West Ham Favourites For Palace Clash

Alan Pardew will take his Crystal Palace side to West Ham United in tomorrow`s early kick-off as the Eagles look to cement their place in the middle of the Premier League table. Palace currently occupy 13th position and are on 27 points, five more than the relegation-threatened pair of Aston Villa and Burnley. An away victory would move Pardew`s men one place to 12th whilst a defeat could see them bungee to 16th position.

Conversely West Ham are looking to regain their momentum following their drifting from the European football places. Whilst a top five finish was always deemed unlikely by fans and punters alike, Sam Allardyce will still fancy his chances of competing up until the final day of the season should they manage to collect home points in games such as this one. They would be replaced in eighth place by Swansea should they lose, the Welsh club away at Burnley at 3:00.

The last time the two sides met back in August, the Iron got the better of Palace at Selhurst Park, hitting the back of the net three times as the home side just managed one goal. Now QPR man Mauro Zarate opened the scoring just past the half hour mark whilst Stewart Downing doubled United`s advantage just minutes later.

Marouane Chemakh scored three minutes after the restart to give hope to the home team, who were then under the guidance of caretaker manager Keith Millen, but this hope fell by the wayside as Carlton Cole sealed victory. Another 3-1 Hammers win in this reverse fixture can be picked up at odds of 20/1 at Coral whilst 3/1 (Coral, Spreadex) says the two sides will contribute over 2.5 goals between them in the 12:45 kick-off.

Indeed, it is West Ham who are the favourites to take all three points from this Boleyn Ground encounter. The trio of betfred, Betvictor and Totesport have all priced the East End side up at 23/20 to do the double over Palace tomorrow. boylesports have the best price on a win for Pardew`s men, that being available at 29/10 whilst a draw is on offer at odds of 5/2 at most bookmakers.

The Hammers` favouritism is in spite of the fact that they are without a victory in six games in all competitions. Their recent Premier League record at Upton Park is decidedly more positive, however, having racked up two wins, two draws and a solitary defeat in their last five games. What`s more, Big Sam`s men have scored in every one of their home Premier League matches since their goalless draw with Aston Villa in November.

West Ham have scored eight goals in these five most recent home matches, three players helping themselves to two goals a-piece. Andy Carroll opened the scoring against both Leicester City and Hull in matches that ended in wins to nil but the former England international will miss two months worth of matches after sustaining a knee injury.

As a result then, United will look to fellow in-form scorers Stewart Downing and Cheikhou Kouyate. Downing contributed the last goals in the same two matches in which Carroll opened the scoring and is a 12/1 chance (bet365, Betvictor, paddy Power) to be the last goalscorer for the third time in this period of games. Kouyate got his name on the scoresheet in his side`s 2-1 defeat against Arsenal and their unlikely 1-1 tie with Manchester United. The Senegalese midfielder is available at 9/1 (32red, 888sport, unibet) to add to his tally at any time.

Palace are unbeaten on the road in all competitions under Pardew, his team having scored 11 times in these four previous matches. With three of these goals, Dwight Gayle is their top scorer away from home under the former Newcastle man with ladbrokes pricing him up at 15/4 to hit the back of the net at any time once again.

Both frequent scorers,19/20 (ladbrokes) says both teams will score tomorrow.

Go To bet365

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27/02/2015     © Frixo 2026