Preview - Crystal Palace

The background

West Ham United make the short journey to south London to face Crystal Palace this Saturday for their latest Barclays Premier League assignment.

Crystal Palace are currently riding high in fourth in the table following a fantastic start to the season.
The Eagles are on a three game unbeaten run going into Saturday’s London derby.

Likewise the Hammers are also on a terrific run of form; their recovery from 2-0 down to rescue a point away at Sunderland extended their unbeaten streak to five league matches.

In fact, the Hammers top the away league table with ten points from their four encounters. 
 

The history

Despite their relative proximity, the teams have only met 32 times competitively. Thankfully, the Hammers have won 14 of those encounters to the Eagles’ seven.

Another good omen for the Irons lies in the fact that the away team has won the last three consecutive fixtures – both sides’ secured 3-1 victories last season.

Saturday’s game sees former West Ham manager Alan Pardew pitted against his former employees.

The experienced manager has confounded expectations since taking the reins at Selhurst Park, leading some to label him as a potential future England manager. 

Match info

Team news

West Ham United

Slaven Bilic will make a late check on Winston Reid, who has been nursing a slight problem in his hip area. James Collins could be given the nod should the Kiwi not make it.

Aaron Cresswell suffered a slight knock in training earlier in the week and will be assessed on Friday.

Angelo Ogbonna and Enner Valencia returned to full training and are unlikely to feature, however in his pre-match press conference Slaven Bilic suggested they could make the bench.

Alex Song and Joey O’Brien continue to make good progress in their injury rehabilitation but are unavailable on Saturday.

Crystal Palace

Captain Mile Jedinak is still unavailable due to a hamstring injury, while Damien Delancey (groin), Connor Wickham and Marouane Chamakh (both hamstring) are all unavailable.

Match info

• Saturday’s referee will be Mark Clattenburg. He will be assisted by Simon Beck and Jake Collin.  Oliver Langford is the fourth official.
• Stewart Downing, Mauro Zarate and Carlton Cole scored the goals that gave West Ham a 3-1 win over Palace last season.
• West Ham have the best away record in the Premier League this season, having won three games and drawn one at the cost of just three goals conceded.
• Should they win on Saturday, the Hammers could go second should other results go their way.
• Alongside, Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham and Watford Crystal Palace have the joint best defensive record in the division, having conceded just seven goals.
• The Hammers have won just one of their last seven league meetings with Crystal Palace (D2 L4).
• Crystal Palace are yet to draw a match in any competition this season (W7 L3).
• West Ham are unbeaten in their last five league games (W3 D2)
• Only Manchester City (19) have scored more than the Hammers’ 17 league goals this season.
• Dimitri Payet has been involved in 14 goals (five goals, nine assists) in his last 16 matches in England and France.
• 15 of the 18 goals in Palace’s Premier League matches this season have come in the second halves of matches.
• The last time Palace had this many points after eight games of a top-flight season was in 1990/91 when they went on to finish third.

Ticketing, travel, coverage and other info
 

• Tickets have now all sold out. Click here for full information on other matchday tickets.
• ?Saturday looks like being a dry, if dull day in south London. Temperatures are on the autumnal side, with a high of 13C (55F) at kick-off.
• Click here for the latest travel news on the roads and here on the railways.
• If you’re not heading to the game, our digital channels are where to stay up to date with all the latest news. Our whufc.com match centre will have live audio, stats, photos and more, while you can get involved with the conversation on social using the hashtag #CPFCWHU