Crystal Palace vs West Ham Odds
Crystal Palace Odds | +170 |
West Ham Odds | +180 |
| Draw | +210 |
| Over/Under | 2.5 (+138 / -170) |
| Both Teams to Score (Yes/No) | (-104/ -122) |
| Odds via FanDuel. Get the latest soccer odds here. | |
On Saturday morning Crystal Palace will face off against West Ham in a mid-table clash to ensure security in the top-flight heading into the final matches of the Premier League. The two London sides hope to bounce back from disappointing losses in their previous fixtures. Roy Hodgson’s Eagles suffered a 2-0 defeat in their away match against Wolverhampton, while the Hammers fell short in a 2-1 home loss against Liverpool.
The London derby will take place in Palace’s Selhurst Park. The home team will likely see a new lineup after Hodgson’s unorthodox starting 11 against Wolves failed to win them points. West Ham will likely make changes to their squad as well to introduce fresh legs after a quick three-day recovery since their Liverpool match.
West Ham need this win far more than Palace as they sit three points below the Eagles with an extra game to play. After Saturday’s match, the Hammers will prepare for back-to-back fixtures against top four sides Manchester City and Manchester United. If they fail to capture points in three consecutive games, they could find themselves in the relegation zone heading into the end of the season.
Crystal Palace Plateauing After Picking Up Steam
Crystal Palace gained momentum by winning three straight matches, but they have fallen short in their past two games. The Eagles scored zero goals in their last two matches, drawing Everton 0-0 and three days later losing to Wolves 2-0. There’s little hope for the Eagles to regain their previous momentum on Saturday as they’ve generated poor results in their home stadium all season – they’ve won only one of their past nine home fixtures.
Hodgson completely altered the midfield in their last match, but I expect their usual midfield– Schlupp, Doucouré, and Eze –to start on Saturday morning after the reshuffled lineup failed on Tuesday. The Eagles will likely keep their back line the same since center back Andersen was added to the squad after picking up a knock in his own-goal scoring performance at the Molineux.
Fortunately for Palace, Wilfried Zaha will return against West Ham after being sidelined for four matches as he recovered from a groin injury. Zaha has scored six goals in 24 appearances this season, the second-highest EPL scorer for Palace. The Eagles have a chance to regain their goal scoring abilities with Zaha back in the lineup.
West Ham Looking to Cement Spot in PL
West Ham remained unbeaten in all competitions for five consecutive games until they fell short against Liverpool in a 2-1 defeat. The resurgent side will be desperate for three points against Crystal Palace ahead of their next fixture against the unstoppable Manchester City squad.
Despite having lost their prior game, Moyes’ squad has proven to be on the upturn this past month. They’ve scored in their past 11 fixtures and star midfielder Lucas Paqueta has scored in each of the Hammers’ past three games. Furthermore, the Hammers have picked up 13 points in their past four away games while achieving three clean sheets.
West Ham only expect to miss Gianluca Scamacca, who sustained a knee injury in early April. Despite some lineup adjustments, they will likely start key midfielders Lucas Paqueta and Declan Rice, who have been instrumental in the Hammers’ recent success. They’ll play to continue West Ham’s streak this weekend as they’ve only lost one of their past eight matches in Selhurst Park.
Crystal Palace vs West Ham Pick
I’m taking West Ham draw no bet at -104. While recent results reflect that both teams’ streaks of success have concluded, there’s a big difference. In Palace’s last two matches, they failed to score against bottom-of-the-table squads fighting to escape relegation; West Ham just barely lost to Liverpool after going up 1-0 to open the match.
Ultimately, West Ham are still on the rise despite their recent loss. Crystal Palace, on the other hand, have looked exceptionally poor in their two most recent matches. Given West Ham’s historically successful results when playing at Palace, and their desperation to grab three points heading into this match, I think -104 is a really good price to grab West Ham.
While Palace will hope to regain some momentum upon Zaha’s return, I don’t expect the attacker to play the full 90 minutes coming off of a serious groin injury. Furthermore, the Eagles will be satisfied grabbing one point in this match as they reinforce their gap from the relegation zone.
