As a Londoner himself, Kyle Walker-Peters knows just how important derby matches are to the supporters of every club in the capital.
From non-league to Premier League, beating your local rivals is something every team at every level strives for.
On Saturday, West Ham United welcome Crystal Palace for the third of three straight derbies to start the 2025/26 season at London Stadium.
Things have clearly not gone to plan in the first two against Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, and the visit of the unbeaten FA Cup holders from south of the River Thames will present another challenging puzzle to solve in E20.
However, Walker-Peters is not allowing negative thoughts to enter his mind, and is instead fully focused on grounding the Eagles, helping the Irons climb the Premier League table and giving the Claret and Blue Army a derby victory to celebrate.
The 28-year-old has caught the eye since his summer arrival, combining well with captain Jarrod Bowen down the right flank and providing a fine assist for Tomáš Souček to score in the Carabao Cup at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Now, the north London-born player has his sights set on an impressive individual and collective performance against Palace.
“After a bad result, you always want to play straight away,” said the full-back, alluding to last weekend’s home defeat by Spurs. “We’re extra hungry, so we’re looking forward to it. We’re excited. We’ve started to work on the gameplan, and I think we have a good chance to win.
“Every club has that ambition to finish as high in the table as possible. Coming here in the last few years, the Club has won a European trophy, and the ambition for the Club is very high. The fans have high expectations, the management have high expectations, and we do ourselves, so I want to finish as high as possible.
“It’s still early in the season. We have to first focus on the next game, and then we’ll see what happens from there.”
