Relegation strugglers Everton host West Ham with both needing three points

Everton need to beat West Ham to try and rescue their poor start to the season that has seen them drop into the relegation zone.

This has meant that many fans and pundits have been calling for Toffees boss Marco Silva’s head with the boss only having a 37.5% win percentage since joining the club on 31st May 2018.

Last time West Ham faced off against Silva’s men was in March last season, it took goals from on-loan Kurt Zouma and winger Bernard for Everton to win 2-0 to the London Stadium.

The hosts have only won once in their last five league games and that was five matches ago as they beat a then-struggling Wolverhampton Wanderers side and beat them 3-2. Since then, they have lost 3-1 away to AFC Bournemouth; 2-0 when Sheffield United came to Goodison Park; 3-1 when they hosted Manchester City and then most recently lost 1-0 away to Burnley.

Manuel Pellegrini’s Hammers have struggled since losing to Oxford United in the Carabao Cup 4-0. Since then they were held to AFC Bournemouth and lost via a VAR decision to allow Jordan Ayew’s goal as Crystal Palace win 2-1 at the London Stadium. Before that, they’d beaten Manchester United and Norwich City 2-0 while also drawing 0-0 with Aston Villa.

Marco Silva admitted his side are in a “tough moment but remains in confident mood ahead of the clash against West Ham:

“The first thing [for my team] is to give everything. In the tough moments, react and put in more hard work and 100 per cent commitment. We have to be demanding of ourselves every single day.

“When you have tough moments as a football team – and this is a tough moment for us as a club and our fans – we have to do even more and then we will see [results] on the matchday.

“As a team we have to show more, that strong character and personality that will have us playing to our best level again – and achieving what we want in every single match.

“There are more points to win and we have to be really strong to win the next match – then the confidence will come again.

“In the tough moments, you can see the strong character… the strong personality. And how we can be strong as a team.”

Manuel Pellegrini gave an honest assessment of the Hammers season so far:

“We don’t need an international break to assess the season so far, we always do that. We have played eight games and we need to continue having the ambition and winning mentality.

We know there are difficult teams in the Premier League but we must trust that we are able to find the answers.

“I think we are where we deserve to be and we are clear in what we need to improve.”

Head to Head

Everton Wins: 70

Draws: 30

West Ham Wins: 40

Team News

During the international break, Everton lost midfielder Jean-Philippe Gbamin to a thigh injury which means that he will be out for give or take three months which is a huge blow for the Toffees. Given that Seamus Coleman will also miss the game due to him receiving two yellows in their loss to Burnley.

That will mean that AS Monaco loanee Djibril Sidibe will deputise in his absence, it will also be his first start if he does get named in starting 11. Midfielder Fabian Delph could make his way into the team if he makes it back in time from a hamstring strain.

For the Hammers, they will be without Lukasz Fabianski, who is expected to return in the new year. Michail Antonio and Winston Reid also are set to continue their recovery.

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