Written by @deportivohammer
Well, I can honestly say that I did not see that result coming. I checked the score as I left work and saw that we were 2-0 down and my heart sank, I took a slow walk back to my car for the 15 min journey home. Whilst arriving home I checked again to find we had got 2 goals back. I quickly turned on the computer in time to see Ogbonna glance his header into the Spurs net. I decided to wake up my boys so they could witness another great West Ham moment…Lets hope its not the only one this year.
Which leads me onto Crystal Palace bottom of the league with just the one win this year coming against an unlikely opponent in Chelsea. But I think its safe to say that they have been awful this year. Roy Hodgson has come in to replace Frank De Boer and managed to get the team to find the net, which was more than his predecessor did. Although losing heavily midweek against a Championship side Bristol City can not be the best preperation for what is looking very much like a relegation scrap.
West Ham on the other hand, obviously had a great result against rivals Tottenham midweek but we can not forget how bad our previous league game was. Losing 0-3 at home to anyone is embarrassing but to Brighton. The players should be ashamed of their performance. Which is why I was so surprised Wednesday evening. Form has not really been great for West Ham we seem to be incapable of getting some consistency in our performances. This l feel needs to be addressed and maybe we need to stop playing players on reputation.
James McArthur is facing a late fitness test and Chung-Yong is a doubt for the game One time West Ham transfer targets Benteke and Wickham are both out
West Ham have a better fitness report, with the only absentee from the squad being defender James Collins. Sakho has decided he wants to turn up again. But Mikhail Antonio will have a late test on a bruised rib.
Predicted Line ups :
Crystal Palace: Speroni, Ward, Dann, Sakho, Van Arnholdt, Cabaye, Milivojevic, McArthur, Schlupp, Townsend, Zaha.
West Ham United : Hart, Cresswell, Zabaleta, Fonte, Reid, Ogbonna, Noble, Kouyate, Lanzini, Ayew, Hernandez.
Difficult one to try and predict this week with many fringe players putting in a good shift midweek it will be interesting to see if he continues to play around with the players and the formation. We know from Ex that Byram, Rice, Holland, Martinez and Sakho will not be involved though. I have gone for 3 at the back again as it seems to be our most solid formation defensively. This is not something I would agree with. I would go out to attack Palace and get an early goal and hopefully they would lose confidence. But Slav knows his job is on the line and can not afford anymore slip ups like Brighton. I think we will win again tomorrow but make hard work of it as usual. 2-1 to the Hammers with goals coming from Lanzini and Hernandez