West Ham United vs Crystal Palace is the Hammers’ second London Derby of the 2023/24 season.
Compared to Palace, which they are hosting on matchday 14, they are still taking it slowly in the battle for local dominance. It is primarily due to the Premier League match schedule, but they will be looking to end the season with a good record in their local rivalries.
Arsenal is the team other London teams have in their sights thanks to their incredible record of ten wins and two draws from their 12 London derbies last season. The Hammers have won their only London derby so far – a 3 – 1 demolition of Chelsea in August 2023 at the London Stadium – and, as a result, will be filled with the confidence to eke out another win in their upcoming East vs South London matchup.
Palace is focused on winning the derby but, more importantly, improving their goal difference, which is pretty abysmal for a top-flight club of their stature. Roy Hodgson’s side has been impressive defensively, limiting teams to 1.3 goals on average in the games they have played so far. David Moyes’ side, who have the upper hand in this tie, conceded 1.7 goals on average. However, their goals ratio is much better, which is why they are higher on the table than the Eagles.
Palace have only been able to score 0.8 goals on average in all their games in the league so far – less than one goal per game. These stats suggest that this matchday 14 London derby will be a low-scoring game. And as far as London derbies go this season, Palace have two draws and one loss.
Their desperation levels going into this derby are high thanks to their poor goals record in the league and their ongoing record in the 2023/24 season edition of the London derbies.
Both sets of fans will heavily attend this match because of the stakes involved. Read on for ticket information, team news, and our game outcome prediction.
Match tickets
Neutral fans can easily access West Ham United vs Crystal Palace tickets via ticket reselling platforms like Seatsnet.com. Ticket reselling platforms allow fans looking to part with their tickets to make some money while passing it on to those who want to be at the games to which the ticket grants access.
Neutrals are best served with these platforms because getting them from official sources sometimes means they must fill out a registration form.
Fans of either club can easily do this, but it will also be essential to note that a good number of the tickets have been sold, with what is left being a few tickets whose release date will be made known in the coming days.
The game will be played at West Ham United’s London Stadium on December 3, 2023. Kickoff time is 2 PM UTC.
Sky Sports will air the game for fans at home. Sky Sports streaming (via the Sky Sports app), TNT Sports (via the Discovery+ app), or CBS Sports Golazo (via the Paramount+ app) are some of the platforms that will air the match. A subscription to these apps and channels is needed to access the game.
Team news
David Moyes is one of the luckier managers in the Premier League this season. He has not had to deal with a lengthy injury list at any point in time. He has all his players on hand, and they are ready to be in the matchday squad for the West Ham United vs Crystal Palace game. The club’s medical staff will closely monitor key man Vladimir Coufal, who has been feeling muscle tightness lately. He was rested ahead of matchday 11 but is still being tended to carefully so that it does not result in an injury that will throw the team off balance.
Many pundits have posited that Crystal Palace would be better off this season if they had either Michael Olise or Eberechi Eze. Both players are the Eagles’ most creative players and are currently sidelined with injuries. However, Eze’s recovery is progressing well, and reports indicate that he could be on the squad list for the West Ham United vs Crystal Palace game. However, eagles fans may have to kill that hope because a hamstring strain that is not treated correctly can end careers. James Tomkins [calf strain], Nathan Ferguson [hamstring surgery], and goalkeeper Dean Henderson [thigh problem] are the other players out of commission for Hodgson ahead of the trip to East London.
Lineups
David Moyes rarely surprises in his XI selection. Michail Antonio leads the attack with Lucas Paquetá, Tomáš Souček, and Jarrod Bowen behind him. Mohammed Kudus was signed amidst much pomp and pageantry on the deadline day of the summer transfer window but only got his first start on matchday 11. Matchday 14 against Crystal Palace could be his second start, so Souček could get a break. Saïd Benrahma could also start in the place of Paquetá because the schedule in December and January requires every manager to rotate heavily to not cause burnout or injury concerns in their squad.
West Ham United: Areola; Emerson, Ogbonna, Zouma, Coufal; Ward-Prowse, Alvarez; Benrahma, Kudus, Bowen; Antonio.
Hodgson will also rotate his starting lineup because of the run of games in December. However, he will be hard-pressed not to line up his best XI against his London rivals because of the stakes involved in the game. A similar lineup to what he deployed in other London derbies, especially against Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, is expected as he looks for his first win in the local rivalry.
Crystal Palace: Johnstone; Ward, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell; Doucore, Lerma; Ayew, Hughes, Schlupp; Edouard.
Prediction
West Ham United vs. Crystal Palace will be a game that many managers will follow for one reason: defense. Crystal Palace, the visitors, are not the most prolific goalscorers or the most prolific defenders. However, they have conceded the seventh least amount of goals this season while in 13th place. West Ham, the hosts, are in ninth place and have conceded more than Palace have. This means that David Moyes will have a challenging game on his hands. His attacking tactics against the veteran Roy Hosgson’s defensive tactics will be interesting to watch and follow.
Both teams tend to play a lot down the middle, meaning the midfield battles in the match will be intense. Set piece expert James Ward-Prowse will be called often because of the many fouls and corner kicks that Crystal Palace’s defense will give away. A player to look out for is Joachim Andersen, Palace’s Danish center-back who is making a name for himself as one of the best-attacking centrebacks in the league this season. A narrow win is expected for the hosts, however.
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