West Ham halted their their three game away losing streak in the Premier League by picking up a point against Roy Hodgson’s Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon. The Hammers had failed to find the back of the net against Burnley, Bournemouth and Wolves, but managed to do so at Selhurst Park, albeit from a Mark Noble penalty kick.

Let’s take a look at the talking points from this game.

Luka Milivojevic’s second half tackle on Noble when he was already on a yellow

Perhaps the biggest talking point of the game for Hammers fans. It was a challenge that should’ve seen him booked by referee Craig Pawson, and would’ve reduced Palace to ten men, and potentially broken the momentum the Eagles were building up. West Ham were also 1-0 up at that stage.

A mixed day at the office for Ryan Fredericks

Manuel Pellegrini showed great faith in Ryan Fredericks when he chose to start him at right back ahead of veteran Pablo Zabaleta against Wilfried Zaha. The Chilean opted for the player with greater pace rather the better defender, perhaps a result of James Milner’s struggles against Zaha a few weeks ago.

The first real chance of the game went to Fredericks and he was a constant threat down the right flank offensively in the first half. Defensively, he came under massive pressure in the second half, and it lead to an exchange of words between him and Angelo Ogbonna later in the game. Was subbed off six minutes from time for Zabaleta.

Fredericks was also guilty of playing Palace onside several times. An up and down day, as one might expect for one having to deal with the class of Zaha, to be fair to him. [Read more…]

West Ham will be looking to avoid a fifth successive away defeat when they meet Roy Hodgson’s Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon at Selhurst Park.

After a magnificent run at the beginning of December, the Hammers suffered league reverses at Turf Moor, the Vitality Stadium and Molineux respectively and were knocked out of the FA Cup away by League One outfit Wimbledon. Even worse, Manuel Pellegrini’s side failed to find the back in all three of the Premier League losses mentioned above, losing 2-0, 2-0 and 3-0 respectively.

Despite West Ham’s excellent recent record against Palace (unbeaten in the last seven games between the two sides), Roy Hodgson’s side will definitely fancy their chances of a result here. They have Christian Benteke and Michy Batshuayi available to them, and Hodgson can also call upon Wilfried Zaha after the striker decided to appeal against his suspension.

For West Ham, Marko Arnautovic is expected to return after missing the draw against Liverpool through injury. However this game will come too soon for the likes of Manuel Lanzini, Samir Nasri and Fabian Balbuena, all of whom are still recovering from their respective injuries.

Let’s take a look at what the pundits have to say about this clash [Read more…]