Early Premier League table toppers West Ham entertain Crystal Palace at the London Stadium as the 2021/22 season heads into its third week.

The Hammers sit top of the tree after 4-2 and 4-1 wins over Newcastle and Leicester respectively, while Palace are yet to get motoring under new manager Patrick Vieira.

The Eagles haven’t found the back of the net under the legendary French midfielder, something that West Ham have not had an issue with so far. Michail Antonio already has three goals to his name, while there have also been electric starts to the season from the likes of Said Benrahma and Pablo Fornals.

Here’s 90min’s preview of a game.

---

What time is kick off? Saturday 28 August,15:00 (BST)
Where is it being played? London Stadium
TV channel? Peacock Premium (US)
Referee? Stuart Attwell
VAR? Graham Scott

---

West Ham are without wing-back Arthur Masuaku once more, but it’s otherwise a fit and healthy squad that’s available to David Moyes.

Said Benrahma has been superb so far this season, playing off both the left hand side and as a number ten, while there’s also been impressive showings from Antonio, Pablo Fornals and Declan Rice.

Alphonse Areola is pushing for a start in goal, but his chance will likely come in the Europa League.

Palace haven’t played that badly in their opening two games, but Vieira will wants the goals to start flowing in order to breed confidence.

Christian Benteke is likely to lead the line again, supported by Wilfried Zaha, while the onus is also on Chelsea loanee Conor Gallagher – who has looked good so far – to get forward and support in the final third.

Ebere Eze is still recovering from a long-term Achilles injury, while Luka Milivojevic and Michael Olise are sidelined with problems of their own. Joachim Andersen and Marc Guehi should continue as the first-choice partnership in central defence.

---

West Ham: Fabianski, Coufal, Dawson, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Rice, Soucek, Bowen, Fornals, Benrahma; Antonio

Crystal Palace: Guaita; Ward, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell; Gallagher, McArthur, Kouyate; Schlupp, Benteke, Zaha

---

West Ham’s superb start to the season, coupled with Palace’s reluctance to find the back of the net, make anything other than a home win prediction pretty difficult.

The Hammers will slip up at some point but the atmosphere at the London Stadium can only galvanise the players to push on and play to their optimum level. Michail Antonio is in red-hot form, and the style and swagger of West Ham’s build-up play is hard to match when they are at it.

Palace haven’t lost in their last couple of trips to West Ham, but they’re not firing on all cylinders. Another day of disappointment awaits.

Prediction: West Ham 3-1 Crystal Palace

---