West Ham United have two reasons to fear facing Crystal Palace tomorrow night.
Josh King could end up in claret after all, one way or another
Depending on other results, West Ham could go fourth in the Premier League table with a victory over the Eagles at Selhurst Park.
The two sides drew 1-1 at the London Stadium over the festive period.
There is no doubt David Moyes’s side go into the game in better form than Roy Hodgson’s men.
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The Hammers have won their last five games in all competitions including three Premier League games on the spin.
Indeed West Ham have only lost once – a harsh defeat to Chelsea – in their last 10 games.
Palace meanwhile have won just once in their last nine games in all competitions.
But while there is plenty to make West Ham cheerful at the moment there are also two big reasons for the east Londoners to be fearful ahead of Tuesday night’s clash.
While West Ham’s search for a new striker continues to prove fruitless, Palace have sealed the signing of former France Under 21 forward Jean-Philippe Mateta.
Double worry for West Ham as new Palace striker looks red hot while Zaha returns
And the 6ft 4in powerhouse could be in line to make his debut against West Ham after showing hugely impressive form in training.
Mateta looks a real handful – and will also be something of an unknown quantity.
That’s if footage from Palace’s pre-West Ham training sessions are anything to go by.
A video posted by the club’s media team on Twitter shows Mateta banging goals in for fun – ably assisted by Wilfried Zaha.
And that will be West Ham’s other cause for concern, Zaha’s return.
Coufal can pocket Eagles talisman again
The talismanic Palace winger missed the club’s last game – a 4-0 defeat to Man City.
But he is back fit for West Ham. Hammers fans will not be overly concerned, though, given how brilliantly dealt with he was by Vladimir Coufal the last time the two sides met.
West Ham did not pick up any injury concerns in the win over Doncaster.
So Michail Antonio – rested for that game – will return up front in what promises to be an exciting game.