Venue: Goodison Park
Date: 30/10/2016
Kick-off: 13:30 (BST)
Everton welcome a rejuvenated West Ham United on Sunday and the Toffees will be looking to bounce back with a good result following their disappointment against Burnley last time out.
Things started in fine fashion for Everton under Ronald Koeman but now the Toffees currently find themselves going through a bit of a slump.
Everton are currently on a terrible run of five matches without a single victory and they endured an extremely disappointing 2-1 defeat at the hands of Burnley at Turf Moor last weekend.
Up next for Everton is a home clash against West Ham United and while it will surely not be easy, the Toffees will surely be intent on claiming all three points from the encounter.
Everton Team News
Leighton Baines is an injury concern ahead of the encounter once again and the likes of James McCarthy, Matthew Pennington, Muhamed Besic and Tyias Browning remain ruled out at the moment. As for Enner Valencia, he will not be ineligible to play against his former club.
With Baines still ruled out, Bryan Oviedo will be continuing in the left-back position and the rest of the backline should be completed by Phil Jagielka, Ashley Williams and Seamus Coleman, with Maarten Stekelenburg starting in goal.
In midfield, the duo of Gareth Barry and Idriss Gueye are set to continue their partnership in the continued absence of McCarthy. It does look like Yannick Bolasie and Kevin Mirallas will retain their places in the wide positions and Ross Barkley will be taking up the playmaker’s role.
That said, the likes of Gerard Deulofeu, Tom Cleverley and Aaron Lennon will all be hopeful of earning starts as well. Romelu Lukaku has been on a bit of barren run recently and he will look to get back to scoring ways on Sunday.
Probable Lineups
Everton (Probable XI): Stekelenburg; Oviedo, Jagielka, Williams, Coleman; Barry, Gueye, Bolasie, Barkley, Mirallas; Lukaku
West Ham United (Probable XI): Adrian; Ogbonna, Reid, Kouyate, Cresswell, Fernandes; Noble, Obiang, Payet, Lanzini; Antonio
Last Meeting
05/03/2016 Everton 2 – 3 West Ham United
07/11/2015 West Ham United 1 – 1 Everton
Prediction
Everton and West Ham United have usually played out close matches in recent times and the match on Sunday should prove to be no different.
During the corresponding fixture last season, West Ham came out 3-2 winners and it should not be a surprise if the clash this weekend is another high scoring affair.
The two teams are very closely matched and although both of them will be looking to claim a victory, a score draw seems the most likely result on the night.
Everton 1-1 West Ham United
