Crystal Palace Match Preview

West Ham United finally got back to winning ways with an emphatic 4-1 win over newly-promoted Watford on Tuesday to end 2021 and they are on the road again on New Year’s Day as they face a London derby with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

The Hammers climbed back up to fifth place in the Premier League table with their first win since December 4 and having earnt only their second success of the month four days ago, the Irons will be full of confidence going into this game against the Eagles.

The visitors will be seeking some sort of revenge here as a second-half comeback saw Patrick Viera’s men secure a point in a 2-2 draw when the reverse fixture was played back in August.

After being beaten 3-2 at Newcastle United back on 17 April, David Moyes saw his side claim triumph after triumph on their travels until November 20 when they suffered a 1-0 defeat at Molineux. Having beaten the Hornets last time out, they will be looking for that form to continue.

Both teams were in action on Tuesday, so it will be interesting to see who comes out on top here.

Declan Rice is back from suspension for this game and will make his 150th top-flight appearance. However, Moyes may consider playing him in a more defensive role as club Captain Mark Noble could retain his place alongside Manuel Lanzini after he made his first Premier League start of the season against Claudio Ranieri’s men. If he is selected for the second successive match, then he will fill in for Pablo Fornals, as the Spaniard continues to recover from Coronavirus.

Nikola Vlašić was introduced as a late substitute at Vicarage Road and opened his account for the club so he will be hoping for his second start in the space of six days.

The match is a 5:30pm kick-off with live coverage being screened by Sky Sports from 5pm. The referee is Michael Oliver.