After winning in Graham Potter’s debut as manager, West Ham slumped right back into their toothless form with a 2-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace and red-hot Jean-Philippe Mateta.
WATCH – West Ham vs Crystal Palace full match replay
The Hammers (26 points - 14th) beat Fulham 3-2 at midweek, but they did so on just four shots (for 0.95 xG) as their top three options at striker (Jarrod Bowen, Nicolas Fullkrug and Michail Antonio) are all currently out injured. In short, it just didn’t feel sustainable.
Turns out, it wasn’t. West Ham put up 0.30 xG against Crystal Palace and had just one (of seven) shot from inside 12 yards. They were, as you would expect, quite solid defensively and didn’t give Palace too many opportunities on the counter, which is where they excel. Unfortunately, Mateta is in such form that you expect him to score every game, and he did.
Losses turn to draws, then into wins for Crystal Palace
Palace’s form over the 2024-25 season really is incredible in that you can actually see the progression of Oliver Glasner’s side from the first eight games when they couldn’t do anything right (0W-3D-5L), to the next five when the narrow defeats turned into well-earned draws, and finally the last nine games when Mateta has put the team on his back with 5 goals in 9 games (5W-3D-1L). Palace have only conceded multiple goals two times (to Arsenal and Manchester City) during their current run, after doing so seven times in 13 to start the campaign. More of the same from Crystal Palace (27 points - 12th) as they chase an eighth straight mid-table finish.
Player ratings - West Ham vs Crystal Palace
What’s next?
- Crystal Palace vs Brentford — Sunday, 9 am ET
- Aston Villa vs West Ham — Sunday, 11:30 am ET
West Ham vs Crystal Palace live updates - by Andy Edwards
West Ham vs Crystal Palace final score: 0-2
Goalscorers: Jean-Philippe Mateta (48', 89' - PK)
PENALTY! GOAL! West Ham 0-2 Crystal Palace: Mateta narrowly beats Fabianski (89')
RED CARD! Mavropanos sent off for karate kick to Mateta’s face (80')
Mateta continues to be a real problem for opposing defenders, and Konstantinos Mavropanos is the latest to be vanquished by the in-form Frenchman.
GOAL! West Ham 0-1 Crystal Palace: Mateta cannot stop scoring (48')
West Ham starting lineup
Fabianski - Mavropanos, Kilman, Cresswell - Wan-Bissaka, Alvarez, Rodriguez, Emerson - Kudus, Soucek, Paqueta
Crystal Palace starting lineup
Henderson - Richards, Lacroix, Guehi - Munoz, Kamada, Hughes, Mitchell - Sarr, Eze, Mateta
How to watch West Ham vs Crystal Palace live, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 10 am ET Saturday
Venue: London Stadium — London
TV Channel: USA
Streaming: Watch live on NBC.com
Now, scoring three goals did obscure the fact that West Ham attempted just four shots in the game, but after the game Potter praised his players profusely for the way they fought for 90 minutes. “We were far from perfect. But in terms of application of the players and how they fought and suffered, they were really, really, good. We have to look at the context of what happened and it’s been a tough week for the players and we have players missing, especially in the forward areas. But nevertheless, the team spirt, the team effort and willingness to try were fantastic.” The Hammers (26 points - 13th) are just four points behind Fulham for a place in the top half of the table with 17 games left to play.
Crystal Palace (24 points - 15th) were also victorious at midweek, as Jean-Philippe Mateta and Marc Guehi each struck in the second half to extend the Eagles’ unbeaten run to four games (2W-2D-0L), with just one defeat in their last 10 in the Premier League (4W-5D-1L). Oliver Glasner’s side sat 18th with just 8 goals scored in 11 games when the run began. And in the last 10? 15 goals — marked improvement as they scored multiple goals five out of 10 times (compared to just twice to start the season).
West Ham team news, focus
OUT: Niclas Fullkrug (hamstring), Michail Antonio (DETAILS), Jarrod Bowen (ankle), Jean-Clair Todibo (undisclosed) | QUESTIONABLE: Crysencio Summerville (hamstring)
Crystal Palace team news, focus
OUT: Adam Wharton (groin), Rob Holding (undisclosed), Matheus Franca (groin) | QUESTIONABLE: Jefferson Lerma (illness)
West Ham vs Crystal Palace prediction
Palace’s win over Leicester at midweek was also a bit of a smash-and-grab job, but Mateta and Ismaila Sarr are at least in fine form together up top while all of West Ham’s forwards are injured. West Ham 1-2 Crystal Palace.