Here, Roshane – who you can follow on Twitter here – gives his thoughts on what Palace fans can expect from their east London opposition at Selhurst Park on Saturday…
An up-and-down season
“It’s definitely been an up-and-down season for West Ham United, for sure.
“Given the transfers that came in last summer, their hope was to compete for a top-seven or even potentially top-four spot, but for a number of reasons, that hasn’t materialised, be that key signings not fitting in straight away, or players like Nayef Aguerd being injured at the start of the season which hampered their defensive plans.
“The last few games, like against Liverpool on Wednesday [a 2-1 defeat at London Stadium], West Ham have been playing much better. They’ve started to click and it feels like the season’s starting now, given how well they’re playing.
“The UEFA Europa Conference League has helped. It’s sort of been a tale of two teams: in the Premier League, the team has been a bit vulnerable, and then in the Conference League, the team’s been free-scoring and like a different side.
“It’s been an up-and-down season, but it’s been a lot more positive the last few weeks.”
Switch to 4-3-3 helps big-money buys
“When I think about Crystal Palace, I think about Michail Antonio, who’s tended to well against them recently. He hasn’t really started much this season, but Manuel Lanzini’s another one who often plays well against Palace.
“It’s an away game so they’re going to want to do well, for sure. The last away fixture they had was a 4-0 win at Bournemouth, whereas at the start of the season, they couldn’t really buy a win away from home.
“Lucas Paquetá has been playing really well lately too. He’s starting to justify why the club made him their record signing.
