EPL – Match Preview – Everton vs West Ham United

EPL – Match Preview – Everton vs West Ham United

0
SHARE

Everton welcome a confident West Ham to Goodison Park on Saturday.

The Toffees easily accounted for an Aston Villa side destined for relegation in midweek at Villa Park, making the most of some lax defending to fire three past the Midlands strugglers. Ramiro Funes Mori was the star of the show, shining in defence as well as scoring a goal of his own and teeing up Romelu Lukaku’s sealing third.

Yet the Blues remain outside the top 10, still paying the price for their Jekyll and Hyde form, albeit with a game in hand after the Merseyside Derby was postponed due to Liverpool’s involvement in last weekend’s League Cup final.

Their next challenge is red-hot West Ham United, fresh off a 1-0 defeat of title hopefuls and near London neighbours Tottenham Hotspur. For the visiting side, Michail Antonio has been the star of the show, scoring the winners in both the victory over Spurs and the dispatching of Sunderland a week prior, by the same scoreline.

On both occasions, Antonio celebrated with vigour, and a win on Saturday would see belief around the club only shoot up further. The Hammers sit comfortably in sixth on 46 points and, pending other fixtures, could find themselves inside the top four by week’s end should results go their way.

Key Battle – Gareth Barry vs Mark Noble

Key duels could be pinpointed everywhere across midfield in this fixture, such is the abundance of quality either team possesses. However, deciding the winner could come down to each side’s everywhere men and the greater show of steel through the middle.


CrownBet match odds at time of publishing

Everton – $1.65 

West Ham United – $4.80

Draw – $4.00


Veteran enforcer Gareth Barry has enjoyed a standout season in the heart of the Everton midfield, but will again have to be on his toes at the weekend with creative expertise right through the West Ham midfield, in particular French magician Dimitri Payet.

Alongside the former Marseille midfielder is West Ham’s own workhorse and captain, Mark Noble, a man who is never far from the action and capable of influencing proceedings at either end of the field, as central a figure to the Hammers’ success as any.

Team News

Fresh from penning a new deal at Everton, Bosnian hardman Mo Besic is a chance to return to the matchday squad after stepping up his recovery from a hamstring injury. Bryan Oviedo sustained a knock against Villa, but will likely maintain his place in the starting XI.

Slaven Bilic will be forced into at least one change, with James Collins limping off in the 62nd minute against Spurs with a hamstring complaint. He has been ruled out of the match and is expected to miss two more games following this one. Youngster Reece Oxford replaced the 32-year-old midweek and could be in consideration to start, as will Alex Song, with Pedro Obiang likely to drop back into the heart of defence.

EVEWHU

Head-to-Head

This fixture is one that has been dominated by Everton. The Blues have enjoyed almost twice as many wins against the Hammers (60) as their guests have in response (31) in 116 meetings.

West Ham have not tasted victory against the Merseysiders since 2007, when an early strike from Bobby Zamora secured a slender 1-0 win at Upton Park.

Previous Meeting

Bilic’s men looked on course to finally snap that hoodoo in November 2015, only for Lukaku to abruptly diminish those hopes with a 43rd-minute strike after Manuel Lanzini opened the scoring.

Prediction

This might finally be the day West Ham break their Everton curse. Despite effectively breezing past a Villa side dead in the water, the Toffees did not have it all their own way, at times conceding uncomfortable amounts of chances, even when the game was still in the balance at 1-0.

Further, the away side will take confidence from Everton’s home form. Roberto Martinez’s team has tasted victory at Goodison only three times this season, against lowly opposition on each occasion (Newcastle, Aston Villa and Sunderland).

Yet the East Londoners themselves have been shaky on the road, winless in their past three trips to Southampton, Norwich and Newcastle.

Should the Hammers secure an early goal, that could be all it takes to unsettle the home fans and pile all the pressure on the hosts. If the Blues hope to win, they must score first in an effort to deflate a team sky-high on confidence.

Everton 2 West Ham United 2

*CrownBet odds correct at time of publishing and subject to change.

What are your thoughts? Let us know by dropping a comment below via our Facebook comment box. Make sure you follow us on Twitter @Outside90 and like us on Facebook.