Crystal Palace vs West Ham: Betting Odds & Prediction

Crystal Palace host West Ham in the Premier League on Sunday with both sides looking to finish their respective seasons strongly.

The two teams drew 1-1 when they met earlier this season. Kick-off at Selhurst Park will be at 3pm.

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Crystal Palace

Palace produced a stunning performance to win 1-0 at Anfield in their last game, all but ensuring their own safety and severely damaging Liverpool’s title prospects in the process. They are now in 14th with 33 points, eight clear of the bottom three with a game in hand.

That was new manager Oliver Glasner’s second win in charge (P7, W2 D2 L3), and was a real team victory, featuring superb performances from Dean Henderson in goal, Joachim Andersen at the back, with Will Hughes and the increasingly impressive Adam Wharton running the show in midfield. Dynamic attacking duo Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise started for the first time together under Glasner and were a constant threat, with Eze scoring the winning goal.

The Eagles’ usually strong home form has deserted them this season, as they boast just the 17th best record in the division with an average of 1.07 points per game. They lost their previous game at Selhurst Park 4-2 to Manchester City, but put in a good showing and will feel confident heading into this one if they can replicate that level of performance. Matches at Selhurst Park have averaged 3 goals per game this season, with both teams scoring in 67% of games. 

The man in form for the home side is Jean-Philippe Mateta, who has scored in each of the last three home games. All seven of his league goals this season have come since December. He had an effort cleared off the line by Andy Robertson at the weekend, and his hold-up play stood out and allowed Palace to thrive on the counter.

West Ham 

The Hammers have been frustratingly inconsistent recently, with David Moyes’ future as manager looming as a backdrop over the rest of the season. They crashed out of the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday, losing 3-1 on aggregate to recently crowned Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen. A minor positive to take from that was the return of Jarrod Bowen from injury.

In the league, West Ham lost their last match 2-0 at home to Fulham, a result which leaves them in 8th place on 48 points. Their chances of returning to European competition are fading, sitting two points behind Newcastle and Man Utd in 6th and 7th having played a game more. Chelsea are also hot on the Irons’ heels, just a point further back in 9th with two games in hand on their London rivals. West Ham did however win their last away game 2-1 at Wolves, and a win here would go a long way to getting their season back on track.

The Irons have been decent on the road this season, collecting 1.44 points per game (P16 W7 D2 L7) which is the 7th best record in the league. Their issues have been defensive, as they have kept a clean sheet in just 6% of their away matches, and conceded an average of 2.06 goals per game. Away matches involving West Ham have seen a remarkable 3.69 goals per game, with only Luton and Newcastle having more. 81% of West Ham’s away games have gone over 2.5 goals.

If anything, West Ham have been fortunate; their expected goals against (xGA) of 1.98 more or less correlates to the number of goals they have conceded, while they have significantly outperformed their expected goals for (xGF) of 1.13 per away game, scoring 1.63 per game. This is attributable to the clinical finishing of Bowen, but could also be indicative of an unsustainable style of play as some Hammers fans have been claiming.

Prediction

Crystal Palace will be buoyed by their sensational win at Anfield, and will be coming up against a deflated West Ham side following their exit from Europe. The Hammers went full strength and will likely be fatigued from their Thursday outing, with a lack of squad depth and long season beginning to take its toll on a tiring squad.

Palace can afford to play with some freedom with survival nearly guaranteed and OddsNow are predicting them to pick up back-to-back wins here.

OddsNow's Pick: Crystal Palace to win (6/5 @ QuinnBet); Over 2.5+ goals scored (4/5 @ bet365)