West Ham vs Crystal Palace: Premier League preview, team news, stats, prediction, kick-off time

Team news, stats and prediction ahead of West Ham vs Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday; kick-off 3pm.

Team news

West Ham are set to be unchanged for the visit of Crystal Palace in the Premier League.

The Hammers have no new injury concerns after back-to-back wins took them top of the table.

Arthur Masuaku is the only absentee, with the wing-back due back from a knee injury after the international break.

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• Premier League fixtures

Palace skipper Luka Milivojevic will not feature for the visitors despite returning to training.

The midfielder has yet to play for the Eagles this season due to personal reasons.

Patrick Vieira will also be without Nathan Ferguson, Ebere Eze (both Achilles) and Michael Olise (back) as he goes in search of his first win, and first goal, as Palace boss.

How to follow

Follow West Ham vs Crystal Palace in our dedicated live match blog. Highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel at 5.15pm.

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Last time out...

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Prediction: Jones Knows writes...

The Hammers were superb on Monday night in repelling Leicester and didn't get anywhere near enough praise for the way they attacked very cleverly when the visitors were down to 10 men. This might be a little trickier against a team that is likely to defend in numbers though.

Yet, it's very hard to make a case for Palace with such little evidence of improvement so far under Patrick Vieira - even with the carrot of 5/1 with Sky Bet for the away win.

• Di Canio congratulates Antonio: 'No one does it like him'

West Ham certainly are a confident bunch with excellent threat in forward areas, but they are happy to allow plenty of territory and possession to the opposition. This can be seen through the amount of shots they face per 90 minutes. At home, they faced an average of 13.5 shots per game last season and in seven of their last nine home games, they've allowed their opponents to have 15 or more shots. I'm still a little wary of Palace as an attacking force but there were positive signs in midweek at Watford, where they created good opportunities and got 11 shots away.

The 11/10 with Sky Bet to repeat the feat and register 11 shots has got my attention with a couple of the higher lines worth a look, especially if they have to chase the game.

SCORE PREDICTION: 2-1

BETTING ANGLE: Crystal Palace to have 11 or more shots at goal (11/10 with Sky Bet)

Opta stats

• West Ham won 3-2 in their last Premier League meeting with Crystal Palace - only once before have they won consecutive matches against the Eagles in the competition, winning both games in the 2016-17 campaign.
• After losing their first two Premier League away games against West Ham, Crystal Palace have lost just two of their subsequent eight visits to the Hammers in the competition (W3 D3).
• Both teams have scored in each of the last eight Premier League meetings between West Ham and Crystal Palace. Only against Chelsea (9) have West Ham had a longer run of both scoring and conceding against an opponent in the competition, while it's the Eagles' joint-longest such run (also 8 vs Liverpool).
• Crystal Palace are winless in their last 10 Premier League London derby matches (D5 L5), scoring just seven goals and conceding 19 in these matches.
• West Ham are looking to win each of their opening three games to a league campaign for the third time in their history, previously doing so in the 1958-59 and 1983-84 top-flight.
• West Ham have the highest expected goals figure of any Premier League side after two games this season (5.3), while their eight goals scored is their most after two games of a top-flight campaign since 1930-31 (9).
• Crystal Palace are yet to score under manager Patrick Vieira - the last permanent manager who saw his side fail to score in his first three Premier League games in charge was also at Crystal Palace, with Frank De Boer getting the sack after just four games (all goalless) at the start of 2017-18.
• Last time out against Leicester, Michail Antonio became West Ham's all-time highest goalscorer in the Premier League, netting his 48th and 49th goals for the Hammers in the competition. The last player to reach 50 top-flight goals for the Hammers was Tony Cottee, who reached the milestone in the 1985-86 campaign.
• West Ham's Michail Antonio has been involved in 10 goals in his last nine Premier League appearances (6 goals, 4 assists), including five in two games this term.
• West Ham's Saïd Benrahma has been involved in seven goals in his last seven Premier League games (3 goals, 4 assists), after being involved in just four in his first 25 appearances in the competition. Benrahma and teammate Michail Antonio have become the first ever players to both score and assist a goal in both of their side's opening two games to a Premier League campaign.

Essential Football Podcast: Jamie Redknapp on Liverpool vs Chelsea and Harry Kane's golf skills! | Plus: Man Utd on the brink of a record

Liverpool and Chelsea go head-to-head at Anfield live on Sky Sports on Saturday night and Jamie Redknapp joins Peter Smith on the Essential Football Podcast to preview the big clash between two Premier League title hopefuls.

PART 1: It's Virgil Van Dijk vs Romelu Lukaku at Anfield this weekend - but who will come out on top? Jamie Redknapp gives his verdict. Plus, the Sky Sports pundit reflects on Harry Kane staying at Spurs - and reveals what the striker is like on the golf course!

PART 2: Sky Sports Football journalist Charlotte Marsh takes a look at a new role for Adama Traore for a Wolves side who have managed 42 shots but 0 goals in their first two Premier League games, and we dissect Man Utd's remarkable run of results away from home.

PART 3: We preview Leeds' trip to Burnley and Data Editor Adam Smith names the statistically best-performing English players across Europe from the opening rounds - with several surprise names in the side!

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