West Ham play Crystal Palace in their first away match of the season on August 24, in a 3:00 pm kick-off. Julen Lopetegui will be hoping to earn his first win for the Hammers after losing 2-1 to Villa in their last match. Here is our West Ham predicted lineup.
West Ham Predicted Lineup vs Crystal Palace
How West Ham Have Lined-up Recently
Since former Real Madrid, Spain and Wolves manager Lopetegui was appointed at West Ham on July 1, the Spaniard has introduced many new faces at the London Stadium. However, Alphonse Areola is almost certain to retain his position in goal. Last season, Areola made the most saves on average per match in the Premier League. On top of this, the Frenchman was one of the best shot-stoppers last term evident due to having one of the highest save rate percentages.
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Lopetegui’s defence however introduced a new signing in Max Kilman, who was Lopetegui’s captain at Wolves just over a season ago. He started this weekend alongside Konstantinos Mavropanos, Vladimír Coufal and Emerson. West Ham’s captain from last season is not available this Saturday. Kurt Zouma’s apparent move to UAE club Shabab Al-Ahli failed a week ago due to a failed medical, despite being forced out of the club. This is widely expected to be the back four against Crystal Palace.
Against Aston Villa, the new manager opted to use three in the middle, with new signing Guido Rodriguez, Tomáš Souček and star man Lucas Paqueta. This was the case in the their final pre-season match at home against Celta Vigo in the Betway Cup. Paqueta scored the penalty to get his side back into the game but lost the most duels in the match with ten.
Following suit from pre-season, Lopetegui opted for a front three against Unai Emery’s side. This includes Mohammed Kudus, Jarrod Bowen and Michael Antonio, with a new signing from Dortmund Niclas Fullkrug coming on for Antonio late in the second half. Despite Antonio’s start against Villa, it is anticipated that he will not start against Palace, with Fullkrug most likely being eased into the side.
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As for Kudus, he completed the most dribbles in the match and was the most fouled player, showing how prolific he is. Moreover, Kudus won the most duels in the match, with 11. The 24-year-old will be looking to start the season strong, getting 14 goal contributions in his first Premier League campaign last time out.
West Ham’s Recent Form
Life under Lopetegui hasn’t exactly got off to the best start for the Hammers so far, with a disappointing pre-season and defeat on the opening day of the Premier League. After David Moyes departed the club following a 3-1 defeat to Manchester City at the end of last term, his successor has only won once so far, that being a 1-0 friendly victory over local side Dagenham and Redbridge, who play in the Vanarama National League.
Before this, West Ham’s first game under Lopetegui was a 2-2 draw away to Hungarian club Ferencvaros, where they came back from two goals down in the second half.
The Hammers’ fortunes did not improve in the States either, losing both outings, including to their opposition this weekend. Their first game was against Wolves, who narrowly came up short against Arsenal in the opening game of the season, losing 2-0. This 3-1 defeat against Lopetegui and Kilman’s former club rubbed salt in the wound as they then went on to lose 3-1 to Crystal Palace. They then beat Celta Vigo in their final pre-season match on penalties.
On top of this, life didn’t get any better for West Ham in their curtain raiser. Despite a promising display, the Hammers narrowly fell 2-1 at home to Emery’s Aston Villa. The game was very equal with the Irons just edging their opponents on ball possession stats with 52%. Moreover, West Ham had 14 shots to Villa’s 15 with both sides having three shots on target.
However, despite Paqueta’s penalty responding to an early Andre Onana goal which came from inside the first four minutes, Jhon Duran snatched all three points from the London Stadium.
West Ham Injuries to consider
Lopetegui currently has two injuries to consider for his side’s clash against Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace. Edson Alvarez is injured with his return doubtful for the weekend. Alvarez picked up a hamstring injury on June 23 on international duty. This came half an hour into Mexico’s 1-0 over Jamaica at the 2024 Copa America. He played a total of 42 times for West Ham last term, including 31 times in the Premier League where he earned two goal contributions.
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Another missing player is former captain Zouma. The frenchman is currently out for personal reasons and his appearance at Selhurst Park this Saturday looks unlikely. This is because the former Chelsea man is still in Dubai after his failed transfer to Shabab Al-Ahli, a top-division side in the United Arab Emirates.
West Ham Predicted Lineup
GK – Areola
LB – Emerson
CB – Mavropanos
CB – Kilman
RB – Coufal
CM – Soucek
CM – Rodriguez
CM – Paqueta
LW – Bowen
ST – Fullkrug
RW – Kudus
