West Ham United have been handed a major boost with the news that two Crystal Palace stars will miss Saturday’s London derby.
Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini was dealt a blow when he lost star man Lukasz Fabianski last weekend.
The goalkeeper is likely to be out for around two months.
There is better news for West Ham with the return of playmaker Manuel Lanzini to the starting XI for the visit of Palace.
Big boost for West Ham… from Palace
But perhaps the biggest boost to West Ham’s hopes of getting a win that would likely push them back up to third place comes from Palace.
That’s because two of the Roy Hodgson’s key players have been ruled out of the game.
Classy Serbian midfielder Luka Milivojevic is suspended after picking up five yellow cards.
Palace missing heartbeat Luka
Milivojevic is the heartbeat of the Palace team and their chief set piece taker.
Without him, West Ham will be confident of bossing the crucial midfield battle.
There is good news for Sebastien Haller too. Star defender Mamadou Sakho is set to miss the match through injury.
West Ham have been widely tipped to challenge the top six – and even the top four in some quarters – this season.
Hammers eye third spot again
Palace meanwhile are going about their business under the radar.
Leicester are playing relentless winners Liverpool on Saturday. Arsenal are not in action until Sunday. So a victory for the Hammers will likely put them in third place with the season nearly a quarter of the way through.
Pellegrini looks set to make two changes to the West Ham side to face the Eagles, read full story here.
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox
