Football Bet of the Day: Hammers can cause Palace problems

Despite much of the focus on Sunday being cast on the second FA Cup semi-final between Coventry City and Manchester United at Wembley, there are still four Premier League games and the football bet of the day could come in the 15:00 clash between Crystal Palace and West Ham United at Selhurst Park.

Palace put together a great display to win 1-0 at Liverpool last week, but the Hammers have been improving on the road and should be positive now their dreams of Europa League glory have been dashed.

Crystal Palace boosted their chances of staying in the Premier League hugely with their unexpected 1-0 win at Liverpool last week and with safety probably only a few points away, Oliver Glasner would surely be delighted to see the Eagles collect a maximum return when West Ham head to Selhurst Park on Sunday.

However, such positivity is likely to encourage an open game and there has been recent evidence in the Hammers’ away games that they are unlikely to sit back either.

Palace are 8/11 to score the first goal of the game, which they have done in eight of their last nine matches, including their last two against the Reds and champions Manchester City.

However, should that occur again, it would be likely to bring the visitors out of their shells, and they still possess a great forward threat even if David Moyes is unable to call upon his top goalscorer Jarrod Bowen, who has been struggling with a back injury.

The Eagles were superb defensively at Anfield last week, but that has not always been the case when they have been on their own patch this term, as they have kept just one clean sheet in their last 11 home matches.

But the way West Ham have taken the bull by the horns on the road has been impressive lately.

They have scored eight goals in their last three away games and while they have previously been regarded as a bit of a soft touch when they have been on their travels, they should have been encouraged by their recent wins at Everton and Wolves.

Moyes' side should also have added a victory at Newcastle to the list, but they threw away a 3-1 lead to lose 4-3 to the Magpies.

That disappointment aside, they should have taken a lot of encouragement from both legs of their Europa League quarter-final with the new Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen.

They conceded two late goals in the first leg in Germany and posted a 1-1 draw at the London Stadium on Thursday, but Moyes was impressed, and they still have the carrot of a potential return to European competition next season if they can climb a couple of places up the league table.

All that means they should not sit back, and they could be the ninth visiting team to leave Selhurst Park having scored more than one goal this season.

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