West Ham vs. Crystal Palace
Venue: London Stadium
Kick off: 3PM
West Ham United will be looking to continue their impressive start to the 2021-22 Premier League season when they welcome Crystal Palace to the London Stadium this afternoon.
The Hammers are currently top of the table with six points from their first two matches, while Palace are down in 14th, having collected one point from their opening two fixtures of the campaign.
West Ham excelled in the Premier League last season, picking up 65 points from their 38 matches to finish sixth, which has seen them directly qualify for the group stages of the 2021-22 Europa League.
Many doubted whether the Hammers would be capable of launching another challenge for a European spot this term due to a quiet summer transfer window – at least until now – but David Moyes’s side have been in excellent form in the early stages of the campaign.
The Hammers opened their season with a 4-2 win over Newcastle United on August 15 before recording a 4-1 victory over Leicester City on Monday night; Michail Antonio netted two late goals against the Foxes to become the club’s all-time Premier League record goalscorer with 49.
Moyes’s side will now take on Palace and Southampton either side of the international break before welcoming Manchester United to the London Stadium on September 19, while the London club have also been drawn against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team in the third round of the EFL Cup.
West Ham have only actually won one of their last five Premier League matches against Palace, while they have not overcome the Eagles on home soil since December 2018.
Palace, meanwhile, opened their 2021-22 Premier League season with a 3-0 defeat at Chelsea on the opening weekend before playing out a goalless draw with Brentford at Selhurst Park last time out.
The Eagles were also in EFL Cup action on Tuesday, with a strong side suffering a 1-0 defeat to Watford, meaning that new head coach Patrick Vieira is still waiting for his first win as the club’s head coach.
Palace will be wary of suffering another disappointing result today considering that their next two in the Premier League are against Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool.
The Eagles have been present in the top flight of English football since 2013, but they have finished 14th in each of the last two seasons, and their home form last term was concerning, losing eight Premier League matches at Selhurst Park, although the return of supporters should help them.
Palace picked up a point in the corresponding match during the 2020-21 campaign, while they have only lost once away to West Ham in the Premier League since January 2017.
West Ham possible XI: Fabianski, Coufal, Dawson, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Soucek, Rice, Bowen, Fornals, Benrahma, Antonio.
Crystal Palace possible XI: Guaita, Ward, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell, Gallagher, Kouyate, McArthur, Zaha, Benteke, Ayew