan Rice has the most tackles between the two side so far this season with 27 ahead of Joel Ward who has 21
- Palace have created 0.57 chances per match in the Premier League so far this season compared with West Ham’s 1.43
- West Ham are undefeated in their last 6 Premier League matches
- The top passer between the two sides so far this season is Luka Milivojevic with 351 ahead of Declan Rice with 310
PREDICTION
Both sides have big names missing from their starting line up for this game which could have a big say on how this game goes. West Ham will miss the reliable Fabianski between the sticks for what is looking like a couple of months, while Palace are without captain Milivojevic. Which one is more important is hard to say but both teams will have to acclimatise appropriately. There are of course capable deputies and with both teams in good form, it is likely to be another interesting game between the two. Previous encounters have always seen goals and we do not see this one being any different.
Final score: 2-2
OPPOSITION VIEW
Find out what popular West Ham fan site Green Street Hammers told us this week ahead of the match in our Opposition View.
We were also asked a number of interesting questions ahead of the game for the same guys, so find out what we told Green Street Hammers for their article, ‘West Ham v Palace: The Oppositions View!’
Also worth checking out the preview on You Tube courtesy of the guys at West Ham Fan TV:
BETTING ODDS
- Home – Evens
- Draw – 12/5
- Away – 13/5
- Both teams to score – 8/11
