Chelsea vs West Ham United

Friday 26th December 2014

12:30

Stamford Bridge

Chelsea vs West Ham United

Analysis

Chelsea on Boxing Day. This is the sort of game that epitomises English football.

The Boxing Day fixture. London derby. Galacticos vs Underdogs. Split family loyalties. Huge bragging rights. And this year, it's a top four clash.

Uncles, Aunts and Cousins of mine are firm Chelsea fans, and the annual pilgrimage to see the family over the holidays will centre around this. And that's what football is all about for me.

Key Player

Where do you start? Man to man, Chelsea are the best side in the country, and probably up in the top 5 in the world at the moment. Every single spot in their starting XI is a player who is capable of winning you a game on his day.

But there are a few that shine even brighter than the rest. Nemanja Matic has been a phenomenon since returning to West London in January, Diego Costa has shown his lethal touch on 12 occasions this season already, and John Terry's performances are arguably the best of his career.

I've been having a debate in my head about who to focus on out of Chelsea's two best players, but the fact that Eden Hazard may miss the game after limping off against Stoke City last night has forced my hand.

Cesc Fabregas has been an utter revelation since joining the Blues. He's got 12 Premier League assists in his first 16 games, and has a further 3 in the Champions League. In his total 22 league and European performances, he's created 72 chances.

The man is a genius, and he showed it again on Monday night.

Against Stoke, Fabregas ran the show, creating the first and scoring the second. The images below illustrate his game perfectly. The heat map on the left shows that the Spaniard moves all over the middle third of the pitch, popping up in pockets of space all over the park, without getting into the box too often.

And you can see from the chances he created (right) that he doesn't need to get too far forward to cause damage. He is a master of the defence splitting through ball from deep, and allowing him any space in the midfield is suicidal.

Whoever it is who marks Fabregas on Friday, they will need to be right on top of their game.

http://epl.squawka.com/stoke-city-vs-chelsea/

How do you stop Chelsea?

The real answer to that question is that you don't.

Chelsea have lost one game all season, and have drawn three league games. But none of those have been at Stamford Bridge. This season, they have won every home league game they have played. Last season, they won 15 out of 19, drawing three (obviously, one was against us) and losing to Sunderland in April.

The only time they have failed to win at home this season was their Champions League opener against Schalke.

The Germans did what most visitors do at the Bridge, worked incredibly hard, hoped for a bit of luck, and took their chance when it came. The image below shows their tackles on the day. Schalke attempted 42 tackles, which is big anyway, but massive for a European game.

On top of this, they also made 24 interceptions, 38 clearances and blocked 5 shots.

http://www.squawka.com/teams/fc-schalke-04/

As I said, they also took their opportunity. Chelsea dominated much of the game, and were pressing for a second goal when Klaas-Jan Huntelaar nicked the ball in the middle of his own half, and he and Julian Draxler sprung a lightning quick counter attack to snatch a point. The image below shows how quickly they broke and scored.

If West Ham can frustrate the Blues enough to draw them out of position on Boxing Day, quick counter attacking led by the likes of Diafra Sakho, Enner Valencia and the two fullbacks could be the order of the day.

Weakness

Chelsea don't really have any weaknesses, particularly at home. However, if you were going to pick anything as their main flaw, it would probably be England centre back Gary Cahill.

Whilst Cahill is one half of probably the best centre back pairing in the division, he is capable of costly lapses in concentration. So far this season, Cahill has made four defensive errors in his 17 appearances, twice as many as the next highest by a Chelsea player. 

This is a recent introduction to Cahill's game, as he made no defensive errors in 30 appearances last season, and just two in 26 the year before. The main change in circumstance since then has been the departure of David Luiz, and the subsequent loss of any real threat to his position.

Perhaps the England centre half is getting complacent, perhaps he's just had a couple of dodgy moments. Whatever it is, he is the most likely of the Chelsea side to give anything away, and West Ham must look to exploit him as often as possible.

http://www.squawka.com/players/gary-cahill/

Conclusion

The say a lot can change very quickly in football, and it certainly has since we last played Chelsea. It must've been a good couple of centuries since our last visit to the Bridge, and both sides are much better outfits than our last trip west.

It's unlikely that we will head home with anything to show on Friday evening, but if we can keep Fabregas quiet, hope that Hazard doesn't make it, and pounce on the potential gaps in their defence, who knows?

 Head to Head 

39% Head to Head Win % 39%

53 Won 53

29 Drawn 29

53 Lost 53

229 Goals Scored 242

242 Goals Conceded 229

 Recent Form (excl. Friendlies) 

W L W W W W Last 6 L W W W D W

14 Goals Scored 10

4 Goals Conceded 5

  

W W W W W W Home/Away Form L W D L W D

18 Goals Scored 10

2 Goals Conceded 9

  

 Form Player (excl. GK) 

 (Last 6 League) 

Cesc Fabregas - Andy Carroll

5 Appearances 6

436 Minutes Played 515

  

40.9 Sum WhoScored Performance Score 46.4

8.2 Average WhoScored Performance Rating 7.7

  

484 Passes Attempted 201

414 Completed 123

86% Success Rate 61%

  

21 Chances Created 6

3 Assists 1

  

5 Attempts on Goal 18

4 On Target 6

1 Goals 3

3 Take Ons Attempted 4

1 Successful Take Ons 1

33% Success Rate 25%

  

33 Tackles Made 4

20 Successful Tackles 1

61% Success Rate 25%

  

1 Interceptions 5

5 Clearances 14

0 Blocks 0

1 Defensive Actions Per Game 3

  

8 Aerial Duels 109

4 Won 73

50% Success Rate 67%

0 Defensive Errors 0

0 Leading to a Goal 0

  

 Last Meeting 

29 January 2014

  

4-2-3-1 Starting Formation 4-2-3-1

Petr Cech - Adrián

Branislav Ivanovic - Guy Demel

Gary Cahill - James Collins

John Terry - James Tomkins

(63') Cesar Azpilicueta - Joey O'Brien (90')

(63') Jon Obi Mikel - Mark Noble

Ramires - Matthew Taylor

Willian - Stewart Downing

(80') Oscar - Kevin Nolan (80')

Eden Hazard - Mohamed Diamé (30')

Samuel Eto'o - Andy Carroll (64')

 Subs 

Mark Schwarzer - Jussi Jääskeläinen

David Luiz - George McCartney

Ashley Cole - Ravel Morrison

(63') Frank Lampard - Antonio Nocerino (80')

(63') Nemanja Matic - Matt Jarvis (30')

Andre Schurrle - Carlton Cole (64')

(80') Demba Ba - Marco Borriello

 Absentees 

 Injured/Doubtful 

Chelsea: Eden Hazard

West Ham United: Mark Noble

 Suspensions 

Chelsea: 

West Ham United: 

  Opposition Last Time Out (League)

vs Stoke City

 Goals Scored: 2

 Goals Conceded: 0

 Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1

  Thibaut Courtois

  Branislav Ivanovic  Gary Cahill  John Terry  Cesar Azpilicueta

  Jon Obi Mikel  Nemanja Matic

  Willian (80')  Cesc Fabregas  Eden Hazard (92')

  Diego Costa (85')

 subs:

Petr Cech

  Kurt Zouma (92')

  Nathan Ake

  Filipe Luis

  Oscar

  Andre Schurrle (80')

  Didier Drogba (85')

  

 Best Player: Cesc Fabregas(SR: 8.9)

 Worst Player: Diego Costa(SR: 6.4)

  

 Top 5's (Min 5 Apps) 

 Goals Scored 

Diego Costa 12 - 7 Diafra Sakho

Eden Hazard 6 - 4 Stewart Downing

Didier Drogba 3 - 3 Andy Carroll

Oscar 3 - 3 Enner Valencia

Loic Remy 2 - 2 Mauro Zárate

 Assists 

Cesc Fabregas 12 - 6 Stewart Downing

Oscar 5 - 2 Enner Valencia

Eden Hazard 3 - 2 Diafra Sakho

Ramires 3 - 2 Carl Jenkinson

Nemanja Matic 2 - 2 Cheikhou Kouyaté

 Passing Accuracy 

John Terry 91% - 86% Mark Noble

Jon Obi Mikel 91% - 85% Stewart Downing

Eden Hazard 89% - 84% Mauro Zárate

Cesc Fabregas 88% - 82% Winston Reid

Nemanja Matic 88% - 80% Morgan Amalfitano

 Chances Created per 90 

Cesc Fabregas 2.61 - 2.88 Stewart Downing

Eden Hazard 2.42 - 1.31 Mauro Zárate

Didier Drogba 2.35 - 1.26 Mark Noble

Diego Costa 1.84 - 1.1 Alex Song

Oscar 1.61 - 1.05 Diafra Sakho

 Successful Dribbles per 90 

Eden Hazard 4.72 - 2.4 Mauro Zárate

Willian 2.11 - 1.8 Enner Valencia

Loic Remy 1.59 - 1.7 Alex Song

Nemanja Matic 1.56 - 1.26 Diafra Sakho

Ramires 1.5 - 0.87 Morgan Amalfitano

 Tackles Won per 90 

Filipe Luis 3.47 - 2.62 Mark Noble

Andre Shurrle 3.05 - 2.6 Alex Song

Cesar Azpilicueta 2.88 - 2.44 Cheikhou Kouyaté

Nemanja Matic 2.58 - 1.52 James Tomkins

Branislav Ivanovic 2.29 - 1.46 Carl Jenkinson

 Aerial Duels Won per 90 

Didier Drogba 3.52 - 12.83 Andy Carroll

Branislav Ivanovic 3.06 - 4.8 James Collins

Gary Cahill 2.61 - 4.64 James Tomkins

John Terry 2.47 - 3.45 Diafra Sakho

Andre Schurrle 2.35 - 3.17 Carlton Cole

 Manager 

Jose Mourinho - Sam Allardyce

26/01/1963 DOB 19/10/1954

51 Age 60

  

 Playing Career 

Sesimbra Main Club Bolton Wanderers

35 Appearances 231

1 Goals 24

  

4 Total Clubs 9

94 Appearances 512

13 Goals 43

  

Portugal National Team England

0 Caps 0

  

 Managerial Career 

Benfica First Managerial Role Preston North End

20/09/2000 Start Date 30/09/1992

14y 3m 5d Experience 22y 2m 25d

  

6 Sides Managed 7

7 League Titles 2

13 Cup Wins 0

  

67.4% Win % 40%

480 Won 358

140 Drawn 235

92 Lost 302

  

 Longest Role (excl. Current) 

Chelsea Club Bolton Wanderers

02/06/2004 Appointed 19/10/1999

20/09/2007 Left 29/04/2007

3y 3m 17d Time in Charge 7y 6m 9d

2 League Titles 0

4 Cup Wins 0

  

67.0% Win % 41.2%

124 Won 153

40 Drawn 104

21 Lost 114

  

 Current Job 

03/06/2013 Appointed 01/06/2011

1y 6m 23d Time in Charge 3y 6m 25d

  

0 League Titles 0

0 Cup Wins 0

  

66.2% Win % 41.2%

55 Won 64

15 Drawn 36

13 Lost 55

New Signing: Diafra Sakho

Diafra Sakho

DOB: 24/12/1989

Age: 24

Position: Striker

Previous Club: FC Metz
Previous Division: Ligue 2

Transfer Date: 14/08/2014

Reported Fee: £2.5m

Analysis
Apologies for the tardiness of this analysis - I've been away, and match previews and analysis took my attention immediately after my return.

Last week, Diafra Sakho became West Ham United's seventh summer signing. The Senegal international joins his compatriots Mohamed Diamé and Cheikhou Kouyaté in the West Ham squad following a successful few years with FC Metz in France.

As championed by the official West Ham site, Sakho's goals over the last couple of seasons have helped to fire Metz back to the top division of French football, and his overall haul of 47 goals in 124 games for the side that once provided us with Sebastian Schemmel has persuaded Sam Allardyce and his bosses to bring the striker to East London.

Unfortunately for us, Sakho has been playing in the lower leagues in France for the past couple of seasons. This means there is very little statistical information about the forward's game, and aren't able to take a detailed look at his performances and what he can bring to our side.

What we do know, is that Sakho has been clinical in recent times.

Last season, Diafra bagged an impressive 20 goals in 37 league appearances. This record places him as the joint highest scorer of all West Ham's available strikers in league football last year.

On top of this, the striker also racked up 4 assists for his team mates, meaning he has the third best minutes per goal involvement record of his new colleagues, losing out to only Enner Valencia's record at FC Pachuca.

Once Sakho has made a few appearances in the Premier League, I'll revisit the striker position and take a look at who should be leading the line for West Ham. Until then, I'm afraid this is all we have available.

So, for now, all I can do is wish Diafra Sakho the best, and welcome him to West Ham United!

New Signing: Enner Valencia

Enner Valencia

DOB: 04/11/1989

Age: 24

Position: Forward

Previous Club: CF Pachuca

Previous Division: Liga MX Clausura

Transfer Date: 17/07/2014

Reported Fee: Anywhere from £7.9m to £15m

Analysis
Well, there's your big money move.

In the tradition of the past two summer transfer windows, West Ham United have once against strengthened the squad with a big money signing (Matt Jarvis 2012, Andy Carroll 2013). The difference this time, is that most people hadn't heard of Ecuadorian striker Enner Valencia before his excellent performance for his country in the World Cup.

The rumour mill has been spinning about Valencia for some time now, with the likes of Atletico Madrid, AC Milan and Valencia all linked with him at various point, and by sources of various reliability. Over this time, it has emerged that this isn't a flash in the pan sort of signing based on 3 good performances, but that the Hammers have been tracking their new man over the course of the last six months.

But other than his World Cup cameo, what do West Ham fans know about the newcomer?

Comparison

So what does Valencia offer us that his new teammates don't?

Well, the obvious difference is that Valencia has been in top goalscoring form in the last year. The forward bagged himself 18 goals in 23 league appearances, and a further 3 in 3 at the World Cup. In comparison, Carlton Cole, Andy Carroll, Ricardo Vâz Te and Modibo Maïga managed 11 league goals between them.

Clearly, there is a difference in standard between the Mexican and English premiere divisions, but signing a striker in form can never be a bad thing.

Aside from scoring significantly more goals than his new colleagues, Valencia also attempted far more shots. Andy Carroll was West Ham's most prolific shooter last season, with an attempted 4.21 attempts on goal per 90 minutes, with a shot accuracy of 33%.

Valencia, on the other hand, attempted a whipping 6.27 shots per 90 minutes, with a shooting accuracy of 52%.

An area in which Valencia is less capable than his new team mates is aerially.

Although he did manage to bag himself four headed goals last season, the Ecuadorian managed an aerial duel success rate of just 33%, less than all but Ricardo Vâz Te's effort of 30%. What this suggests, is that Valencia is not a like-for-like competitor with Andy Carroll.

Last season, when the line was led by Modibo Maïga, West Ham failed to adequately adjust our style to incorporate a different type of forward, and served Maïga with the type of long balls and isolation that Carroll is equipped to deal with.

If Valencia is to be a success at West Ham, it seems clear that there must be a varied approach in utilising the new man.

Strengths
Valencia's main strength is what we bought him for: he scores goals.

In the Liga Mexican Clausura last season, Valencia bagged an impressive 18 goals for Pachuca, making him the division's top scorer by a country mile, as his nearest challenger netted just 9 (though he did get those in just 11 appearances).

Perhaps most interesting though, is the fact that 17 of Valencia's 18 goals came from within the box. It seems to be accepted that Valencia will play as one of the wide forwards for his new side, replacing either Stewart Downing or Matt Jarvis in the side. What the two English wingers lacked last season with the killer instinct to get into the box and score goals. Based on Valencia's predatory record, it seems safe to assume that this won't be an issue the Ecuadorian suffers from.

http://www.squawka.com/football-player-rankings

As mentioned above, it has been suggested that Valencia will play as one of the wide pair alongside a centre forward. This is a role he has played on numerous occasions throughout his career - a career in which he actually started out as a winger, only to be converted to a striker within the past few seasons.

The heat map below comes from Pachuca's game against Toluca in January.

During this game, Valencia officially lined up as a right winger, but, as you can plainly see, he popped up all over the park to contribute for his team.

http://liga-mx.squawka.com/pachuca-vs-toluca/

But Valencia can also shine as the main main, leading the line for his club and country regularly.

Arguably his best performance in the last season for Pachuca came in the 3-0 win over Monarcas Morelia, in which he bagged himself two goals and an assist (his only assist of the season).

The images below show his take ons, and then his goals from that game.

As you can see, Valencia is keen to take on his man and get into the box, completed 6 of 9 take ons, 4 of which were attempted within the penalty area, and another four coming just outside the box.

The second image also gives you a flavour of the type of goals Valencia scored throughout the campaign. Getting in and around the six yard box to finish off moves became something of a specialty for the Ecuadorian last season, and will hopefully be something he can bring to a West Ham side lacking in that finishing touch.

http://liga-mx.squawka.com/pachuca-vs-monarcas-morelia/

Weaknesses
Probably Valencia's biggest weakness is his discipline.

Last season, he picked up 7 yellow cards in 23 league appearances. This is a pretty poor record, that is only made worse by the fact that three of those were a result of talking himself into trouble.

For the sort of money that is rumoured to be tabled for Valencia, we could really do without the forward picking up too many suspensions.

Conclusion
I suppose the thing that currently counts most against Valencia, is his lack of experience outside of South America. Any big money move is a risk, but for a player who has never played in Europe, let alone the Premier League, there is a bit of a fear that everything could go belly up.

However, here is an undoubtedly talented footballer, who has all the ability and potential to be a fantastic signing for this football club. And if Valencia can produce even half of his goalscoring record from recent seasons for West Ham, he'll settle in very nicely.

Enner Valencia, welcome to (East) London.

New Signing: Mauro Zárate

Mauro Zárate

DOB: 18/03/1987

Age: 27

Position: Striker

Previous Club: Club Atlético Vélez Sársfield

Previous Division: Argentine Primera División

Transfer Date: 28/05/2014

Reported Fee: Free Transfer

Analysis

As with every new signing West Ham United make these days, Mauro Zárate is dividing opinion amongst supporters before he even steps foot onto the hallowed turf of the Boleyn Ground.

Depending on your point of view, Zárate is either a failure outside of his homeland, or exactly the type of player we need to take us to the mysterious 'next level' for which we always strive, yet never quite reach.

In truth, both schools of thought have an element of truth to them.

Zárate has never been as prolific outside of Argentina as he has been when playing for his first (and last) club Vélez Sársfield. The striker has managed to bag double figures four times in his playing career, but only once in his five seasons in Europe (2008/09 with SS Lazio). Though it should be remembered that goals are harder to come by in the Italian Serie A.

That said, Zárate has been a rather prolific scorer/creator over the past 7 seasons, since he surfaced in Europe after a (very) short spell in the Middle East. The graph below shows his minutes per goal / assist ratio since the 2007/08 season with Birmingham City.

Over that time, Zárate has managed to score or create a goal once every 148 minutes.

There is an old cliche in football that you're only as good as your last game.

If that is true, Zárate can only really be judged on his last season. Although the quality of Argentina's top division is not quite the same as the Premier League, the striker managed a very impressive 20 goals in 35 appearances - at a rate of one goal every 135 minutes.

Compare this to his new West Ham team mates.

Club record signing Andy Carroll managed a goal every 568 minutes last season - more than triple the rate of top scoring striker Carlton Cole (179). As you can see below, Zárate's rate puts him in second place to only Ricardo Vâz Te, though the Portuguese struggled for fitness and minutes, so his figure is warped somewhat.

Unfortunately, no major stats sites collate information on the Argentinian leagues, so an in depth analysis of Zárate will have to wait. But what we do know is that the Argentine scores and creates goals when he's given time on the pitch.

At the very least, this free signing will boost competition at the business end of the pitch. At best, we could have a real talent on our hands.

I guess we wait and see which camp is correct.

West Ham United vs Crystal Palace

Saturday 19th April 2014

15:00

Boleyn Ground

West Ham United vs Crystal Palace

Analysis

After contrasting midweek performances and results against Champions League chasing Arsenal and Everton, West Ham entertain Crystal Palace in a match that could finally see the Hammers reach the 40 point mark, or see Palace open up a six point gap over their cross city rivals.

The one and only Palace fan I know happens to be coming to an Easter barbecue at my home on Saturday evening, so we really need to win this one!

Key Player

Crystal Palace come into this game on the back of four straight wins, having pretty much secured their safety with wins at home against Chelsea and Aston Villa, and recording back to back away wins at Cardiff City and Everton.

Throughout their brilliant run, every player has performed admirably. Joel Ward has been mightily impressive filling in at left back, Scott Dann has rolled back the years to his Birmingham City form of a few years ago, Mile Jedinak has been a dependable rock in midfield, while Marouane Chamakh and Cameron Jerome are striking up a very effective partnership up top.

But the areas that Palace are very strong is on the flanks. You can tell they have strong, in form wingers when Tom Ince is sat on the bench. In those four games, Yannick Bolasie has bagged himself two assists, created a further three chances for team mates, and attempted a massive 27 take ons - completing 11 of those.

But the real star of their recent form has been right midfielder Jason Puncheon.

The former Blackpool and Southampton winger has always been a capable, but erratic and inconsistent attacking force when cutting in from the right. In recent weeks though, he has been devastating.

In the run of four wins, Puncheon has created 8 chances for team mates (one assist), has a pass completion of 80%, has won 7 of 15 attempted tackles, completed 10 of 21 take ons, and has a shot accuracy of 67%.

But what Puncheon has added during this run, is goals. Of his seven Premier League goals this season, four have come in the past three games. The image below shows the Englishman's goals this season - all of which have come on his favoured left foot.

http://www.squawka.com/players/jason-puncheon

How do you stop them?

As I said above, the key to Palace's recent success has been the pace and direct running of their wide men and fullbacks.

The last time Palace failed to score (and win) was away at Newcastle United a month ago.

As you can see in the image below, is that Newcastle forced the play inside. By congesting the middle of the park and outnumbering the Palace central midfielders, Newcastle forced Puncheon (#13) and Bolasie (#28) into very narrow positions to support their midfield. This meant both wingers struggled to get into dangerous, wide positions up against fullbacks.

http://www.whoscored.com/

This approach is likely to be the most effective way of stopping Palace from doing what they are best at - particularly now that Marouane Chamakh has again taken up the role of the number 10 behind Cameron Jerome.

While the Moroccan was injured, Joe Ledley played in the position. As a central midfielder, Ledley played far deeper than Chamakh does in the role, forming a midfield trio with Jedinak and Kagisho Dikgacoi.

When Chamakh plays in the role, he stays further forward, creating more of a 4-4-2 formation than a 4-2-3-1. This means, by congesting the middle of the park, West Ham should be able to dominate the midfield pairing of Ledley and Jedinak (Dikgacoi is likely to miss out again through injury), forcing Puncheon and Bolasie to move into narrow positions to support their teammates in a way that Chamakh is not adept at.

If you compare what Newcastle did to the performance of Everton on Wednesday night, you can see the dangers of letting Palace spread their play.

What you can see below, is that Everton left huge amounts of space in the middle of the park, with only Ross Barkley (#20) playing in the centre of midfield. Gareth Barry (#18) dropped off deep between the centre backs, who split wide to cover Leighton Baines (#3) and Seamus Coleman (#23) who pushed forward. Kevin Mirallas (#11), Aiden McGeady (#7) and Gerard Deulofeu (#10) were the three attacking midfielders for Everton, but formed more of a front four with Romelu Lukaku (#17).

Although this meant that the Palace wingers (particularly Puncheon #13) were forced to defend (look at Puncheon's deep position in front of the fullback) it meant they were also able to stay out wide and exploit space, where they are most dangerous.

As a result, Puncheon scored, grabbed an assist and completed four out of five take ons, whilst Bolasie got an assist, hit the woodwork and completed five out of nine attempted take ons.

http://www.whoscored.com/

Weakness

Under Ian Holloway at the start of the season, Palace's weaknesses were obvious for all to see, conceding 17 goals in their first 8 matches. However, in Pulis' 22 league games in charge, the Eagles have conceded just 20 goals. Gone are the defensive errors and amateur positioning, and in is the Pulis approach of defending in numbers, and defending well.

Where Palace are weakest, is sticking the ball in the net. Despite their recent winning run, Palace are still the leagues second lowest scorers tihis season, with their tally of 27 only beating Norwich City's 26.

And aside from Puncheon's recent fine form in front of goal, no one player has been a consistent goal scoring threat, particularly from their attackers.

Former West Ham loanee Marouane Chamakh, and his striker partner Cameron Jerome have mustered just 7 goals in a combined 55 appearances this season, with three of those coming in Chamakh's purple patch in December.

The image below shows Chamakh's attempts on goal. What is most striking, is that the striker has attempted just 17 shots on goal in 29 appearances. That means that Chamakh has only attempted one shot every 122 minutes this season for Palace.

http://www.squawka.com/players/marouane-chamakh

Jerome, on the other hand, has attempted more shots than Chamakh, 39 in his 26 appearances, or one every 42 minutes. However, Jerome is far more wayward with his finishing (7 shots blocked, 16 off target).

And this season, the target man has a conversion rate of just 5%, his worst in the past five seasons (average of 10% since 2009), and has managed just 12 goals since the start of the 2010/11 season.

http://www.squawka.com/players/cameron-jerome

If West Ham are to hop Palace in the table and put a stop to their unbeaten run, we will need to do one key thing: dominate the midfield.

By losing the midfield battle, Palace are unable to involve their wide men in the areas they are most dangerous. As a result, they struggle to create chances, and those they do create fall to their rather impotent strike force, rather than their dangerous midfield.

A midfield trio of Mohamed Diamé, Antonio Nocerino and Mark Noble should be more than capable of upsetting Palace in the middle of the park on Saturday.

Win the battle, win the game. And make my barbecue a lot more enjoyable.

 Head to Head 

42% Head to Head Win % 28%

30 Won 20

22 Drawn 22

20 Lost 30

129 Goals Scored 92

92 Goals Conceded 129

 Recent Form 

L L W W L L Last 6 D L W W W W

7 Goals Scored 8

12 Goals Conceded 3

  

W W W L W L Home/Away Form L D D L W W

10 Goals Scored 7

6 Goals Conceded 6

  

 Form Player (excl. GK) 

 (Last 6 League) 

Andy Carroll - Jason Puncheon

6 Appearances 6

527 Minutes Played 449

  

135 Sum Squawka Performance Score 281

23 Average Squawka Performance Rating 47

  

193 Passes Attempted 156

120 Completed 125

62% Success Rate 80%

  

5 Chances Created 11

1 Assists 1

  

15 Attempts on Goal 17

5 On Target 11

2 Goals 4

6 Take Ons Attempted 26

2 Successful Take Ons 13

33% Success Rate 50%

  

12 Tackles Made 19

5 Successful Tackles 11

42% Success Rate 58%

  

1 Interceptions 12

8 Clearances 8

1 Blocks 0

2 Defensive Actions Per Game 3

  

109 Aerial Duels 4

64 Won 1

59% Success Rate 25%

0 Defensive Errors 0

0 Leading to a Goal 0

  

 Last Meeting 

03 December 2013

1-0 Marouane Chamakh 42'

4-2-3-1 Starting Formation 4-4-2

Jussi Jääskeläinen - Julian Speroni

Joey O'Brien - Joel Ward

James Collins - Danny Gabbidon

James Tomkins - Damien Delaney

(78') Rǎzvan Raţ - Dean Moxey

Mark Noble - Jason Puncheon (66')

Ravel Morrison - Mile Jedinak

Stewart Downing - Kagisho Dikgacoi

(58') Kevin Nolan - Barry Bannan (82')

Mohamed Diamé - Marouane Chamakh (85')

(58') Carlton Cole - Cameron Jerome

 Subs 

Adrián - Lewis Price

(78') George McCartney - Adrian Mariappa

Guy Demel - Stuart O'Keefe (82')

Matt Jarvis - Jon Williams (85')

Jack Collison - Jimmy Kébé (66')

(58') Joe Cole - Kevin Phillips

(58') Modibo Maïga - Dwight Gayle

 Absentees 

 Injured/Doubtful 

West Ham United: Joey O'Brien, James Collins, Kevin Nolan, Marco Borriello

Crystal Palace: Kagisho Dikgacoi, Yannick Bolasie

 Suspensions 

West Ham United: n/a

Crystal Palace: n/a

  Opposition Last Time Out (League)

vs Everton

 Goals Scored: 3

 Goals Conceded: 2

 Starting Formation: 4-4-2

  Julian Speroni

  Adrian Mariappa (68')  Scott Dann  Damien Delaney  Joel Ward

 Jason Puncheon  Mile Jedinak  Joe Ledley  Yannick Bolasie

Marouane Chamakh (80')  Cameron Jerome (76')

 subs:

Wayne Hennessey

  Jonathan Parr (68')

  Paddy McCarthy

Tom Ince

Stuart O'Keefe (76')

Dwight Gayle

Glenn Murray (80')

  

 Best Player: Scott Dann (SR: 42)

 Worst Player: Adrian Mariappa (SR: -23)

  

 Top 5's (Min 5 Apps) 

 Goals Scored 

Kevin Nolan 7 - 7 Jason Puncheon

Carlton Cole 6 - 5 Marouane Chamakh

Mohamed Diamé 4 - 3 Dwight Gayle

Joe Cole 3 - 2 Joe Ledley

Ravel Morrison* 3 - 2 Cameron Jerome

 Assists 

Kevin Nolan 5 - 3 Yannick Bolasie

Andy Carroll 4 - 2 Jason Puncheon

Mark Noble 4 - 2 Marouane Chamakh

Matt Jarvis 3 - 1 Tom Ince

Stewart Downing 2 - 1 Joe Ledley

 Passing Accuracy 

Mark Noble 83% - 88% Stuart O'Keefe

Stewart Downing 80% - 84% Jerome Thomas

Kevin Nolan 79% - 80% Joe Ledley

Joe Cole 79% - 78% Jason Puncheon

Joey O'Brien 79% - 77% Kagisho Dikgacoi

 Chances Created per game 

Stewart Downing 1.8 - 1.6 Jason Puncheon

Mark Noble 1.5 - 1.5 Barry Bannan

Matt Jarvis 1 - 1.2 Tom Ince

Kevin Nolan 0.9 - 1.1 Jerome Thomas

Andy Carroll 0.9 - 1 Marouane Chamakh

 Successful Dribbles per game 

Mohamed Diamé 1.9 - 2.2 Yannick Bolasie

Mark Noble 1.1 - 1.7 Jason Puncheon

Stewart Downing 1.1 - 0.9 Joel Ward

Guy Demel 1 - 0.8 Marouane Chamakh

Matt Jarvis 0.6 - 0.7 Jerome Thomas

 Tackles per game 

Mark Noble 2.9 - 3.5 Mile Jedinak

Mohamed Diamé 2.2 - 3.3 Joel Ward

Matthew Taylor 2 - 2.7 Joe Ledley

James Collins 1.8 - 2.6 Dean Moxey

Kevin Nolan 1.8 - 2.1 Jason Puncheon

 Aerial Duels Won per game 

Andy Carroll 8.8 - 5 Maroune Chamakh

James Tomkins 5.1 - 4.4 Mile Jedinak

James Collins 3.5 - 2.9 Damien Delaney

Carlton Cole 2.5 - 2.9 Danny Gabbidon

Winston Reid 2.2 - 2.7 Cameron Jerome

 Manager 

Sam Allardyce - Tony Pulis

 Current Club 

41.2% Win % 45.8%

54 Won 11

32 Drawn 3

45 Lost 10

  

0 League Titles 0

0 Cup Wins 0

  

01/06/2011 Appointed 23/11/2013

2y 322d Time in Charge 147d

  

 Managerial Career 

39.9% Win % 36.8%

348 Won 338

231 Drawn 272

292 Lost 308

7 Sides Managed 8

2 League Titles 0

0 Cup Wins 0

  

Preston North End First Managerial Role AFC Bournemouth

30/09/1992 Start Date 09/06/1992

21y 200d Experience 21y 313d