West Ham-Everton is a match valid for the twenty-first day of the Premier League and is played on Saturday at 4pm: stats, TV, line-ups, predictions.
The Premier League’s other Saturday afternoon safety clash is staged at the London Stadium between West Ham and Everton, two teams who theoretically shouldn’t be where they are, namely at the bottom of the table. But both are performing well below their initial expectations, especially the Hammers, who have just finished two seasons in Europe.
The benches of David Moyes and Frank Lampard are in danger of being sacked. The two coaches, after a whole first half of the season, have not been able to give the turn they needed for the hoped-for change of pace and at the halfway mark they are second to last in the table, ahead of bottom-of-the-table Southampton only for a question of goal difference. The numbers regarding goals are also fairly similar: 15 scored – the second worst attack after Wolverhampton – while Everton have conceded one more than West Ham (26 against 25). For a few games now the drop seems to be steep: the Hammers have won just one point in their last seven matches, the Toffees’ most recent victory was seven rounds ago. The nerves will be on edge.
Two coaches at risk of being sacked
The best performances, ironically, in the last period Everton have offered away from Goodison Park. One above all was the miraculous draw at the Etihad Stadium against Manchester City. It paid dividends for Lampard’s decision to defend to the bitter end, exploiting Gray’s speed on the counter-attack. However, the last few home matches were poor, with defeats against Wolverhampton, Brighton and Southampton.
Coufal and Moyes
At the same time, West Ham are not shining at home, where most of the points (10 out of 15) have come anyway. Moyes’ side have yet to win in the league since the Premier League restarted, and the only point Scamacca and his team-mates picked up was in the away game at Leeds (2-2). The Hammers have only done well in the Conference League, winning their group match.
The Prediction
An Everton defeat could blow Lampard’s bench away, as the club were also heavily protested against by fans during the week. West Ham are struggling mightily but overall they are superior to the Toffees, who even in the capital should not be able to avoid defeat. Let’s put a chip on the hosts.
The West Ham-Everton line-ups
- WEST HAM (4-3-3): Fabianski; Coufal, Ogbonna, Aguerd, Cresswell; Paqueta, Rice, Soucek; Bowen, Scamacca, Benrahma.
- EVERTON (5-3-2): Pickford; Coleman, Godfrey, Coady, Tarkowski, Mykolenko; Onana, Gueye, Iwobi; Gray, Calvert-Lewin.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-0
