West Ham vs Crystal Palace Prediction 18 January 2025

🔊 Who will prove stronger in the battle of table neighbors? In the 22nd round, fans of the English Premier League are looking forward to only one London derby - West Ham will face Crystal Palace. The "Hammers" are ahead of the "Glaziers" by two points, but bookmakers are not sure they can even maintain this lead. Despite West Ham's home advantage under Graham Potter, the odds are almost equal, making it a very difficult task to predict the outcome. However, our editorial team will try to tackle it.

📊 Head-to-Head

West Ham couldn't defeat the "Glaziers" for two seasons, but at the start of the current campaign, they finally broke this unpleasant trend. In the first-round match, the "Hammers" snatched a 2-0 victory in a rather even game. This victory was the first and, as it later turned out, one of the few for Julen Lopetegui at the helm of the "Irons," so he couldn't keep his position.

⚒ West Ham

Graham Potter has clearly breathed life into the "Hammers." The team became more confident with the ball and secured a victory in the very first league match under the new manager. Moreover, it wasn't against an outsider but a solid Fulham (3-2). West Ham's progress was noticeable even in the cup game against Aston Villa (1-2), where the Londoners spent most of the match as leaders. It seems this is the ideal job for Potter, so we can expect further development from the hosts. Only injuries can hinder this progress, as three important attacking players are sidelined. Antonio and Bowen are out for a long time, and Füllkrug, having just recovered, is back in the infirmary. However, West Ham managed against Fulham without them.

🦅 Crystal Palace

If at the start of the season everyone was wondering when Crystal Palace would finally win, now it's the opposite. In their last 12 matches across all competitions, only Arsenal managed to beat Oliver Glasner's side, despite attempts from many top teams: Man City (2-2), Aston Villa (1-1), Newcastle (1-1), and Chelsea (1-1). The team is already eight points clear of the relegation zone, so they don't need to worry about potential relegation. Rather, they have ambitions to climb into the top ten, as they did last year. The squad situation for the visitors is conducive to climbing up the table. Only Franca and Wharton remain injured, and Lerma picked up an injury in a recent game against Leicester (2-0).

⚽️ Goal Prediction

A distinctive feature of head-to-head encounters between West Ham and Crystal Palace is regular goal exchanges. The bet on Both Teams to Score (Yes) has won in 14 of the last 15 Premier League matches and in 7 consecutive matches at the "Hammers'" ground. Considering the current form of both teams, there are all prerequisites for maintaining this trend.

🚩 Corner Prediction

Both teams do not have outstanding corner statistics (4.67 and 4.95 respectively). It's not surprising that Total Under 12.5 Corners has won in 9 of West Ham's last 10 Premier League matches. The same pattern is observed with Crystal Palace but over a shorter period (in 6 of their last 7 matches).

📝 Match Prediction

The last thing we want to do in this match is dive into outcomes. In our opinion, this is a game with three possible results, and we lean towards a draw. A 1-1 scoreline after the final whistle would be a logical outcome of a battle between equal opponents. In such a situation, we see Both Teams to Score (Yes) as the least risky bet, which is literally associated with head-to-head meetings between West Ham and Crystal Palace. This option is what we propose as the main one.