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Mark Lawrenson predicts West Ham United vs Crystal Palace result after bad luck against Liverpool
Mark Lawrenson has predicted West Ham will come away from Selhurst Park with a point in the early Saturday kick off (29 April) against Crystal Palace.
The Hammers were denied a late penalty against the pundit’s former side Liverpool on Wednesday and he agrees with David Moyes that they were unlucky in the 2-1 defeat.
A draw to Jurgen Klopp’s side would have made it five games unbeaten in all competitions, so with Roy Hodgson’s side also coming off a defeat to Wolves Lawrenson has tipped the Hammers to avoid losing again with a 1-1 draw.
He said in his Paddy Power predictions: “West Ham were unlucky not to get a penalty against Liverpool on Wednesday. Crystal Palace lost to Wolves. I’m going to go for a draw.
“Wolves are slowly climbing away from the drop zone and West Ham have had a decent run. Crystal Palace 1-1 West Ham.”
Evens
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Having arrested the slide and found themselves as good as safe Hodgson’s Palace might just have lost some of the impetus that saw them go on a surprise winning run when the former England boss returned to the club to replace Patrick Vieira.
They appear to be out of danger, while the Irons are not yet, and although their recent results have definitely improved in the wake of the utterly dismal 5-1 home thrashing by Newcastle on 5 April there is still work to be done.
If Moyes can channel the frustration of the Liverpool game into a positive reaction from his players then it may even avoid the sort of late-season malaise that comes over a side when they think they are no longer under threat from the drop.
And with players like Lucas Paqueta finally starting to show some of the quality they were known to have on a more regular basis there is definitely reason to be confident.
But the Hammers have been on encouraging runs before this season and once they were knocked off they have regressed into a mess again.
The signs in recent weeks have been better than at any point in the campaign so fans will be hoping that there is some light at the end of the tunnel and they can at least end the season on a relative high, ahead of what promises to be a summer of change at the London Stadium.