Major Crystal Palace blow as Oliver Glasner could be missing two vital players for West Ham

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Crystal Palace play host to West Ham United in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.

Both clubs got off to poor starts in their respective Premier League campaigns, with defeats on the opening day of the season.

However, West Ham are very much a work in progress with new manager Julen Lopetegui at the helm.

Meanwhile, Oliver Glasner has been in charge of Palace since February, so the Eagles are a lot further along in their development than we are.

There has been such a big squad overhaul at the London Stadium this summer, and Lopetegui has suggested that he wants even more new signings.

Aside from bringing new players in, the West Ham manager has to focus on improving the way that his team performs.

Palace will be a real test for us on Saturday. We’ve won only two of our last 11 clashes with the South London outfit, and have lost five of those encounters.

However, it seems like the Eagles have been dealt somewhat of a blow heading into this weekend’s game.

Major Crystal Palace blow ahead of West Ham clash

The Hammers travel to Selhurst Park on Saturday, with last season’s embarrassing 5-2 defeat still fresh in the memory.

Hopefully things will be different this time with Lopetegui at the helm.

The Spaniard certainly has more options at his disposal than Moyes did before him.

I want to see more cohesion in our play through the middle of the park and on into the final third – if the players can show signs of improvement every week over the next couple of months, then that’s all I ask for.

A result against Palace would be huge for squad morale, and now it seems like we could have a very good chance of achieving exactly that.

That’s because Premier Injuries are reporting that Matheus Franca definitely won’t be playing for the Eagles, whilst Cheick Doucoure is a doubt as well, and will face a late fitness test.

How West Ham can hurt Palace

Glasner’s side are a well-drilled outfit, and they have some fantastic players, including the likes of Eberechi Eze and Adam Wharton.

However, the Hammers have some top players as well, and on paper, we should have more than enough to get a result.

First things first, Lopetegui absolutely must start Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Jean-Clair Todibo and Niclas Fullkrug instead of Vladimir Coufal, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Michail Antonio.

I actually think that Crysencio Summerville is in with a shout to start the game as well, after his impressive cameo appearance against Aston Villa last weekend.

Palace will be up in our faces early on in the game, so the Hammers players will have to be incredibly brave if they are to stick to Lopetegui’s plan to pass out from the back.

We need our midfielders to make themselves available to the defenders, and everyone will have to put in a shift.

However, the key to winning the game will be for Mohammed Kudus, Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta to all be on their very best form.

Those three players are capable of winning games on their own, and if they’re all at it against Crystal Palace, I can see nothing other than a West Ham win.