Slaven Bilic will look to take his team’s form against Crystal Palace to their next game when they host injury stricken Sunderland in their new stadium. Both the teams have yet to kick start their Premier league campaign properly with the Hammers sitting in a slightly better position than their opponents.
West Ham are currently languishing at the 15th place with 7 points from eight games. Sunderland, on the other hand, are rock bottom at the 20th position with no win yet.
Team News
The West Ham fans will be expecting to see their record signing Andre Ayew in this game as he has a slick chance of playing today after returning from a thigh injury he suffered in the opening day of the Premier League season.
A big frustration for the Hammers will be the suspension of winger Aaron Cresswell, who received two yellow cards in a span of 40 seconds against Crystal Palace. Apart from him, Arthur Masuaku, Sam Byram, Gokhan Tore, Andy Carroll and Diafra Sakho all remain side lined.
Sunderland
Sunderland will be welcoming two players from its long injury list, which is by far the longest in the Premier League this season. They will be having Lamine Kone, who returns from a hamstring injury and Patrick van Aanholt, who has returned after overcoming a muscle strain.
It is still doubtful if both would start the game as the manager wouldn’t want to risk them so early. However, Sunderland will still be without 7 first team players. Adnan Januzaj is slated to return earlier than expected.
Predicted Lineup
West Ham United (3-4-3)- Adrian; Ogbonna, Kouyate, Reid; Obiang, Noble Antonio, Valencia; Payet, Zaza, Lanzini
Sunderland (4-2-3-1)- Pickford; VanAanholt, Djilobodji, O’Shea, Manquillo; Paddy, Rodwell; Khazri, Ndong, Watmore, Defoe
Key Players
West Ham United- Definitely Dmitri Payet. The Frenchman has finally found some form now showing glimpses of his previous season heroics, where he was absolutely unstoppable. He had carried his form to the Euros too.
Andre Ayew, expectantly coming on as a substitution, will be another player to watch out for against Sunderland.
Sunderland- For Sunderland, the stand out player will be Jermain Defoe. He seems to have re-founded himself at his old age. He has managed to score 4 goals in his 8 appearances this season. With an average of 3 shots per game, the Englishman can change the game pretty fast for the Black Cats.
Odds
West Ham @ 4.6
Draw @ 3.1
Sunderland @ 19.4
