EPL: Olise and Ayew in top shape for Palace against Hammers
West Ham United will endeavour to claim a fifth successive victory in all competitions when they welcome Crystal Palace to the London Stadium for a Premier League clash on Sunday.
The Eagles, meanwhile, are seeking to avoid a third consecutive league defeat after losing their last two games to teams inside the bottom four.
West Ham enter Sunday’s contest in buoyant mood after they qualified for the knockout rounds of the Europa League courtesy of a slender 1-0 win away against Serbian outfit Backa Topola on Thursday.
READ ALSO: Transfer: Liverpool links to French star Mbappe
David Moyes’s men left it late to claim all three points as Tomas Soucek netted an 89th-minute winner, his third successive match-winner is as many games for the Hammers, who now require just a point from their final fixture against Freiburg to secure top spot in Group A and guarantee their place in the last 16.
Only Real Madrid have won as many European games as West Ham (22) since the start of the 2021-22 season, while their form in recent weeks across all competitions has been impressive as they have won five of their last six matches, including each of their last four.
The Hammers have also won their last three home games in a row, but coming out on top in Saturday’s clash with Crystal Palace is not a given as they have failed to win any of their previous four meetings with the Eagles at the London Stadium, while they lost both home and away encounters last season.
West Ham cannot drop below ninth in the Premier League table even if they lose this weekend, as four points currently separate them from Chelsea in 10th place, but Moyes’s side could climb up to eighth with a victory if Brighton drop points at Stamford Bridge.
While West Ham are in high spirits, the same cannot be said for Crystal Palace who have only won two of their last 10 matches across all competitions – both were away from home, though, against Manchester United and Burnley.
The Eagles have lost four of their last five fixtures in the Premier League, including a disappointing 2-1 away defeat at Luton Town last weekend. Michael Olise scored a stunner just two minutes after Teden Mengi had opened the scoring for the Hatters, but Jacob Brown had the last laugh as he netted the match-winner for the hosts seven minutes from time.
Only the three newly-promoted teams, Luton (12), Sheffield United (11) and Burnley (10), have scored fewer Premier League goals than Palace (13) so far this season, and although Roy Hodgson now sees his side sitting 13th in the table, there is a 10-point gap separating them from the bottom three so there are no immediate fears of a relegation scrap.
Palace will be targeting success in their next two top-flight matches against West Ham and Bournemouth as they will soon embark on a challenging run of festive fixtures versus Liverpool, Manchester City, Brighton, Chelsea, Brentford and Arsenal.
The Eagles have only won two of their last 16 Premier League London derbies since the start of last season, but both were against West Ham including a 2-1 away victory at the London Stadium in November last year.
West Ham are still having to cope without Michail Antonio (knee), and Jarrod Bowen (knee) will be assessed ahead of kickoff having missed the last two matches, while Moyes has revealed that a few unnamed players were left out of the squad in midweek due to “viruses and flu-like symptoms” – Vladimir Coufal, Edson Alvarez and Mohammed Kudus were three notable absentees from the win over Backa Topola.
Alphonse Areola is set to return between the sticks at the expense of Lukasz Fabianski, while captain Kurt Zouma is expected to take the place of Konstantinos Mavropanos at centre-back.
Pablo Fornals could keep his place on the right flank if either Bowen or Kudus are not fit to feature, while striker Danny Ings will be hoping to force his way back into the starting lineup ahead of teenager Divin Mubama.
As for Crystal Palace, Eberechi Eze and Cheick Doucoure were forced off with respective ankle and Achilles injuries in the defeat at Luton, and the pair will join Dean Henderson, Jesurun Rak-Sakyi (both thigh) and Rob Holding (ankle) in the treatment room; James Tomkins, meanwhile, is doubtful with a calf issue.
The absence of Doucoure will likely see Will Hughes handed a start in centre-midfield alongside Jefferson Lerma, while Jordan Ayew could take the place of Eze, meaning that either Jeffrey Schlupp or Olise could drift into a central role in behind striker Odsonne Edouard.
Nathaniel Clyne, Jean-Philippe Mateta and Matheus Franca have regularly occupied a place on the substitutes’ bench this term, but they will all continue to push for a starting role under Hodgson.
West Ham United possible starting lineup:
Areola; Johnson, Zouma, Aguerd, Emerson; Alvarez, Ward-Prowse; Fornals, Soucek, Paqueta; Ings
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Johnstone; Ward, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell; Lerma, Hughes, Schlupp; Olise, Edouard, Ayew