GSH Predictions: All Experts Pick West Ham to Defeat Palace

All of us at Green St. Hammers fancy a West Ham victory. Will we look smart or is this a bad omen for the Hammers?

Crystal Palace pulled off the double against West Ham last season. The Eagles also have had a decent start to the season, gaining points against three of the top eight so far this season. Can the Hammers avenge their two defeats and begin another winning streak?

Justin: West Ham 2-1 Crystal Palace

West Ham look to build off their hard-fought victory against Leeds, who palace also beat 4-1 earlier in the season (that match was at Selhurst Park). The Hammers were buzzing after beating a Leeds side who always brings 100% effort and work rate. The organization, discipline, and heart shown by every West Ham player showed how far the club has come under David Moyes.

Roy Hodgson has done a good job with Crystal Palace since he arrived at Selhurst Park in 2017. The Eagles already have five wins during the young season, led by top scorer Wilfried Zaha. Vladimir Coufal will have his hands full with Zaha attacking him on the left-wing. I am hoping Moyes reverts back to the three at the back system that was working so well.

I believe this is going to be a hard-nosed, gritty London derby with both teams aiming to put themselves in position for a European push come January. Crystal Palace have won the last two matches in this head-to-head battle, but I predict West Ham will come out on top with all three points.

Adam: West Ham 3-0 Crystal Palace

I am unsure if this scoreline is actually feasible. West Ham are due for an offensive outbreak similar to the ones the club had against Wolves and Leicester City. Crystal Palace at the London Stadium could provide that opportunity.

Not only do the Hammers need to battle their own finishing issues, but Palace keeper Vicente Guaita is also having a stellar season, although his error did cost Palace last weekend. A smashing of the Eagles at home could be on the cards for no other reason than recent history would suggest otherwise, why not embrace the opposite?

Lou: West Ham 2-1 Crystal Palace

I don’t often predict West Ham wins, so if we end up losing this one, feel free to blame me.

The Hammers put up an impressive performance against a high-energy Leeds side on Friday night and deservedly came home with all three points. This was even with a change in formation as Arthur Masuaku sat out after having knee surgery.

I suspect Moyes will opt for the same setup and lineup against an inconsistent Crystal Palace side, who earned a draw against Spurs on Sunday.

Seb Haller is getting closer to a much-needed goal, and I’m confident that he can score in this game alongside in-form Tomas Soucek, who remains a threat on every Hammers set-piece.

Jonathan: West Ham 3-2 Crystal Palace:

I have admittedly not watched a single Palace game this season. This is because I only follow massive clubs such as West Ham. However, after looking at the table, it appears that Palace are only three points behind the 6th placed Hammers at the moment.

The Good: West Ham are absolutely buzzing at the moment. I predict Benrahma will continue to play as well as he looks, and the Algerian silver-haired fox’s twists and turns will be too much to handle for former Hammer Cheikhou Kouyate.

The Bad: I’m spotting Palace two goals just because King Arthur’s injury has changed our defensive approach. The Eagles have plenty of speedsters amongst the squad who must be chomping at the bit to take on a West Ham backline lacking in the pace department.

Jeremiah: West Ham 3-1 Crystal Palace

Lately, Crystal Palace has been a nightmare for West Ham when they meet on the pitch. History does not lean towards the Hammers, but on Wednesday evening, they have a real good shot at changing the tide.

The glimpses of the ”almosts” last time out show that the dam is oh so close to bursting for the attacking front of West Ham, and I think it happens tomorrow night. Sebastian Haller gets his well-deserved goal, and the offence clicks for a big night!

Jack: West Ham 3-2 Crystal Palace

Both West Ham and Crystal Palace have started this season well and neither side will be looking to slow down. The Hammers are in great form and have won four of the last five league games. Palace, on the other hand, have only won two of their last five but in both wins, they scored four or more goals, showing how dangerous they can be.

We need to be careful of Wilfried Zaha as we know that if he’s given space, he will punish us. Former target Eberechi Eze will need to be kept quiet if we are to get one over on our London rivals. He will have a point to prove against us after David Sullivan refused to splash the cash on the 22-year-old.

If we continue to play the way we have been, then we should be beating Roy Hodgson’s side with relative comfort. That being said, we need to start capitalizing on our chances and being more clinical in front of goal. The pressure will now be on Sebastien Haller to start putting some of those chances away after he missed several key opportunities to score against Leeds.

Palace did the double over us last year so we have to be looking to get one over on them this year to make up for last season. With both teams in such good goalscoring form, it will be an entertaining game with lots of chances and hopefully lots of goals.

Prediction: 3-2 West Ham with Haller, Bowen and Benrahma getting our goals and with Zaha and Eze scoring for Palace.