Both West Ham and Crystal Palace were part of disappointing 2-1 defeats in their opening matches of the Premier League season. Overall, the Hammers were a little weak against Aston Villa but could still have gone for a result if they had taken their chances, while Palace should probably have beaten Brentford but were let down by poor refereeing.
With that said, their match today is really hard to predict, both will probably change their starting XI and both will try to build on the positives of the last game.
Usually a London derby is fun. Both teams have scored in all of the last 14 meetings between the two sides, with a total of 24 goals in the last 4 meetings at Selhurst Park.
It’s clear that the Eagles have been a formidable force since Oliver Glasner took over as manager, while West Ham are still waiting for Julen Lopetegui’s style of play to click. Jean-Phillipe Mateta in particular has been successful of late, scoring in each of Glasner’s seven home games.
Unfortunately, there are many reasons why neither side should be particularly confident of victory. The south Londoners have won just 5 of their last 25 games in August and 1 of their last 15 Premier League home games.
From an East London perspective, it doesn’t get much better. They have won just 4 of their 20 games this calendar year, conceded at least 5 goals in half of their last 8 London derbies and have not kept a clean sheet in 19 games – their longest run since 2008. If they suffer defeat against Palace they would break the record , the number of times a first league team has lost the first two games of the season.
But aside from the fact that they’re usually fun encounters, there are a few reasons why Cockneys are positive about the kick-off. Both Jordan Ayew and Joachim Andersen have left Crystal Palace, while Will Hughes is also a question mark. West Ham’s only major concern is Edson Alvarez, although he could return to the team as early as today.
Hopefully, our Irons can take advantage of these absences from Palace and put in a performance that will give them and their fans confidence. Julen Lopetegui has a lot to do as the man to replace David Moyes and looking at the games he has ahead of him, he could really do if he could get some points on the table today.