Selhurst Park is the venue for this London derby between the two oldest managers in the Premier League. Crystal Palace now have an 8 point cushion above the relegation zone and in theory may well have enough required to avoid the drop already. One more win or even a draw here would be a satisfactory outcome. West Ham have a five point cushion and a good recent run was ended in midweek when they lost 1-2 at home to Liverpool. They will feel on the right track towards safety as well though.
Taking into account all the games in this Premier League campaign so far, the stats pack below compiles all the data you could need to pick a Crystal Palace vs West Ham bet builder. Not only that, there’s also a Stats Pack Guide to help you make best use of the stats week-in week-out.
Confirmed Lineups
Selhurst Park is the venue for this London derby between the two oldest managers in the Premier League. Crystal Palace now have an 8 point cushion above the relegation zone and in theory may well have enough required to avoid the drop already. One more win or even a draw here would be a satisfactory outcome. West Ham have a five point cushion and a good recent run was ended in midweek when they lost 1-2 at home to Liverpool. They will feel on the right track towards safety as well though.
The matches have been racking up thick and fast for West Ham recently so there is certainly the potential for manager David Moyes to rotate his squad. The Hammers have been unchanged for two games in a row and the most likely players to come into the team are at fullback with Palmieri and Kehrer. The likes of Danny Ings and Pablo Fornals must also be considered in the attacking areas. The midfield trio of Declan Rice, Soucek and Paqueta are so important and are unlikely to be rested. Striker Gianluca Scamacca is the only confirmed injury for West Ham.
Team Stats
Crystal Palace average a disappointing 0.94 goals per game and 1.27 against. They have been known to underperform in front of goal but their xG is only 0.98. Roy Hodgson gave them an initial boost offensively against Leicester and Leeds, but they have now hit blanks vs Everton and Wolves. Palace have only fired 10.85 shots per game with only 3.42 on target.
They only average 4.67 corners in each fixture, perhaps attributed to their narrow wingers who often cut inside. Cards have been on the high side at 4.63 per game. Palace are usually good for at least a couple of cards and don’t lack for players who get stuck in.
West Ham average 1.06 goals per game and have underachieved significantly compared to their xG of 1.31. Their xGA of 1.31 is very close to their goals conceded mark. The Hammers average more shots (12.44) than their opponents (12.21) but have conceded a large proportion of shots on target. Similar to Palace, they lack SOTs at just 3.34 per match.
David Moyes’ men average 5.44 corners per game which is slightly on the high side. They’ve conceded 4.97 in each fixture and corners have been sizeable West Ham games. Cards have definitely been on the low side at just 2.66 on average. The Hammers themselves have been an extremely clean team and racked up just 1.22 cards per game.
Player Shots and Shots on Target
Only two Palace players average more than 2 shots per 90 mins, Edouard and Eze. Both average less than one SOT in each game though. Jordan Ayew is not exactly known for peppering the goalkeeper but does now average over one shot per 90 mins. Michael Olise will often be on set pieces so could be worth considering in this department. He averages 1.57 shots per 90 mins but just 0.35 on target.
The duo of Paqueta and Bowen both average around two shots per game but only around 25% accuracy, which is disappointing. Two players projected to come into the side, Danny Ings and Pablo Fornals might be worth looking at for shots. Each average around 1.50 per 90 mins and will be eager to make their mark on the contest. Both Kurt Zouma and Declan Rice are usually good to try their luck at least once.
Player Goals and Assists
Eberechi Eze is now the highest scorer for Palace with seven goals. He’s also chipped in with 3 assists. Michael Olise leads the Eagles in that department with 8 and is known for his brilliant creative output. It has generally been a miserable attacking season for Crystal Palace though and their scoring charts make for bleak reading. Wilfried Zaha should be back on the bench here and has scored 6 times.
Said Benrahma and Jarrod Bowen lead the West Ham scoring charts, but only with 5 goals each. The simple fact is that the Hammers have lacked goals all season and nobody else really sticks out. Fornals and Ings would be hungry to score if they came into the side. Bowen and Benrahma also lead the team with assists, but the Hammers have generally lacked playmakers all year.
Player Passing
Palace only average around 45% possession this season although did have 51% of the ball vs Leicester and close to 60% vs Everton and Wolves recently. Centre back Marc Guehi averages the most passes per 90 mins (55.3) and has had several games recently where he’s had over 70 passes, including vs Wolves away in midweek where he racked up 79.
West Ham only average 41.70% possession and are known for sitting back and then counter-attacking under David Moyes. Midfielder Declan Rice is the obvious stand-out player for potential passes. He is the engine and heartbeat of the team and averages 55.8 passes per 90 mins which is pretty astounding considering the style and tactics of the team.
Crystal Palace Cards and Fouls
Cheick Doucoure has amassed a huge 11 cards this season and averages 1.30 fouls per 90 mins. He is the big favourite to go into the book. Centre back Marc Guehi will need to keep a lid on either Danny Ings or Michail Antonio. Mitchell and Ward are worth watching for fouls against the West Ham wingers. Both average over one foul per 90 mins and will find it difficult to avoid a caution.
Jarrod Bowen is an elusive player and his high dribbling rate of 3.41 makes him an ideal foul magnet. Tyrick Mitchell is going to have to deal with him and will be tested. Danny Ings is a physical forward who may well draw a foul or two, in addition to playmaker Lucas Paqueta. Benrahma would be a much more difficult matchup in terms of fouls compared to Fornals, but if Palmieri lines up on that side it would generate additional problems.
Matchups to watch
Cheick Doucoure vs Lucas Paqueta
Marc Guehi vs Danny Ings
Tyrick Mitchell vs Jarrod Bowen
West Ham Cards and Fouls
The London outfit have been quite a clean team this season. Declan Rice has five cards but nobody else has more than four. Paqueta averages 2.11 fouls per 90 mins, whilst Kehrer is another candidate for fouls. Declan Rice generally plays quite a clean game this season. For someone in his position to average just 0.66 fouls per 90 mins feels quite low. If Emerson Palmieri comes into the team at left back, you would expect him to foul at least once vs the tricky Palace wingers.
The trio of Jordan Ayew, Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze are all foul magnets, aided by high dribbling rates. All of them are expected to start here and will certainly cause some problems to the West Ham defence. It is perhaps a surprise why Jordan Ayew is fouled nearly 3 times per 90 mins. He could be considered the least dangerous of all the Palace attackers but does possess good body strength and can be difficult to shake off.
Matchups to watch
Thilo Kehrer vs Jordan Ayew
Declan Rice vs Eberechi Eze
Emerson Palmieri vs Michael Olise
