West Ham vs Crystal Palace Prediction for 20 September 2025 - Football

🔊 Could the match against Crystal Palace be Graham Potter's last stand at the helm of West Ham? It's quite likely, as the struggling Hammers are considered underdogs even at their home ground, the London Stadium. This makes sense, given that they are facing a team unbeaten this season. Additionally, the Eagles have been quite successful in head-to-head encounters with West Ham, but we'll delve into that further in the next section of our prediction.

Head-to-Head

📊 Since the 2022/23 season, West Ham have only managed to defeat Crystal Palace once — with a 2-0 victory early in last season's Premier League. The teams have drawn once (1-1), while the Eagles have celebrated victory on four occasions. Notably, in each of their wins, they scored at least two goals. Therefore, a bet on the visitors to score more than 1 goal is worth considering.

West Ham United Team Overview

It's somewhat unclear what Graham Potter has been up to since taking over as head coach of West Ham. He's certainly tried to improve the team's play—there's no doubt about that—but the problem is, nothing has really worked out. The only bright spot this season has been an away victory against Nottingham Forest (3-0). However, despite the scoreline, the Hammers weren't truly dominant over their opponents; the match was fairly even, and the goals came late in the game. Crucially, the Londoners failed to build on that success, falling to a heavy defeat in the derby against Tottenham (0-3). This marks their third heavy loss in four matches. As a result, West Ham's presence in the relegation zone comes as no surprise.

Crystal Palace Team Overview

Crystal Palace fans might only be concerned about the team's low scoring at the start of the season. The Eagles thrashed Aston Villa 3-0, but in other matches, they have scored no more than a single goal or failed to score altogether. However, their modest attacking stats haven't stopped them from sitting 9th in the table, just a couple of points shy of the top five. Considering their challenging schedule, these are impressive results. Additionally, Oliver Glasner's side advanced to the fourth round of the League Cup this week. The Austrian manager rotated the squad, leading to some tense moments in a penalty shootout, but they ultimately overcame Millwall 4-2.

Latest news

West Ham United

🔚 Several reputable sources claim that the match against Crystal Palace is Graham Potter's last chance to remain as West Ham's head coach. However, there is a possibility that his dismissal is already a foregone conclusion. The Hammers' management has drawn up a shortlist of potential successors, which includes Nuno Espírito Santo, Sean Dyche, and Slaven Bilić.

❌ The hosts face two significant absences. Aaron Wan-Bissaka will miss out due to stomach issues, and Tomáš Souček is sidelined because of suspension, having received a red card in the match against Tottenham.

Crystal Palace

💰 Crystal Palace have been fined for displaying a banner reading "UEFA Mafia" during the Community Shield match against Liverpool and the UEFA Conference League playoff against Fredrikstad. This was a protest by the Eagles' fans over their team's demotion from the Europa League to the Conference League due to violations of multi-club ownership rules. Priority in European competitions was given to French side Lyon, which allowed Nottingham Forest to qualify for the Europa League from England. The fine amounts to 10,000 euros.

❌ Cheick Doucouré, Chadi Riad, and Eddie Nketiah have not taken the field this season due to knee issues. Nketiah is likely to be included in the squad for the match against West Ham. More recent injuries have affected Ismaïla Sarr and Adam Wharton. The Englishman is expected to be fit for the upcoming game, whereas the Senegalese player's participation is doubtful.

🟨 Referee and Yellow Cards

🟨 Referee and Yellow Cards

West Ham aren't exactly battling it out on the field, as reflected in their results and their average yellow card count of just 0.25 per game. Crystal Palace, on the other hand, have a much higher rate at 2.5, but the Eagles have calmed down recently, receiving only one booking in each of their last couple of matches, including a cup game.

Given these factors and the fact that the match will be officiated by Tony Harrington, who has shown more than three yellow cards in just one of his four matches this season, we suggest betting on under 4.5 yellow cards. Head-to-head clashes between West Ham and Crystal Palace rarely feature a flurry of bookings.

⚽️ Goal Predictions

Despite West Ham's poor form, our editorial team expects both teams to find the net in the upcoming match. Graham Potter has plenty of attacking talent at his disposal (Lucas Paquetá and Jarrod Bowen can create goals out of thin air), and the bet on both teams to score (yes) has hit in 14 of the last 16 Premier League head-to-heads. It's hard to argue with such a trend.

🚩 Corner Predictions

Crystal Palace weren't focused on corners last season, and this year they've almost stopped taking them altogether—averaging just 2.25 per game, with an even lower average of 1.5 on the road. We don't expect the Eagles to dominate possession, so we're opting for a cautious bet on under 5.5 corners for the visitors. This bet has come through in eight consecutive head-to-heads at West Ham's ground.

West Ham match Crystal Palace in terms of player quality, but the team's morale is so low that any hopes for success seem unrealistic. The coaching strategies are ineffective, and it's unclear what they even entail at this point. Graham Potter is practically packing his bags, likely doubting his ability to turn things around. Considering the Hammers' historical struggles against the Eagles, the odds of a visiting victory seem even stronger. We're expecting a final score of 1-2 on the scoreboard and backing Crystal Palace to win with a handicap (0).