Sports Mole previews Sunday's Premier League clash between Crystal Palace and West Ham United, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Fresh from condemning Liverpool to their first Premier League home defeat in a year and a half, Crystal Palace host London rivals West Ham United at Selhurst Park on Sunday afternoon.
The Eagles stunned the Kop with a 1-0 triumph at Anfield last week, while David Moyes's men bowed out of the Europa League at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen in midweek.
Match preview
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In spite of Liverpool's shock home loss to Atalanta BC in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final, few gave Crystal Palace a hope of inflicting further misery on Jurgen Klopp's men, who were tipped for an emphatic response to their continental disappointment on April 14.
The Eagles' back-to-back losses to Manchester City and Bournemouth at the start of the month did not stand them in good stead either, but as Liverpool huffed and puffed without success, Palace struck in the 14th minute through Eberechi Eze and held out magnificently.
Palace had tried and failed on 11 occasions to win away from home before stunning the Merseyside giants last Sunday, and on account of their first road success since early November, the Eagles have built up an eight-point lead over the relegation zone in 14th position.
There is still some work for Oliver Glasner's men to do before they can be assured of their Premier League status for next season, and the Eagles head into the weekend yet to win back-to-back top-flight games this season, last doing so under Roy Hodgson 12 months ago.
Goals have been relatively easy for Palace to come by at their Selhurst Park base, though, as they have netted in 10 of their last 11 Premier League home games - including each of their last eight - and 11 points amassed from their most recent seven fixtures on familiar soil is not to be scoffed at.
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Home goals eluded West Ham during last weekend's Premier League showdown with Fulham, who left the London Stadium with a 2-0 win thanks to an Andreas Pereira double, and David Moyes's men had Lukasz Fabianski to thank for keeping the scoreline down on that day.
The Irons were evidently pre-occupied with thoughts of a miraculous Europa League turnaround versus newly-crowned Bundesliga champions Leverkusen, though, and they were on course to reverse their 2-0 quarter-final first-leg deficit thanks to Michail Antonio's early header in the first half.
Moyes's side could not find the all-important second, but the Europa Conference League winners were on course for a notable consolation win against a Leverkusen side who had yet to lose in any tournament this term, only for Jeremie Frimpong's deflected strike to extend the visitors' record-breaking unbeaten streak.
Now purely focused on returning to Europe via the Premier League - in which they sit eighth thanks to a dismal run of just one win from their last six - the Hammers face a truly taxing end to the campaign, facing all of Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City in their final five matches.
Eight goals scored in their last three Premier League away games provides reason for optimism for the Irons faithful this weekend, but their three-game winless run against Crystal Palace does not; the Eagles held out for a 1-1 London Stadium draw in December after an enthralling 4-3 Selhurst Park triumph this time last year.
Crystal Palace Premier League form:
- L
- D
- D
- L
- L
- W
West Ham United Premier League form:
- D
- D
- L
- D
- W
- L
West Ham United form (all competitions):
- L
- D
- W
- L
- L
- D
Team News
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The only slight downside to Palace's win over Liverpool was an injury to Jefferson Lerma, whom Glasner confirmed on Friday would not be available for the clash with West Ham and will remain out until the third-to-last weekend of the season.
The Eagles boss has also revealed that Will Hughes and Joel Ward will need once-overs due to a knock and groin issues respectively, but Rob Holding (ankle), and Chris Richards (knee) have trained and might be fit for the contest.
That is more than can be said for Sam Johnstone (elbow), Matheus Franca (groin), Marc Guehi (knee) and Cheick Doucoure (Achilles), though, and a rare start could come James Tomkins's way if Ward is sidelined.
As for West Ham, Moyes will receive a huge double boost in the shape of Lucas Paqueta and Emerson Palmieri's returns from Europa League suspensions, and the Hammers also welcomed top scorer Jarrod Bowen back from his back injury in time for Thursday's second leg.
However, Nayef Aguerd came off in first-half injury time against Leverkusen with an ankle problem and will require assessment over the weekend, as will Kalvin Phillips (thigh), Dinos Mavropanos (knock) and Alphonse Areola (groin), while George Earthy is out due to the head injury he sustained against Fulham.
While Bowen managed to play the entire 90 minutes on Thursday, Moyes conceded that the England international was "really touch and go" and required pain-killing injections, so it would not be a complete shock to see him demoted from the XI for the returning Paqueta.
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Henderson; Tomkins, Andersen, Clyne; Munoz, Hughes, Wharton, Mitchell; Olise, Mateta, Eze
West Ham United possible starting lineup:
Fabianski; Coufal, Zouma, Ogbonna, Emerson; Alvarez, Soucek; Paqueta, Ward-Prowse, Kudus; Antonio
We say: Crystal Palace 2-1 West Ham United
West Ham's level of fight was to be admired on Thursday, but Moyes is already working with limited options for change and is facing a huge decision regarding Bowen's presence in the first XI.
With Palace boasting fresher legs, riding the crest of the Anfield wave and also consistently finding the back of the net on home turf, we have faith in Glasner's men to prolong their feel-good factor while denting their visitors' hopes of a quick return to the continent.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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