Moyes aiming for six-wins-in-a-row at Selhurst as Mateta forced to wait for debut

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West Ham boss David Moyes has visited Selhurst Park on four occasions, with four different clubs.

With Preston (2001), Everton (2004), Manchester United (2014) and Sunderland (2017), the Scot has emerged victorious in SE25. Now he arrives with West Ham, who currently sit seventh in the Premier League after an impressive first half to their campaign.

Should fate repeat itself once more on Tuesday night, the Hammers could end the night in the top four.

Much of their recent success has coincided with the return of Michail Antonio. The striker has scored the winner in West Ham’s last two games and aims to become the first Hammers player to make it three in a row since Bobby Zamora in April 2007.

Moyes praised his striker ahead of the London derby:

“He makes a huge difference for us and is such an important player for us. If he gives us a goal a game we won’t be complaining, that’s for sure! I still see improvement in him and hopefully he can give us that.”

With Antonio firing on all cylinders, the departure of Sebastian Haller can easily be forgotten. The French forward has departed for Ajax but led the line when these two sides met last month.

His acrobatic bicycle kick, perhaps the best goal the striker scored in claret and blue, cancelled out an earlier Christian Benteke effort as the points were shared in a midweek encounter at the London Stadium.

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Palace’s Belgian striker is currently being linked with a move away from the club, most notably to Sam Allardyce’s West Brom, despite both former England bosses dismissing the link in their pre-match press conferences.

The Eagles have already made a striker acquisition which may have led to the speculation, with Jean-Philippe Mateta joining last week from Mainz on an initial 18-month deal with the option to buy.

Roy Hodgson revealed that work permit issues are currently delaying the Paris-born striker’s debut with fans initially hoping to see him feature against the Hammers.

“There’s a few visa [matters] to sort out but hopefully we’ll get them sorted out quickly and he’ll be available very soon. But it would have been too soon to have him in the squad for tomorrow whatever [had happened].”

The delays could mean a start for Jordan Ayew, a player who enjoys scoring against tomorrow’s opponents. In this fixture, last season, the Ghanian’s individual run, which culminated in a scooped finish over Roberto, was voted Palace’s Goal of the Season for last campaign.

With four goals against West Ham, all on different grounds, Ayew will hope for the opportunity to lead the line against the Londoners once more.

Tom Hardy will be at Selhurst Park for Crystal Palace’s London derby with West Ham United.

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