Arrr matey! Raise the Jolly Roger above the mizzenmast and turn port to starboard for Tampa Bay. Did I do that right? Did that sound pirate-talk enough? West Ham United will take on Crystal Palace at Raymond James Stadium, home of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The venue literally has a pirate ship in it, as this city and metro area love to play up the pirate imagery.
Every year they hold a boat parade and party called the Gasparilla Festival, which honors a pirate that may or may not have plundered the region.
West Ham United vs Crystal Palace FYIs
Kickoff: Sat. Aug 3, 2024, 7pm EST Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL, USA
Competition: club friendly, branded “The Sunshine State Tour” or Stateside Cup
Exploring the Pirate Ship Inside the Stadium Where this Match Will Be Played: here
West Ham Preview Material: Team News Transfer Talk Starting XI Prediction
Transatlantic Passage: How the Premier League Redefined Soccer in America: LINK
Actually, historians are not even sure that Gasparilla actually even existed. The Hammers are continuing what has been branded “The Sunshine State Tour” which is part of the “Stateside Cup” They lost their first match, which was delayed by two hours due to stormy conditions (hey, it’s July in Florida, it’s to be expected) to Wolverhampton Wanderers in Jacksonville, FL.
“We had to wait, but it was not only for us, but for Wolves too and in the end the most important thing was that we played 90 minutes more,” Lopetegui said to the club’s official website.
“It was a big demand of course, and we are aware that we have to work very hard in the next three weeks to be ready for the start of the Premier League and OK, let’s see. Today, Wolves were better and they deserved to win. We have to do a lot of things but despite the fact we have a lot of new players and a lot of Academy players, it is not an excuse.”
So who does Lopetegui go with here on Saturday night? Well, our prediction is below, and we based it off the lineup from last weekend, and the changes that we would make.
Your Starting XI tonight in Jacksonville ? ??? pic.twitter.com/CRoT9d9uwv
— West Ham United US (@WestHam_US) July 27, 2024
West Ham United Starting XI Prediction vs Crystal Palace (Club Friendly)
Lukasz Fabianski; Vladimir Coufal, Max Kilman, Kurt Zouma, Aaron Cresswell; James Ward-Prowse, Tomas Soucek, Freddie Potts; Maxwel Cornet, Luis Guilherme, Danny Ings
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.