Crystal Palace v West Ham United - All you need to know

West Ham United return to Premier League action on Tuesday, when we make the relatively short journey across the River Thames to Crystal Palace.

The Hammers head south seeking a sixth straight win in all competitions for the first time since August 2012, and a fourth Premier League victory in a row for the first time since December 2018.

The Irons are unbeaten in seven in all competitions, having taken eleven points from a possible 15 in the Premier League and overcome National League outfit Stockport County and EFL League One side Doncaster Rovers in the Emirates FA Cup.

Three points at Selhurst Park would lift David Moyes' squad into the top four, above Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Everton, ahead of the other midweek fixtures. Should West Ham win, it would be the first time the Hammers have occupied a top four position in the second half of a top-flight season since May 1986.

With England now back under a national lockdown due to the ongoing pandemic, this means the game will be played without supporters present. However, the match will be shown live in the UK by BT Sport 2, meaning our fans will be able to follow the action, safely, from home.

Team news

West Ham United manager David Moyes is expected to make changes to his starting eleven from Saturday's 4-0 FA Cup fourth-round win over Doncaster Rovers at London Stadium.

Andriy Yarmolenko and Pablo Fornals both scored in that tie and will hope to retain their places, while Mark Noble, Ryan Fredericks, Ben Johnson, Fabián Balbuena and Issa Diop also impressed.

However, Michail Antonio, Declan Rice, Angelo Ogbonna, Craig Dawson, Jarrod Bowen and Vladimir Coufal all sat out the game and will hope to return to the side after helping the Hammers to top-flight wins over Everton, Burnley and West Bromwich Albion in recent weeks.

Injury-wise, Darren Randolph missed Saturday's tie with a knock picked up in training, while Arthur Masuaku remains sidelined as he continues his rehab following knee surgery.

For Crystal Palace, new loan signing Jean-Philippe Mateta, a striker, could make his debut.

Fellow forward Wilfried Zaha has been struggling with a knee injury and could be a doubt, but Connor Wickham, Jeffrey Schlupp, Mamadou Sakho, Martin Kelly, Wayne Hennessey and Nathan Ferguson are all definitely out.

The opposition – Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace kick-off Tuesday's game in 13th place, having won just one of their last eight Premier League matches.

The Eagles are also out of the FA Cup after losing 1-0 at Wolverhampton Wanderers earlier this month.

Roy Hodgson's side have failed to score in their last three matches in all competitions since winning 2-0 at home to Sheffield United on 2 January.

However, the former England manager will hope the loan signing of French striker Jean-Philippe Mateta from German club Mainz will give his team more threat in front of goal.

So far this season, that threat has been provided by a familiar source in the shape of Wilfried Zaha, the Palace Academy product who has scored eight Premier League goals in 2020/21.

Hodgson will hope Zaha, Mateta and close-season capture Eberechi Eze, an exciting attacking midfielder signed from Queens Park Rangers, will give Palace the goals they need to avoid being dragged into any sort of relegation battle.

At the other end of the pitch, former West Ham favourites Cheikhou Kouyaté and James Tomkins have both featured at centre-back, where the Eagles have conceded 33 goals in their 19 top-flight matches, having let in 50 all last season.

How will they play?

Crystal Palace are trying to employ a more attacking, vibrant and enterprising style of play in 2020/21.

The Eagles were safe before COVID-19 hit in March last year – they went into lockdown on 39 points – but they picked up just four more points and scored just five goals in nine matches after the restart.

However, the signing of Eberechi Eze has seen Wilfried Zaha move into a central striking role, with eye-catching results.

With attacking full-backs supporting the wingers, Palace are using the flanks to launch 68% of their raids, with an amazing 46% coming through full-backs Patrick van Aanholt or Tyrick Mitchell and Eze down the left.

Previous meetings

West Ham United and Crystal Palace meet in the Premier League for the 20th time.

The Hammers have had the best of things by far down the years, winning seven of the 19 previous meetings, while the Eagles have won six, with six draws, including the 1-1 at London Stadium before Christmas.

However, Palace did the double last season by identical 2-1 scorelines, winning at London Stadium in October 2019 and at Selhurst Park on Boxing Day.

West Ham have outscored Palace 31 to 27 in those 19 fixtures. Both clubs have kept three clean sheets, but the Hammers have scored in each of the last 13 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 ten meetings with the Eagles and losing just once. Both of his previous West Ham fixtures against Palace ended in 1-1 draws, in January 2018 and December 2020.

The Scot has also registered seven wins in games when he has managed against Roy Hodgson, drawing two and losing three.

By the numbers

0    West Ham United are the only Premier League side not to be awarded a penalty so far this season, in any competition. The full list of Premier League penalties awarded in 2020/21 is as follows:

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.

13    West Ham United have scored in each of the last 13 Premier League meetings with Crystal Palace over the previous six seasons. Sixteen different players have combined to score 23 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: Stuart Attwell 
Assistant Referees: Dan Cook & Peter Kirkup
Fourth Official: Simon Hooper
VAR: Graham Scott
Assistant VAR: Derek Eaton

Stuart Attwell began refereeing seriously following his graduation from Stafford University and worked his way up through the West Midlands League and National League before joining the Football League list of referees in 2007.

Attwell was fast-tracked, becoming the youngest-ever referee to control a Premier League fixture when he officiated Blackburn Rovers’ 1-1 draw with Hull City on 23 August 2008, and being added to the FIFA List later the same year at the age of just 26.

In 2010, Attwell officiated in the Japanese J. League as part of a referee exchange programme, and he has since refereed matches in the UEFA Europa League, Premier League, EFL and UEFA age-group tournaments.

Overall, the 38-year-old has refereed West Ham United 12 times in total since April 2008, and Crystal Palace on eleven occasions.