West Ham ended their Goodison Park blues last season with a remarkable come-from-behind victory over the Toffees, capped off by Dimitri Payet’s added time winner.
Fitting after James McCarthy should’ve been put away for 18 months for GBH after his tackle on the Frenchman in the reverse fixture earlier in the season which ruled Payet out for eight weeks.
Sunday’s match at Goodison will showcase two teams moving in opposite directions. Everton without a win in five games in all competitions will look to get off the schneid against a West Ham side buoyant after a win against Chelsea in midweek – their third straight, extending their unbeaten run to four in a row.
You might have seen the combined XI from our colleagues over at Read Everton earlier today. We agree – in the fact that it’s awful.
Here’s a real and fair combined XI looking at form and form alone. Let us know your thoughts.
GK: Adrian
Maarten Stekelenberg undid all the work he put in against City with another howler of a display against Burnley, gifting Sam Vokes a goal. He’s simply not a very good goalkeeper.
Adrian on the other hand, yes he’s prone to the odd mistake, but as a pure shot stopper he really is top drawer.
RWB: Seamus Coleman
It’s been 18 months since Seamus Coleman was actually a top-level player in the Premier League, but by default he’s better than our non-existent options at the position.
CB: Cheikhou Kouyate
Kouyate is like a man reborn at the moment playing in the West Ham back three. He brings the ball out of defence well and his rangy strides allow him to keep pace with most forwards.
CB: Winston Reid
Winston Reid has finally recaptured that peak 2012/13 form of his which made him one of the most sought after centre-backs in the league.
CB: Ashley Williams
I feel a lot of the actual big clubs missed a trick by allowing Ashley Williams join Everton for a relatively small fee.
He’s added some veteran savvy and leadership to a back four which was frail and weak under Roberto Martinez.
LWB: Aaron Cresswell
Like Coleman, it’s been a few seasons since Leighton Baines was a genuinely top-tier player. He’s not who he once was and is clearly on the decline.
Name a more consistent left-back in the Premier League since the start of the 2014/15 season than Aaron Cresswell.
I’ll wait.
CM: Pedro Obiang
Easily West Ham’s best player over the last month or so. What Obiang does as a sweeper in front of the defence cannot be understated. He’s incredibly underrated.
CM: Idrissa Gana Gueye
There’s a reason West Ham tried to snare Gueye away from Everton at the last minute in the summer – it’s because he’s a very, very good player.
Like Obiang, he’s busy in that midfield third, making interceptions and dispossessing opponents – he is N’Golo Kante lite.
RW: Michail Antonio
In the early part of the season, Antonio has been the best right-winger in the Premier League and his goal return illustrates this.
He’s quick, direct and has a far, far superior end product than Kevin Mirallas and Yannick Bolasie combined.
LW: Dimitri Payet
The best and most talented player in either squad by some distance. A truly world class player.
Just a reminder he turned down Everton to join us.
ST: Romelu Lukaku
Just put all of your money on Lukaku anytime this Sunday.