Total below 2.5
Total below 2.5
Crystal Palace risked falling into the relegation zone during the season, but the club’s management changed the position of head coach in time, resulting in an immediate result. Retired Patrick Viyer was replaced by experienced Roy Hodgson, who brought fresh ideas to the team. However, this had only a short-term effect. The Eagles had a great first two games under Hodgson and beat Leicester (2-1) and Leeds (5-1) without question, but then noticeably slowed down in attack.
Wolverhampton took advantage of this cleverly, breaking Crystal Palace’s undefeated streak in the last round.
West Ham are a few lines below their opponent in the table, but judging by the results of the upcoming match, they may be ahead of them. In the last stretch of 7 innings, the Hammers showed some good football. They lost only to Liverpool (1-2) and Newcastle (1-5) and managed to take points away from title contenders Arsenal (2-2).
Under the leadership of David Moyes, West Ham try to play mostly without the ball (41.5% possession), relying on quick counter-attacks and solid defensive play.
Crystal Palace under Hodgson are doing well in defence, but they have only played 2 out of 5 clear matches in attack, and lately they have been too predictable for the opponent. Against the backdrop of a pragmatic West Ham, I suspect this game will be grassroots. It is significant that David Moyes met Hodgson 14 times and scored 2.5 goals in only 4 matches.