Everton vs West Ham: Match Preview & Predicted XIs
After a second successive draw, West Ham now face a tough trip to an inform Everton side for their first game of the new year.
West Ham have won once in their last six games and drawn their two previous games against South-coast opposition, Brighton and Southampton. This dip in form has seen the club drop out of the European places and into the Premier League’s tenth position.
Everton, on the other hand, are basking in terrific form. The Toffees have won their last four games in the Premier League. These wins have seen them climb into the Champions League spots Carlo Ancelotti‘s side look set to mount a serious challenge this season. Everton will have another edge over the Hammers after they thrashed them in the League Cup earlier in the season.
WEST HAM TEAM NEWS
After making five changes to the starting eleven against Southampton, David Moyes could be set to make another number of changes due to the quick turnaround. Despite impressing on debut, Craig Dawson could be set to return to the bench as Fabian Balbuena could return to the starting team.
Balbuena needed a rest after playing a lot of football. Though the change may seem harsh, the Paraguayan has been superb this season and is still deserving of his starting spot. The other change that could happen to the defence is the return of Vladimir Coufal. Like Dawson, Fredericks impressed in his return to the team, but Coufal is still first-choice.
In terms of going attackers, Sebastien Haller looks set to keep his place up front despite Michail Antonio‘s return. The Englishman is still not back to full fitness but did make his return again Southampton. Moyes did confirm that the attacker came through his cameo unscathed, but will likely feature form the bench against Everton.
One of the headaches Moyes will have is choosing his attacking midfielders. Fans want to see more of Said Benrahma, who has only been given limited game time so far. The Algerian impressed again against Southampton but did make a couple of mistakes. These mistakes are what is keeping Moyes from trusting him with more game time.
PREDICTED STARTING XIs
Everton Formation: 4-2-3-1
J. Pickford, B. Godfrey, M. Keane, Y. Mina, S. Coleman, A. Doucoure, A. Gomes, J. Bernard, G. Sigurdsson, A. Iwobi & D. Calvert-Lewin.
West Ham Formation: 5-2-3
L. Fabianski, B. Johnson, A. Cresswell, A. Ogbonna, F. Balbuena, V. Coufal, T. Soucek, D. Rice, J. Bowen. P. Fornals & S. Haller.
MATCH PREDICTION
Everton will prove to be a very tough match for the Hammers. David Moyes’ side have played twice since the Toffees last played a game. This means that Ancelotti’s side are going to be very fresh in comparison to West Ham.
The Hammers defence will have to be on top form to keep Everton from scoring. With all the games recently though their protection from Tomas Soucek and Declan Rice may start to fade. The midfielders have played every minute of football and are likely to be knackered until they get a rest.
The one saving grace for the travelling side is that the Toffees have a host of injures at the moment. Jean-Philippe Gbamin, Allan, Lucas Digne, James Rodriguez and Richarlison are all missing for Everton. Though Richarlison could make the bench after removing from a concussion.
The Hammers have proved this season that they are capable of picking up a shock result, such as the wins over Wolves and Leicester City. The match against Everton might be one too far as they could start the new year with a defeat.
Next. West Ham: Five Greatest Moments Of 2020. dark