West Ham United will try and bounce back at home against Everton, who themselves are coming off a raucous 6-2 victory over Sunderland.
West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic made no attempt to hide his frustration after last weekend’s defeat to Watford. “You can live with defeat”, Bilic said in the post-match press conference, “if your team gives everything, and today we didn’t”. Indeed, it was odd to see a team that, up until that match, had been the Premier League’s most swashbuckling travelers playing with such tentativeness. There was a palpable stodginess with Andy Carroll leading the line; his was an inclusion that set a direct tone, one that the rest of the attack had rather a lot of trouble getting into tune with. Dimitri Payet was unnervingly subdued, as was Victor Moses and Manuel Lanzini. Watford, defensively assured as always, simply took advantage of the two defensive errors that West Ham have made a habit of providing in nearly every match, and sauntered to victory.
Everton, in stunning contrast, put Sunderland deeper into misery, scoring six times. The Black Cats were incapable of stopping the rampant Toffees on the break and, although they scored two of their own goals, were pummeled mercilessly. Romelu Lukaku and Arouna Kone appeared, at times, to be communicating on a higher psychic plane, such was the way they combined to slaughter their opponents. There was a raucous surge of Everton attackers on every counter-attack, their enthusiasm matched with relish by the noise of the Goodison Park crowd. Roberto Martinez will be confident in carrying that zest on the break into this weekend’s away trip to East London.
Key Battle: Mark Noble vs Ross Barkley
In the midst of the Rom and Arouna Show last week, Ross Barkley, so often the main man for Everton, took a comfortable backseat role. The Englishman is a formidable force on the ball, a dribbler of compelling strength and poise. It was his potent surge that led, eventually, to Kone’s second goal, and it’s a common sight; so often it’s Barkley that leads the Everton break. As much as it might negatively affect his ability to contribute defensively, having Barkley cheat a little, so as to be ahead of the ball if a counter should arise, is more often than not a worthwhile thing to do. Playing away from home, and with the muscle of Lukaku and the pace of Kone and Deulofeu alongside him, a counter-attack led by Barkley might be the best chance Everton have to score.
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Placed in Barkley’s way, and standing there perhaps a little nervously, will be Mark Noble. He and Chiekhou Kouyate sit at the base of the West Ham midfield, both looking to hold-and-surge in a hinging system where, if one of them commits forward, the other must hold. Invariably, Kouyate’s leggy running makes more of an impact, particularly against a backtracking defence. Noble is then more often tasked with shielding his centre backs, or sliding over to add defensive pressure out wide. He will meet a full-steam Barkley at some point this weekend, and his ability to cope will be a significant factor for the Hammers. Noble, while a beloved local lad, has looked, at times, a little out of his depth in this new, high-calibre West Ham team. His passing can be suspect, and his tackling is so often ill-timed. Barkley is an expert at drawing fouls – he isn’t totally averse to embellishing contact either – and an early yellow card for Noble, while hardly unexpected, will not be welcomed by Bilic. With James Collins suspended for this match, and Winston Reid still yet to be confirmed to return from injury, the back line might need more protection than normal. Noble will be sternly tested trying to provide this protection, and Barkley might end up his tormentor-in-chief.
Team News and Expected Lineups
West Ham are without James Collins, after his red card against Watford. Also still absent, through injury, is Alex Song. But two potential returners, Winston Reid and Diafra Sakho, will, if they can play, provide a huge boost for the home side. Reid, unarguably West Ham’s best centre back, is racing the clock to recover from a thigh injury. He is a supremely reliable player, and would instantly shore up a defence that has been crippled by errors. Sakho, unarguably West Ham’s best striker, has gelled perfectly with Payet and Lanzini, and they more than anyone will welcome the hard, creative running of the Senegalese back into the starting lineup.
Everton have a number of long-term injuries, but only one, the MCL injury to Phil Jagielka, is particularly damaging. Sunderland actually had more shots on target against Everton than any other team had against an opponent that weekend, and, normally, scoring twice away from home is enough to win you the match. Sunderland’s appalling defending, as well as Evertons stellar attacking, meant that Everton avoided losing by some distance, but when the game was at 2-2, the victory was far from assured. Jagielka’s absence has a lot to do with Everton’s frailty defensively, with young John Stones a huge beneficiary of Jagielka’s wealth of experience. Other than that, Martinez has no reason to break up the side that attacked with such verve last weekend.
Head-to-Head and Previous Meeting
West Ham have a very troubling record against the Toffees, having not beaten them in the league for eight years. Going back much further than that, West Ham have won only 37 times to Everton’s 67 wins. Romelu Lukaku proved an injury-time villain last season, scoring in the final moments at the Boleyn Ground to consign the hosts to a 2-1 defeat. But, in this season of surprises, the Hammers faithful will be hopeful another long-standing, unwanted record can fall.
Prediction
There will be goals in this match, but West Ham will bounce back after their turgid Watford defeat, winning 3-2.
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