- Chris Sutton predicts Palace vs West Ham
- Believes West Ham need the win more
- Palace motivated to continue strong run of form
Chris Sutton has casted his prediction for Palace’s Premier League fixture against West Ham on Monday night (April 20th). Oliver Glasner’s men are looking to make it back-to-back league wins.
Despite a 2-1 defeat in Florence, Palace have confirmed their place in the Europa Conference League semi finals, and will face Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk in the club’s first ever European semi final.
Before attention turns back to the Conference League, Palace now return to Premier League action, with two games before their trip to Krakow in Poland.
The first of those two comes on Monday night, as the Eagles host a West Ham side who have still got work to do if they are to avoid relegation to the Championship.
The Irons have won two of their last five games in the league, beating Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-0 last time out, in a game which felt crucial in their relegation fight. That result sunk Tottenham Hotspur into the bottom three, and West Ham fans will be hoping that it remains that way.
Sutton Predicts
Palace’s players were afforded a night off in Florence after the second leg, and videos of the players joining fans out in the town centre circulated on social media, sparking excitement from Irons fans and anxiety from those of a Spurs persuasion.
Before Thursday’s ‘loss’, Palace were on a run of six games without defeat, with crucial wins against Newcastle and Spurs putting daylight between Glasner’s side and the bottom three. Palace now find themselves 13th in the Premier League, six points adrift of the confirmed European place of 7th.
A win for Palace would see them leapfrog Fulham, who have a slightly worse goal difference than the Eagles.
Sutton hinted that the game on Monday night is more important for Nuno Espirito Santos’ side, who have given themselves a huge chance of survival.
“This is a big game for West Ham and, by the time they play it, they will know how all of their relegation rivals got on over the weekend”, Sutton began.
Tottenham Hotspur were involved in the late kick off on Saturday evening, and their 2-2 draw has given West Ham the opportunity to extend the gap between themselves and the relegation zone.
“As well as being important, this is a tough game for the Hammers too. Crystal Palace left it very late to beat Newcastle but they have now taken seven points from their past three games and seem to have found some form again”, Sutton continued.
“The Eagles are safe but I am still a little bit worried about West Ham. Yes they played well against Wolves last time out, but they were very nervy until they took the lead.”
“This is going to be tense for them too. I don’t say this about many of my predictions, but I am pretty certain about how this will end up – with the points shared.”
Sutton predicted a 1-1 draw for the game, which goes slightly against the recent fixtures between the sides.
Previous matchups
In recent seasons, Palace have had the better of this fixture. In the last nine meetings between the two sides, West Ham have won just twice, once at home and before that at Selhurst Park.
Palace have won four in that time, with three occasions where the sides could not be separated.
Sutton’s prediction that West Ham may be more invested in winning three points aligns with Glasner’s pre-match thoughts.
“We expect them to be highly motivated and very aggressive”, Glasner said in his press conference on Saturday.
“We’re not talking about the table because it’s so tight and things can happen. It can change quickly… [we will] focus on our football…we want to feel this energy and spirit – then we will see at the end [of the season] what we deserve.”
Palace fans will be expecting another competitive performance, and will be hoping that the squad can continue in the strong form as they did so well at the end of last season.
