West Ham vs Crystal Palace Lineups, Preview, Prediction & Odds

Another London derby – it feels like we’ve had about 20 already this season and this one between West Ham and Crystal Palace has plenty of intrigue. This fixture has been full of goals and generally has been a very enjoyable watch for neutrals over the years. This game should be no different, with West Ham struggling mightily and looking like they are about to be in the relegation scrap of a lifetime, and they are leaking goals left and right, so the trend of exciting, high-scoring games between these two sides should continue. Crystal Palace on the other hand have had a great start to their season, winning the Community Shield over Liverpool before the Premier League season even kicked off. They then fought hard for a deserved draw against Chelsea on the opening weekend, qualified for the Conference League defeating Frederikstad and are undefeated in the league through 4 games, sitting comfortably in 9th. Palace will look to put another win on the board against a struggling team that they should beat, and really look to make the push for European football Glasner clearly wants the club to commit to. The Hammers will, at home, look to at least get a point out of this game and to steady the ship somewhat, as they hope to start their ascent up the table and away from those relegation places.

• Can Palace show they are ready to push for European football?
• Will the Hammers find a way to get a huge result in the fight to avoid a relegation battle this season?
• With Eze leaving and Sarr injured, can Palace score enough goals to punish teams they should beat on paper?

Find out all of that and much more in our preview of West Ham vs Crystal Palace. We have a match preview, live odds, predicted lineups, team and injury news, our score prediction and more for this GW5 matchup.

Match Details:

Fixture: West Ham vs Crystal Palace

Stadium: London Stadium

Date: Saturday 20th September

Kick-off: 3:00pm BST

Premier League Head-to-Head Record:

The head to head between these two London teams has been pretty even over the years. Playing at home has been little advantage in these games with 2 wins for the away team out of the last 5. The meetings between West Ham and Crystal Palace have also been full of goals, with 20 total goals in the last 5 league meetings between the two, and we should probably expect more goals this weekend. This same fixture last year saw Palace win 0-2 at the London stadium, in a game that was fairly one sided.

West Ham Crystal Palace Last 5 Premier League Results

18/01/25 - West Ham 0-2 Crystal Palace

24/08/24 - Crystal Palace 0-2 West Ham

21/04/24 - Crystal Palace 5-2 West Ham

03/12/23 - West Ham 1-1 Crystal Palace

29/04/23 - Crystal Palace 4-3 West Ham

West Ham Overview and Form:

West Ham have arguably been the worst team in the Premier League so far this season. They have lost 3 of their 4 league games so far, conceding 11 and scoring only 1 goal in those 3 losses. They have been completely outclassed and thrashed by fellow relegation candidates Sunderland, making that a 6 pointer, and subsequently embarrassed 1-5 and 0-3 at the London Stadium with the team being booed off at the end of the matches. The 0-3 win away at Forest seemed like it could be the team turning things around but the loss to Spurs last weekend proved that to be untrue. The Hammers are under serious threat of going down this season. Potter may not keep his job much longer.

Defensively West Ham are an absolute mess. 11 goals conceded in 4 games is nearly 3 a game, which is unequivocally relegation standard defending. Whether they play a back-5 or back-4, it has made no difference. Hermansen has not performed as well as he did for Leicester last year. The Todibo signing doesn’t seem to have worked out. Kilman is solid but nothing more. Mavropanos is a sub par Premier League defender and the full-backs are’t much better. Wan-Bissaka was embarrassing defensively in the opening couple of games and has now been dropped. I am not sure how this defence improves unless you find the right combination of midfielders to put in front of it to protect them – Soucek and Ward-Prowse are most certainly not that.

Going forward, West Ham have a lot of talent. Yet somehow sit only 14th in xG and have only scored 4 goals in 4 games, but they scored 3 in their only win against Forest – so the attacking results have been inconsistent to say the least. Between Bowen, Paqueta, Fernandes, Summerville and Fullkrug, that should be enough to be an attacking threat in any game, and any game state, but whether it’s Potter’s tactical failings or man management failings, he has not got the best out of a talented attack.

West Ham’s play style is hard to describe this season other than conceding early, and the opposition dominating possession, territory, chance creation and the overall game on their way to taking all 3 points. West Ham could hope to put in a better defensive showing against a Palace attack that is missing Sarr and has lost Eze, and did not score last weekend against Everton. And hope their attacking talent can unlock a good Palace defence. But if Palace score first and early, this could get ugly.

Crystal Palace Overview and Form:

Palace have had a very solid start to their season. 3 draws out of 4 is by no means a storming start, but a win over Aston Villa really helped cement an undefeated start as a good one, with Palace now in 9th place as things stand heading in to GW5. They will look to build on this undefeated start as Glasner intends to have Palace competing for the European spots this season.

Defensively, Palace have been excellent. The back-5 is one of the best in the league, with Henderson having an excellent past 12 months, Munoz being one of the best full-backs in the league, Mitchell being a complete player, and the centre-back trio, particularly Lacroix and Guehi continue to go from strength to strength.

As an attacking unit, Palace have been somewhat underwhelming, but that is to be expected with their man man, Eberechi Eze leaving the club that he made his name with for Arsenal. Ismaila Sarr then being injured since GW3 has not helped their attacking numbers, and Pino only joined the club recently and has started one game. The hope will be for Glasner that as Pino, Sarr and Mateta continue to play together, they can replicate some of the attacking joy Eze, Sarr and Mateta had. Facing a West Ham defence that is reeling, Mateta should be licking his lips and Pino should be looking to announce himself on the Premier League stage.

Palace are a better balanced side than West Ham, with a much better defence, and a worse attack on paper but as a unit it doesn’t perform worse. Glasner is a better manager than Potter. Palace should look to win the physical battles across the pitch, and look to control proceedings and eventually a West Ham side majorly lacking confidence and fight, will concede.

Match Betting Odds:

West Ham: 15/8

Draw: 5/2

Crystal Palace: 11/8

Both Teams to Score Odds:

Yes: 4/5

No: 19/20

Player to Score Odds:

Mateta: 6/4

Bowen: 11/5

 

 

Lineups will be updated throughout the week in live time as and when injury and lineup news is announced.

To head back to our main predicted lineups hub, click here.

West Ham United Predicted Lineup:

West Ham Predicted Lineup GW5

GK - Hermansen

RB - Walker Peters

CB - Mavropanos

CB - Kilman

LB - Diouf

CM - Soucek

CM - Ward Prowse

AM - Fernandes

RW - Bowen

LW - Summerville

ST - Paqueta

West Ham Team News:

We did not get a Friday press conference with Graham Potter so are still awaiting any updates.

Potter made a shift from the back-5 system he was using and moved to a 4-2-1-3 against Nottingham Forest in GW4 and stuck with that in GW5. It did not go as well as the 0-3 win over Forest, suffering a 3-0 defeat to Spurs in GW5.

With Fullkrug suffering a minor calf injury, he was a doubt for GW4, but was fit enough to make the bench but was an unused sub. Potter, prior to the game said He’s had a slight issue with his calf from international duty,” said Potter. “So he came (back) early. He’s trained lightly today, but we’ll see how he reacts”. The fact he was on the bench means he is likely fit enough to start in GW5. Whether he does, or Callum Wilson starts, or Potter opts for the same front-4 of Summerville, Paqueta, Bowen and Fernandes, we shall see. Wilson did come off the bench to make a cameo against Spurs but failed to make any major impact.

While Ward-Prowse and Soucek did do a better job in GW3, GW4 was a disaster. I do still think Ward-Prowse could be replaced in the starting lineup by Potts at some point this season. We will have to see what changes Potter makes to the starting lineup over the next few Gameweeks, as they will inevitably lose the majority of those games and he will be forced into making changes to the starting XI in order to save his job.

Summerville returned against Nottingham Forest, making a cameo off the bench and playing a crucial part in the victory, notching the assist for Bowen’s opening goal. The international break was a good chance for him to continue ramping up his fitness levels, and  there is a world where Summerville could replace the nominal striker (Fullkrug or Wilson) and then one of Paqueta or Bowen plays as the striker.

West Ham Players to Watch:

Fernandes: Has started two games in a row and is one of West Ham’s more talented players, who they will find it tough to keep once big clubs come sniffing. He should start once again.

Walker-Peters: Has taken Wan-Bissaka’s job.

Ward-Prowse: For now, he and Soucek are the deeper midfield pivot duo, but that could change with young Potts waiting in the wings and offering more legs and dynamism than Ward-Prowse.

Summervile: Fullkrug was fit enough to make the bench against Tottenham in GW4, but Potter opted for a Summerville, Bowen, Fernandes and Paqueta front-4 and I think he will stick with this. Summerville likely starts.

Fullkrug: If he can get back in to the starting lineup, or Potter prefers the front-4 he went with against Spurs, is one to watch for.

Wilson: Made a cameo against Spurs, but his injury history and lack of ability to play extended minutes makes me think Potter views him as an impact sub only.

Crystal Palace Predicted Lineup:

Crystal Palace Predicted Lineup GW5

GK - Henderson

RWB - Munoz

CB - Richards

CB - Lacroix

CB - Guehi

LWB - Mitchell

CM - Wharton

CM - Hughes

RAM - Pino

LAM - Kamada

ST - Mateta

Crystal Palace Team News:

Glasner delivered some great news for Palace and England NT football fans alike, confirming Wharton is back and likely fit enough to start this weekend. Glasner revealed “I think Adam is fit enough to start. He just missed two weeks, 10 days, and then he started his training on the pitch, and he is with us now for a few days”. He will start against West Ham.

Glasner also spoke on Nketiah, saying “Eddie is a bit different. He missed all the pre-season, but he looked very good in training today and on Wednesday, when we had a really intense session. Let’s see how the game is going, but those players looked very sharp in training”. Sounds like Nketiah will make the squad but he won’t start. No one is taking Mateta’s starting spot.

Glanser spoke about Guehi’s professionalism and commitment to the club after his failed move to Liverpool, saying “Everybody could see how he played for England, that he’s 100% focused, the same here. He will be our captain as long as he’s here, because he’s just such a great player and such a great personality and so much noise. That is the truth”. There have been reports from Paul Joyce that Liverpool will not come back in for the defender in January. For now, it looks like Guehi will be a Palace player for all of this season.

Pino and Kamada should start in the 10 roles once again with Sarr still out.

Crystal Palace Players to Watch:

Pino: Started his first game last weekend and will continue to start in one of the 10 roles behind Mateta, even once Sarr returns.

Kamada: Played alongside Pino in one of the 10 roles. Will likely start in the same role until Sarr is back.

Lerma: Drops to the bench with Wharton’s return.

Wharton: Has returned from his injury and will start.

Sarr: Set to return next weekend against Liverpool according to Glasner.

West Ham vs Crystal Palace Preview & Predicted Score:

Palace will stick with the system Glasner has employed since he took the job, their trusted 3-4-2-1. West Ham will likely opt to stick with their 4-2-3-1 system.

West Ham will look to defend in a mid to low block and be compact, something they have struggled with so far this season and then directly get the ball to one of their 4 talented forwards and build attacks through their chemistry and talent. West Ham just aren’t a side who control proceedings and possession and suffocate you until you crack. They are very much a moments team, if they even get a moment.

Palace are the more capable side of controlling possession and the tempo, and establishing some territorial control and building pressure. That will be harder without Wharton or Sarr, but against this West Ham team I still think Palace are capable and the more likely team to put in a good performance.

In the end, I see Palace being the better side, controlling possession, territory and winning the chance creation battle. I see both teams scoring, with West Ham’s poor defence but talented attack feeding in to scoring (make sure to check out the BTTS market for this game), but Palace edging out the win with their overall better coaching and structure, superior defence and mentality, and the momentum coming in to this game.

Score Prediction: West Ham 1-2 Crystal Palace