Matt Flack
West Ham come into this on a moral high after the game against Bucharest (FCSB) on Thursday night wining 3-0 becoming the first team in the conference leagues short creation to win all 6 group games and doing this while leaving a large contingent of the first team squad at home.
And while the premier league form has stuttered recently with 1-0 losses away at both Liverpool and man united, the form around this through October both home and abroad has brought a sense of calm back into the team.
West ham come into this in 13th on 14 points with 3 wins and a draw in the last 6 in all comps, with the losses coming as mentioned at Liverpool and united
Crystal palace actually come into this fixture 3 places and 2 points better off than the hammers, while sporting an identical record of their last 6 games with losses coming away during a very unlucky var filled game at Chelsea and an uncharacteristically poor performance away at Everton given the standards set by Patrik Viera, which could partially be blamed due to the lack of defensive midfield maestro Cheick Doucoure, injured and sorely missed in their last 2 games.
Head to Head
| West Ham | Crystal Palace | |
| 9 | Wins | 7 |
| 39 | Goals | 31 |
| 3 | Clean Sheets | 3 |
West ham come into this fixture on a 4-game unbeaten run against Crystal Palace in the premier league, with West Ham picking up 2 wins and 2 draws in the process, are hoping to complete back-to-back wins against their London rivals for the first time since 2017
Wilfred Zaha comes into this fixture with the interesting stat of having attempted more dribbles (take-ons) than any other player in the league this season (58), highlighting his dynamic dribbling ability emphasised under this new look attacking Patrick Viera team. Zaha unsurprisingly has also been fouled more often than anyone else (36), due to the close attention he is given my opposition defences. Further demonstrating the attacking abilities of this new look Palace is Eberechi Eze who put of players attempting at least 30 take-ons attempted, has the highest success rate (67% – 26/39) of any player in the league.
West Ham come into this fixture with a set of unique stats that really hammer home the weaknesses and strengths of Moyes’s team miserly 3 goals scored in the 1st half, showing what all of the fans know, that West ham at present is very much a second half team. However, while lacking on the goal scoring front at present David Moyes’s teams is showing its strength in its defence by currently having conceded the lowest amount of second half goals in (5).
Both teams are currently struggling in the bottom half of the division, almost mirroring one another with stop start campaigns, however both teams seem to have had a lot of enjoy in this fixture in recent times, with both teams having scored in the last 10 games, meaning we should be guaranteed a game of goals. Neither team however should be excited at the prospect of a fast start to the game, with the opening scorers having only won once in the last 10 fixtures, with 5 draws and 4 losses.
The current top scorers for both sides are Scamacca who currently sits on 6 goals in all competitions closely followed by a resurgent Bowen who is on 5.
The main man for crystal palace is once again Wilfred Zaha who currently sits on 5 goals for the season despite the behind-the-scenes politics regarding a contract extension, with his contract due to finish in the summer.
David Moyes said during his press conference that Paqueta has been back in training following a shoulder problem and should be able to return to the squad. Should being the key word.
However, Max Cornet and Lukasz Fabianski remain doubts for the West Ham due to calf and knee injuries respectively.
There will be wholesale changes to the side that took on FCSB, with Scamacca, Rice, Bowen & Cresswell to name a few among those in line to return.
Flynn Downes might be the only outfield player to keep his spot from Thursday, although Pablo Fornals brace in the fixture has put him in contention for a start here. This all depends on the fitness of Paqueta of course.
Another player mentioned but may or may not feature is Aguerd. Aguerd played the full 90 mins v FCSVB & Moyes said he may not feature in the Premier League, May being the key word.
As for Palace, Patrick Vieira said during his press conference that both Edouard and Doucoure trained on Friday afternoon following fitness issues, but the duo would still need to be assessed ahead of kick-off.
James Richards and Chris Ricards meanwhile, are definitely out of the match.
