West Ham squad unchanged after back-to-back wins, Crystal Palace without captain Luka Milivojevic; follow West Ham vs Crystal Palace in our dedicated live match blog; watch free match highlights on Sky Sports digital platforms and YouTube channel at 5.15pm
Friday 27 August 2021 18:38, UK
Team news, stats and prediction ahead of West Ham vs Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday; kick-off 3pm.
West Ham are set to be unchanged for the visit of Crystal Palace in the Premier League.
The Hammers have no new injury concerns after back-to-back wins took them top of the table.
Arthur Masuaku is the only absentee, with the wing-back due back from a knee injury after the international break.
Palace skipper Luka Milivojevic will not feature for the visitors despite returning to training.
The midfielder has yet to play for the Eagles this season due to personal reasons.
Patrick Vieira will also be without Nathan Ferguson, Ebere Eze (both Achilles) and Michael Olise (back) as he goes in search of his first win, and first goal, as Palace boss.
Follow West Ham vs Crystal Palace in our dedicated live match blog. Highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel at 5.15pm.
The Hammers were superb on Monday night in repelling Leicester and didn't get anywhere near enough praise for the way they attacked very cleverly when the visitors were down to 10 men. This might be a little trickier against a team that is likely to defend in numbers though.
Yet, it's very hard to make a case for Palace with such little evidence of improvement so far under Patrick Vieira - even with the carrot of 5/1 with Sky Bet for the away win.
West Ham certainly are a confident bunch with excellent threat in forward areas, but they are happy to allow plenty of territory and possession to the opposition. This can be seen through the amount of shots they face per 90 minutes. At home, they faced an average of 13.5 shots per game last season and in seven of their last nine home games, they've allowed their opponents to have 15 or more shots. I'm still a little wary of Palace as an attacking force but there were positive signs in midweek at Watford, where they created good opportunities and got 11 shots away.
The 11/10 with Sky Bet to repeat the feat and register 11 shots has got my attention with a couple of the higher lines worth a look, especially if they have to chase the game.
SCORE PREDICTION: 2-1
BETTING ANGLE: Crystal Palace to have 11 or more shots at goal (11/10 with Sky Bet)
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