Match Preview
Everton are back in the Capital this weekend, the scene of their only away win of the Premier League campaign so far, as they take on David Moyes’s West Ham at the London Stadium.
This was the fixture that represented the final straw for Farhad Moshiri and the Everton Board last season where Frank Lampard’s tenure was concerned as the Blues turned in a dismal performance and were beaten 2-0. It’s also poignant given Moyes’s past association with Everton and Chairman Bill Kenwright who passed away earlier this week.
Lampard’s successor, Sean Dyche, will be hoping for an altogether better outcome in his first meeting with the Hammers as the Blues’ boss and he spoke of what was a galvanised squad in training this week following the frustration of last Saturday’s Anfield derby.
Everton yet again found themselves on the wrong end of refereeing controversy in the all-Merseyside affair when Craig Pawson failed to show a second yellow card to Ibrahima Konaté for his foul on Beto.
That would have evened the numbers up at 10 each following Ashley Young’s dismissal late in the first half but Liverpool kept their full complement on the pitch and eventually ran out 2-0 winners.
“Obviously the game last weekend… I think it’s fair to say was affected by a decision,” Dyche said in his press conference at Finch Farm today. “I think we all know that so that’s slightly an anomaly, especially in such an important game.
“[The players have] been really good this week I must say. They felt a little bit aggrieved with what happened last week with the decision going against them and I think they have responded in the right manner this week. It’s been a very good training week so I’m looking forward to going into the game.”
Young’s red card means that he will be suspended this weekend and it opens the door for Nathan Patterson to stake his claim to the right-back slot on a more permanent basis, or at least until Seamus Coleman returns. (The skipper has continued to train with the first team this week but is still not yet match fit.)
The young Scot has started only four of the Toffees’ nine League games so far — and that was largely when Young was playing in place of Vitalii Mykolenko on the other side of defence — but he is expected to start on Sunday, either in his natural role or on the right side of a five-man back line.
Few other changes are expected from Dyche who will have been impressed by Amadou Onana’s last two outings and could persist with the Belgian’s midfield partnership with James Garner at the London Stadium.
Moyes, meanwhile, will likely restore the bulk of the contingent that he withheld from the starting XI in Greece on Thursday evening in the Europa League. The Scot took the opportunity afforded by the Hammers’ two wins to open the group stage of that competition to make seven changes to the team that was walloped by Aston Villa last weekend.
That should see the likes of Michail Antonio, Jarrod Bowen, Kurt Zouma, Vladimir Coufal and Nayef Aguerd come back into their line-up as they look for their first League win for a month.
West Ham began the season strongly, winning three of their first four matches but defeats against Manchester City and Liverpool were followed by a home draw with Newcastle and the 4-1 loss at Villa Park, with a routine home win over Sheffield United sandwiched in the middle.
They remain a dangerous side but one whose vulnerabilities could be exploited by Everton if they can replicate the form they showed at the Gtech Community Stadium a month ago and against Bournemouth on 7 October.
Kick-off: 1 pm, Sunday 29 October 2023
Referee: Stuart Attwell
VAR: Simon Hooper
Last Time: West Ham United 2 – 0 Everton
Predicted Line-up: Pickford, Patterson, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko, Onana, Garner, Harrison, McNeil, Doucouré, Calvert-Lewin