West Ham United return to London Stadium for a Premier League London derby with Crystal Palace on Wednesday evening, with kick-off at 8pm.
The Irons go into the game in good form, having won their four of their last five Premier League matches and lost just two of their last ten. Victory over the Eagles would make it five out of six for the first time since December 2018.
West Ham kick-off the midweek round of fixtures in sixth place, with 20 points from 12 matches played, and could finish it as high as fourth should they better the results achieved by Chelsea and Southampton, who are away at Wolverhampton Wanderers and Arsenal respectively. Palace are eleventh on 17 points.
Following the Government’s announcement that London will move into Tier 3 of COVID-19 restrictions from 00:01 GMT on Wednesday 16 December, supporters will regrettably no longer be able to attend this game. Following the move of London into Tier 3, all sporting events held in the capital will now be played without supporters present until further notice.
The match will be shown live in the UK by Amazon Prime Video and across the world by the Premier League’s international broadcast partners, meaning our fans will be able to follow the action, safely, from home.
You can order a copy of the 116-page Official Programme for your collection here. A FREE digital edition is available to read online on whufc.com from 6pm on Tuesday.
Team news
West Ham United will hope to welcome back Ukrainian forward Andriy Yarmolenko, who tested positive for COVID-19 while on international duty with Ukraine in November.
Michail Antonio is likely to miss a third match with a hamstring injury picked up in the home win over Aston Villa on 30 November, however, while manager David Moyes is monitoring a couple of knocks in his squad.
Arthur Masuaku is definitely unavailable after undergoing surgery to mend a long-standing knee problem.
Crystal Palace will be without goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey (knee) and defenders Nathan Ferguson (thigh) and Martin Kelly (calf), but full-back Tyrick Mitchell will hope to have recovered from a cold in time to feature.
The opposition – Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace arrive at London Stadium on the back of their biggest away win in 219 Premier League matches, followed by a creditable 1-1 home draw with leaders Tottenham Hotspur.
Prior to that result at Selhurst Park on Sunday, the Eagles took full advantage of West Bromwich Albion losing Matheus Pereira to a red card with the score level at 1-1 at The Hawthorns, scoring four second-half goals against the Baggies’ ten men to run out comprehensive 5-1 winners.
Top scorer Wilfried Zaha scored two goals, while Belgian centre-forward Christian Benteke marked his first Premier League start of the season with two of his own.
With summer signing Eberechi Eze and Jeffrey Schlupp providing pace and trickery down the flanks, manager Roy Hodgson believes he now has an attack that can strike fear into any Premier League defence.
“In Eze, Schlupp, Benteke and Zaha, we have definitely got four players who have got enormous talent and Premier League quality and if we can get the ball to them often enough I’m expecting them to score some goals,” he told BBC Match of the Day, following that record win at West Brom.
Scoring goals has certainly come easier to the Eagles this season than it did last, when they managed just 31 in 38 Premier League matches.
Palace have now netted 18 in 12 games this term, with Zaha scoring seven of them and Benteke, Eze and Schlupp accounting for a further four.
With last season’s leading scorer Jordan Ayew, Belgium forward Michy Batshuayi and England winger Andros Townsend also available to him, Hodgson could reasonably expect that improved offensive output to continue at London Stadium on Wednesday evening.
Previous meetings
West Ham United and Crystal Palace meet in the Premier League for the 19th time on Wednesday evening.
The Hammers have had the best of things by far down the years, winning seven of the 18 previous meetings, while the Eagles have won six, with five draws.
However, Palace did the double last season by identical 2-1 scorelines, here at London Stadium in October 2019 and at Selhurst Park on Boxing Day.
West Ham have outscored Palace 30 to 26 in those 18 fixtures. Both clubs have kept three clean sheets, but the Hammers have scored in each of the last 12 meetings. Manuel Lanzini scored in four of those games, including game winners at Selhurst Park in 2015/16 and 2016/17.
David Moyes has a superb managerial record against Palace, winning seven of his nine meetings with the Eagles and losing just once. His only previous West Ham fixture against tonight’s visitors ended in a 1-1 draw in January 2018.
The Scot has also registered seven wins in games when he has managed against Roy Hodgson, drawing one and losing three.
By the numbers
14 Syd Puddefoot has scored more goals for West Ham United in fixtures against Crystal Palace than any other Hammer – but none of the 14 will be found in any Southern League, Football League or Premier League history books. That is because all 14 were netted in fixtures played during the First World War, including an incredible SEVEN in an 11-0 London Combination win over the Eagles at the Boleyn Ground in April 1918.
13 Just one goal behind Puddefoot in West Ham’s all-time scoring charts against Crystal Palace is his contemporary and strike partner Danny Shea, who managed 13 between January 1908 and March 1917. Nine of Shea’s goals came in the Southern League First Division, while the final four were netted in the War-time London Combination, including a hat-trick in an 8-1 away win in November 1916.
12 West Ham United have scored in each of the last 12 Premier League meetings with Crystal Palace over the previous six seasons. Fifteen different players have combined to score 22 goals in total, with Manuel Lanzini grabbing four and Chicharito, Mark Noble, Dimitri Payet and Robert Snodgrass each netting twice.
2 Two West Ham United players marked their debuts with a goal against Crystal Palace. Albert Scanes got two in a 4-2 Southern League First Division win at Crystal Palace on 28 March 1910, before Ade Coker was among the scorers in a 3-0 First Division victory at Selhurst Park on 30 October 1971.
80,000 Centre-back Alan Stephenson became West Ham United’s Club-record signing when he completed an £80,000 transfer from Crystal Palace in March 1968. Although just 23, Stephenson had debuted for the Eagles at 17, won promotion from the Third Division, made 170 League appearances and been made captain and an England U23 international. He played 118 games in a little over four years in Claret and Blue.
3 Then with Crystal Palace, Johnny Byrne became the first Fourth Division player to be capped by England at U23 level when he appeared alongside Bobby Moore against Wales at Goodison Park in February 1961. Byrne then became a full England international when Palace were in the Third Division, when he started against Northern Ireland at Wembley in November of the same year. The prolific centre-forward went on to be capped a further ten times while a West Ham United player, scoring eight goals, between 1963-65.
Match officials
Referee: David Coote
Assistant Referees: Lee Betts and Nick Hopton
Fourth Official: Graham Scott
VAR: Peter Bankes
Assistant VAR: Stephen Child
Affiliated to the Nottinghamshire FA, David Coote began refereeing at the age of 16 and worked his way up through the Notts Alliance League, Northern Counties East Football League, the Northern Premier League and the Conference North.
He was promoted to the Football League List of assistant referees in 2006, and again to the referees’ list in 2010.
Coote refereed the 2014 League One Play-Off final at Wembley, which saw Rotherham United defeat Leyton Orient.
The official, whose father played cricket for Nottinghamshire, was appointed to the Select Group of Premier League officials in the summer of 2018.
Coote has refereed West Ham United five times in the Premier League, with the most recent occasion being the 4-1 defeat at Leicester City in January this year.
