Crystal Palace Match Preview
It’s the second midweek game in succession for West Ham United as they go in search of more Premier League points when they head to Selhurst Park for a London derby tonight.
Crystal Palace went ahead in Stratford when the two teams met last month but the Hammers battled back to take a point as the match ended in a 1-1 draw. David Moyes will certainly be hoping for a much better performance in this encounter.
Having picked up six points from their last two top-flight matches, together with booking their place in the fifth round of the Emirates FA Cup on Saturday, they will be hoping to do all they can to clinch another three points here.
Although the Eagles achieved the double over their rivals last season, in the past, this fixture has tended to have a habit of going in favour of the visitors but the Irons haven’t tasted success in South-East London since 2016, when Slaven Bilic led them to a 3-1 victory.
The home side will be the fresher of the two teams going into the game, as the Hammers have played twice since Roy Hodgson’s men were last in action. Having said that, the hosts will definitely want to make amends for their 4-0 defeat at Manchester City on 17 January.
Although the team were thoroughly impressive on Saturday, Vladimír Coufal, Aaron Cresswell, Angelo Ogbonna, Declan Rice and Michail Antonio are set to all be restored to the starting line-up, while it remains to be seen whether Fabián Balbuena will be preferred to Craig Dawson in defence after the Paraguayan recently returned from his period of self-isolation.
It is unlikely that youngster Oladapo Afolayan will be involved, despite scoring on his senior debut for the East Londoners against Darren Moore’s men.
Jarrod Bowen wasn’t even in the matchday squad for the tie against Sky Bet League One outfit Doncaster Rovers but the former Hull City winger is set to return here.
Just as last Tuesday’s match against West Bromwich Albion, the encounter against the Eagles is another 6pm kick-off and live coverage will be screened by BT Sport with build-up available from 5:30pm. The referee is Stuart Attwell.