In the pecking order of London derbies, West Ham United vs Crystal Palace is not one that particularly stands out on the fixture list.
Oliver Glasner’s Conference League semi-finalists may be a little worse for wear; partying late into the night following Thursday’s two-leg victory over Fiorentina.
What an opportunity this is, then, for West Ham United to secure what would only be a second victory in seven matches against Crystal Palace. Oh, and to move three giant strides closer to Premier League survival.
Who makes YOUR West Ham and Crystal Palace combined XI?
⚒️ 🆚 🦅
Adam Wharton could miss Crystal Palace vs West Ham United
Palace are sweating on Adam Wharton and Maxence Lacroix after both players were forced off before half-time in Florence. Who knows? Perhaps Glasner would have rested the key duo anyway.
Speaking of Wharton, when Hammers News asked our TalkingPoint readers to pick one Crystal Palace player they would love to see in claret and blue, the England international surprisingly finished a distant third.
Much to the confusion of one West Ham fan who enjoys the luxury of watching Wharton pull the strings at first-hand.
“I live in Bromley now, and sometimes go to Palace games with my mate just for a day out at the football and a few beers,” the occasional Selhurst Park matchgoer writes on our Facebook page. “If anyone doesn’t say Adam Wharton then, you haven’t got a clue.”
The 32 per cent who voted in favour of Jean-Philippe Mateta may have something to say about that.
Mateta topped our poll, with goalkeeper Dean Henderson coming in second.
“Mateta would be perfect for us,” another fan writes, while another wonders if things would have worked out better for Brennan Johnson had Palace’s £35 million record signing moved a few miles down the road to East London instead.
How many points are we getting then? 😬
Feel free to tell me where I'm going wrong 😂
“[I would take] Mateta. And I reckon Johnson would have been a better Hammer than a Palace player.”
Johnson has struggled to secure a spot in Glasner’s XI since that January transfer. Ismaila Sarr could have been a West Ham player had Marseille been open to an initial loan deal, with Palace instead snapping up the 17-goal Senegal international for a bargain £12.5 million in the summer of 2024.
“I’d bring Sarr to us all day long. Best Crystal Palace player since [Ebere] Eze.”
“Wharton next to [Mateus] Fernandes with [Tomas] Soucek playing box-to-box would be a real quality three-man midfield.”
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