Crystal Palace vs West Ham team news: Aaron Creswell to play first game of the season in major Hammers boost
Aaron Cresswell has returned from injury and will be in the squad for Palace showdown, insists Slaven Bilic
CRYSTAL PALACE entertain West Ham at Selhurst Park with the pressure on Slaven Bilic to turn around the Hammers' poor start to the season.
West Ham have won just once in the Premier League all campaign and find themselves third from bottom and facing a relegation battle unless they find their form soon.
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But Alan Pardew's Palace have won three of their last four games and know victory could see them end the weekend in the top six in the division.
Crystal Palace team: Mandanda; Ward, Tomkins, Delaney, Kelly; Ledley, McArthur; Zaha, Puncheon, Townsend; Benteke
West Ham team: Adrián; Antonio, Reid, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Noble, Obiang, Kouyaté; Lanzini, Zaza, Payet
Stats:
- Crystal Palace have won just one of their last four top-flight meetings with West Ham, drawing one and losing two.
- West Ham have won on each of their last two top-flight visits to Selhurst Park; they've never won three in a row away to Crystal Palace in the league.
- There has been a sending off in each of the last three top-flight clashes between these two sides (Kouyate in Apr 2016, Gayle in Oct 2015 and Murray in Feb 2015).
- Dimitri Payet scored in both the Hammers' meetings with Palace last season, indeed against no other side has he scored more league goals (also two v Newcastle).
- Manuel Lanzini also scored in both West Ham's games against the Eagles last season (two goals in total), with Palace the only side he has scored more than one against in the top-flight.
- Since Christian Benteke's Premier League debut in September 2012, only Olivier Giroud (also 19) has scored as many headed goals in the competition as the Belgian striker.
- The Eagles are unbeaten in five Premier League games (W3 D2 L0), their longest run without defeat since December 2015 (six games).
- West Ham are without a win in their last five top-flight games (W0 D1 L4), their longest winless streak in the competition since December 2015 (eight games).
- Crystal Palace have now gone seven games without a London derby win in the Premier League (W0 D2 L5), the longest run of any current top-flight club.
- West Ham have picked up just four points from their opening seven Premier League games; their worst points tally in a top-flight season at this stage since 1988-89 (also 4 – and they were relegated at the end of that campaign).
- Since the start of last season, Scott Dann has netted seven goals in the top-flight, more than any other defender.
- Jason Puncheon has created more goalscoring chances than any other Premier League player in the opening seven matchdays of the 2016-17 season (24).
