West Ham United Head Coach Graham Potter has called on the experience of Aaron Cresswell for Saturday’s Premier League derby with Crystal Palace.
Cresswell makes his 302nd Premier League appearance for the Club – second only to Mark Noble – as part of what looks like a back three. Still fit as a fiddle at 35, Cresswell plays for the 359th time in Claret and Blue, ranking him 26th in the Club’s all-time appearance list.
The defender replaces Carlos Soler in the starting XI, with the Spaniard dropping to the substitutes’ bench having picked up a knock. It is Cresswell's first Premier League start of the season, and first since the final day of last season away at Manchester City.
Elsewhere, Potter retains the same ten players who started Tuesday’s 3-2 home win over Fulham in his first Premier League game as Head Coach.
Mohammed Kudus makes his 50th Premier League appearance for the Irons since arriving from Dutch club Ajax in summer 2023. The 24-year-old has eleven goals and seven assists in his 49 top-flight games for the Club, including a goal in the 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace in this fixture last season.
Łukasz Fabiański starts in goal, with the 39-year-old seeking a 93rd Premier League clean sheet on what is his 375th appearance in the English top-tier – a record for a Polish player.
The back five will be filled out by right wing-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who faces the club he joined at the age of eleven and represented 46 times between 2018 and 2019. Wan-Bissaka also debuted for West Ham against the Eagles in the 2-0 win at Selhurst Park in the reverse fixture back in August 2024
Centre-backs Dinos Mavropanos and Maximilian Kilman, who are partnered for the 14th time in West Ham’s 22 Premier League matches this season, are joined by Cresswell, who is expected to fill the left centre-back role, with Emerson at left wing-back.
Argentina international Guido Rodríguez anchors the midfield alongside his former Club América teammate Edson Álvarez, with stand-in captain Tomáš Souček playing in a more advanced role in front of them.
Souček has scored four goals and assisted two in nine career appearances against Crystal Palace. The Czech was on target in the 2-0 win at Selhurst Park earlier this season. The No28 also netted West Ham’s second goal in the home win over Fulham last time out.
Kudus and Lucas Paquetá complete the starting XI, with the latter set to be deployed in a central striker role.
The Brazilian has scored in both of Potter’s matches in charge, at Aston Villa in the Emirates FA Cup third round and in midweek at home to against Fulham. Paquetá is looking to hit the net in a third successive match for the second time in his West Ham career, having previously done so against KAA Gent, AFC Bournemouth and Liverpool in April 2023.
Danny Ings, who registered an assist for Paquetá’s winner in midweek, is among the nine substitutes named by Potter. Alphonse Areola returns from a wrist injury to take his place on the bench, with Wes Foderingham missing out on the matchday 20-man squad.
The bench is filled out by defenders Vladimír Coufal, Ollie Scarles and Kaelan Casey, midfielders Soler, Andy Irving, Lewis Orford and Luis Guilherme.
West Ham United: Fabiański, Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Kilman, Cresswell, Emerson, Rodríguez, Álvarez, Souček ©, Kudus, Paquetá
Subs: Areola (GK), Coufal, Scarles, Casey, Orford, Irving, Luis Guilherme, Soler, Ings
Crystal Palace: Henderson, Muñoz, Lacroix, Guéhi ©, Richards, Mitchell, Hughes, Sarr, Kamada, Eze, Mateta
Subs: Turner (GK), Clyne, Riad, Kporha, Doucouré, Rodney, Devenny, Schlupp, Nketiah
Referee: Thomas Bramall
