PREM: West Ham v Crystal Palace preview

West Ham v Crystal Palace preview

West Ham will be without forward Marko Arnautovic when they host Crystal Palace on Saturday.

The Hammers are looking for a third straight Premier League win, but have a lengthy injury list that includes Arnautovic, who faces a month out with a hamstring injury sustained in the midweek victory over Cardiff.

Arnautovic's absence could mean a first Premier League start of the season for Lucas Perez, who scored twice against Cardiff after coming off the bench.

"I'm pleased because he's a player I brought in this season to this team," said manager Manuel Pellegrini.

"We know Lucas and we know he is a good striker but for other reasons he couldn't start playing in the other games. But the important thing is, when he has the chance, he takes the chance."

Crystal Palace will be aiming to bounce back from their 3-1 defeat at Brighton in midweek.

Manager Roy Hodgson said: "Up to the Brighton game, the performances have been good. This has come as an unpleasant cold shower for us, where we didn't play as well as we wanted to.

"The important thing is to not allow that to affect us as a team. We have shown good intentions, but I am not an enormous believer in statistics."

Arnautovic joins Jack Wilshere, Andriy Yarmolenko, Ryan Fredericks, Carlos Sanchez, Aaron Cresswell, Winston Reid and Manuel Lanzini on a lengthy West Ham casualty list.

But defenders Pablo Zabaleta and Fabian Balbuena are available after missing the win over Cardiff.

Crystal Palace have no fresh injury concerns.

Forward Connor Wickham (thigh) and defender Scott Dann (knee) have been stepping up their rehabilitation, while striker Christian Benteke continues his recovery from a knee injury.