Premier League | Gameweek 11

Nov 9, 2024 at 3pm UK

London Stadium

West Ham vs Everton

Match preview

After some promising results at home, West Ham suffered a setback with a 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest. The defeat has intensified the pressure on manager Lopetegui and prompted some supporters to call for the return of David Moyes, who left the club at the end of last season.

Given that the club spent a lot of money over the summer to back the new manager, they're currently in 14th place and just six points above the relegation zone.

It's not great going into the last two games at the London Stadium with two wins in nine games across all competitions, but it's a start.

Before the last international break, they beat Ipswich Town 4-1 and then they beat Manchester United 2-1, which led to Erik ten Hag being fired.

So, despite all the negative vibes around the club, this game gives West Ham the chance to win three home league games in a row for the first time in over two years.

Everton have been struggling in attack, which should give West Ham the chance to keep a clean sheet on home soil. West Ham haven't kept a clean sheet in 14 games, which is the worst ongoing run of any team in the Premier League and the club's worst ever run in the competition.

It's been a long time since West Ham last had a home clean sheet – since the mid-1960s, in fact. But recent results against Everton suggest that could be about to change.

The Toffees used to be something of a bogey team for West Ham, but Moyes was often the scourge of his former employers. He contributed to a run of five wins in the last eight head-to-heads, which is as many as West Ham managed in the 30 meetings prior.

After their own disappointing defeat at bottom-of-the-table Southampton last week, people are starting to lose patience with Dyche, even among the Everton fanbase.

There's a lot of respect for what he's done in difficult circumstances over the past two years, but fans are starting to turn in large numbers because they feel the team is too slow and lacks energy.

We can all agree that Everton were pretty lucky to get a point against Fulham two weeks ago. While they did suffer a bit of bad luck last weekend at St. Mary's, they didn't do enough to win before losing in the last few minutes.

That result has led to a rather worrying statistic for the club, as they have now lost four of the last five games against teams that were at the bottom of the Premier League table at the start of the day.

Aside from Southampton, the other bottom four teams all picked up points last weekend, which puts Everton slightly closer to the relegation zone again. However, they'll at least avoid that fate heading into the international break, regardless of what happens here. The gap to Ipswich is currently four points.

Even though they won here last season, results away from home and against West Ham recently haven't been great for Everton fans.

The win at Portman Road last month was their only one away from home in the league in 2024. If Everton are to add to that, they'll hope they can rediscover their good previous form against the Hammers, the team they've beaten most often in the Premier League – 29 times.

Suffering away supporters will know how tough trips to London often are for the Toffees. They've lost their last three in the capital, conceding 12 in the process to Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. But West Ham have proven to be kinder opponents in the past.

Almost one-third of Everton's 40 Premier League wins in London have been against West Ham. They've also won more away games against one club than any other, with 13 wins.

Recent Performance

West Ham United Premier League form:LDWLWL

West Ham United form (all competitions):LDWLWL

Everton Premier League form:DWDWDL

Team News

Mohammed Kudus is going to be a big miss for the home side. His ban has been extended to five matches after he had a run-in with Spurs, which resulted in a sending off for violent conduct.

Lopetegui will also be without Edson Álvarez, who was sent off at Forest last week for two quick bookings. This means Guido Rodríguez is likely to stay in the side as there aren't many other options in midfield, especially after he was brought on at half-time last week.

Niclas Fullkrug will be out for a few more weeks, and Lopetegui said there are a few issues in the squad at the moment. He might have been talking about Tomas Soucek and goalkeeper Alphonse Areola, who both missed last week because of illness and injury.

After criticism for leaving Jarrad Branthwaite on the bench in the last two games, Dyche will probably bring the highly sought-after defender back into the side here. It's not clear whether it will be Michael Keane or James Tarkowski, given the concerning form of the latter.

Seamus Coleman is the only new injury concern for Everton, after he picked up a hamstring problem this week. Abdoulaye Doucouré could be back sooner than expected after missing the defeat at Southampton.

There's a growing call for Dyche to give Beto a chance from the start after two promising cameos from the bench, coupled with a poor run of form for Dominic Calvert-Lewin. However, after the manager stuck with the first-choice number nine during a tough scoring drought last season, dropping him seems unlikely.

Possible starting lineups

West Ham United possible starting lineup:

Fabianski; Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Todibo, Kilman, Emerson; Rodriguez, Carlos Soler; Bowen, Ings, Paqueta

Everton possible starting lineup:

Pickford; Young, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Gueye, Doucoure; Lindstrom, McNeil, Ndiaye; Calvert-Lewin