Everton Match Preview

West Ham United’s fixtures throughout April have been in London and that sequence continues this afternoon as they host Everton.

David Moyes hasn’t been in the opposite dugout here since his Sunderland team were defeated 1-0 a decade ago and whilst the majority of the home fans will be pleased to see him back, they will want to make sure he goes back to Merseyside empty-handed.

The Toffees have had a decent record on the road recently, but with the Hammers having only lost three Premier League encounters since the crucial defeat to Nottingham Forest here on 6 January, the mood around the training ground is positive as they search for more points and try to avoid relegation.

It was fair to say that a bizarre set of circumstances preceded the reverse fixture back in September!!! Graham Potter conducted the usual media duties ahead of the game, only for him to be replaced by Nuno Espírito Santo the following day.

The East Londoners became the first team to take something from Everton’s new home though and the Portuguese will hope that his team can go unbeaten in three league games this month.

The build-up to this game has similarities to the meeting just under seven months ago, as there has been significant movement amongst the Hammers’ hierarchy this week when news was confirmed on Tuesday that Vice-Chair Karren Brady had left her role after fourteen years. Let’s hope that the events of the past four days have not affected the team morale too much.

Moyes’ side will go into the game having had one extra day’s preparation and the Scot will want his current side to severely dent the survival hopes of his former club by bouncing back from their 2-1 home defeat by local rivals Liverpool six days ago.

Just as the encounter at Selhurst Park earlier this week, Espírito Santo once again has a fully fit squad available. However, he may change formation to go with three strikers and include Callum Wilson alongside both Valentín Castellanos and Pablo Felipe, given Wilson’s recent goalscoring record against today’s opponents.

Supporters may be interested to know that this match is the first 3pm kick-off that the Irons have had since the trip to Burnley all the way back on 7 February. The referee is Stuart Attwell.