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Crystal Palace vs West Ham predictions- How do the pundits reckon the Hammers will fare against Roy Hodgson’s men?

February 9, 2019 By West Ham Blog 1 Comment

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…]

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Stat Analysis- Referee announced for Crystal Palace v West Ham- Craig Pawson

February 5, 2019 By West Ham Blog Leave a Comment

The referee for West Ham’s game this weekend at Selhurst Park has been announced, and it’s Sheffield born Craig Pawson who will be the man in the middle for this clash.

The 39 year old has already refereed two games involving the Hammers this season- their 8-0 thrashing of Macclesfield in the Cup back in September, as well as their 2-1 win over Ralph Hasenhuttl’s Southampton in December. That Saints game was also the last time Manuel Pellegrini’s men won on the road- they’ve lost four on the bounce since then.

Palace’s solitary game with Pawson at the helm this season saw them lose 1-0 to Chelsea in their final fixture of 2018.

Here’s an interesting stat for recent Pawson games that augurs quite well for West Ham- the last ten Premier League fixtures he’s officiated have seen the away team win 7 times. The three home wins were in the form of two Man City triumphs and one Chelsea victory. Pawson’s last game was the Everton Man City midweek clash at the Etihad, which was won by Pep Guardiola’s side as they replaced Liverpool at the top of the table. [Read more…]

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Media Player Ratings- How did West Ham’s players fare against Crystal Palace?

December 9, 2018 By West Ham Blog Leave a Comment

Two delightful goals from Robert Snodgrass and Felipe Anderson and a well taken poachers’ effort from Javier Hernandez gave West Ham their third straight Premier League win as they beat Roy Hodgson’s Crystal Palace 3-2 at the London Stadium.

As they had done against Cardiff, the Hammers trailed at the interval, but blew away their opponents in a strong third quarter performance. Interestingly, they have also scored three goals in each of these three wins, triumphing 3-0, 3-1 and 3-2 respectively.

Manuel Pellegrini chose to restore his defence to full strength, with Fabian Balbuena and veteran Pablo Zabaleta both coming back into the XI after sitting out the Cardiff game. Lucas Perez’s impressive game off the bench against the Bluebirds earned him a starting spot in the absence of the injured Marko Arnautovic. [Read more…]

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9 Points & 9 Goals from 3 Games- Is this actually West Ham? Five Talking points from Crystal Palace game

December 8, 2018 By West Ham Blog Leave a Comment

Even though the pundits had West Ham as firm favourites against Crystal Palace, we, like many fans around us, were not sure of three points! Inconsistency has been such a hallmark of West Ham’s play in recent times- two wins from two games was fantastic, but three from three? Surely not! Palace had been so woeful against Brighton in midweek and were roundly criticised by fans and pundits alike. Roy Hodgson however named the same XI that had done duty against the Seagulls, and one thought they’d be up for this game, wanting to prove a point. Privately we thought a draw would be good enough, and at half time, after McArthur’s goal and Milivojevic hitting the bar with his free kick, most fans would’ve probably taken it. Instead, like they had done against Cardiff, West Ham blew away their opposition in the third quarter. We had suggested post the Cardiff game that Anderson and Snodgrass would be our most creative players in the absence of Arnautovic, and the duo scored fantastic goals that helped the Hammers win 3-2 in front of their biggest league crowd of the season.

Here are some talking points from the game today.

Did Andy Carroll have an impact?

Definitely yes. West Ham started with Lucas Perez and Chicharito upfront, and that combo didn’t seem to offer much on attack together, especially when the Hammers’ first half strategy was to put in cross after cross to Palace’s imposing central defensive pair of Tomkins and Sakho.

Carroll’s introduction allowed West Ham an aerial presence. Even though he didn’t do much with the ball, he always attracted defenders, which provided extra space for the likes of Anderson and Chicharito to operate. The free kick from which West Ham scored their second goal was earned by Carroll. [Read more…]

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West Ham v Crystal Palace | Pre-match Pundit Predictions for the Hammers against Roy Hodgson’s men

December 8, 2018 By West Ham Blog Leave a Comment

West Ham take on Roy Hodgson’s Crystal Palace this weekend as they attempt to make it three consecutive league wins following victories away at Newcastle and at home against Cardiff. The fixture is a battle between two of the most well travelled gaffers in the Premier League, with Manuel Pellegrini and Hodgson having managed in fourteen different countries between them.

The referee for this game is Anthony Taylor- Palace are winless in their last seven games under him. He’s already refereed two of their games this season- the 2-1 loss away at Watford in GW3 and the 2-0 loss at Goodison Park to Everton in GW9.

Palace were very poor against ten man Brighton in midweek, and key players like Wilfried Zaha and James McArthur were scathing in their criticism of the performance, with the former calling it “nowhere near good enough” and the latter describing it as “unacceptable”. The Eagles will be looking to prove a point, but given their dreadful away record, not many fans will be optimistic of their chances at the London Stadium.

West Ham of course will be without Marko Arnautovic, Jack Wilshere and Aaron Cresswell. Fabian Balbuena is however expected to return in the heart of defence to take his place alongside Issa Diop. [Read more…]

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