West Ham welcome Everton to Upton Park this weekend. Forget the Premier League, this match is all about the Fair Play League. Second place in the FPL will qualify for the first qualifying round of the Europa League, and with West Ham (second) and Everton (third) both the leading contenders to secure that spot, it really is all to play for.
With so much at stake, both sides won’t be holding back. Everton sit one place behind the Hammers in the Premier League table. These teams are just mid-table sides playing football cleanly, not energetically? Okay, this match may instead be one of upright tackles and silent crowds, full of fear over one yellow card that could take either side out of contention for Europe.
Or, West Ham could come right out and achieve a Europa League spot through beautiful football, which has been hard to come by as of late in East London. The Hammers only have 3 wins in the Premier League since 2015 started. Sam Allardyce has promised that West Ham will not go lightly on Everton to stay ahead in the Fair Play League, despite speculation to the contrary. “I won’t look at it that way. I don’t want to know if we get less cautions than Everton, I want to go out there and beat them,” Big Sam said. “I am not going to start telling players to watch what we do because we might not finish number one for the European Fair Play place, it is ‘go out there, play your best and make sure you win’.”
The hope would be if West Ham go out and play well, Fair Play League will work itself out. West Ham will still be without Andy Carroll and Diafra Sakho, leading scorers. As of late, the Hammers have found little success in scoring goals. West Ham have not scored from open play in 508 minutes of football. The last one came on the 4th of April in the 32nd minute of the 2-1 loss to Leicester City, when Cheikhou Kouyate scored.
West Ham sit right above Everton in both the Fair Play League and Barclays Premier League. In the Fair Play League, West Ham are in the lead with two matches to go (Actually, in second behind Liverpool. Liverpool will qualify for Europa by their Premier League finish. Therefore, the spot goes to the second place team: West Ham.), and in the Premier League, they sit in 10th with 47 points.
Allardyce set the goal of 50 points in the Premier League, and a win on Saturday at home against Everton will reach it. “Our position is to try to get 50 points or better and finish in the top half where we have been all season. It will be very disappointing for me if we don’t manage that,” Allardyce said. For the Hammers, Winston Reid should be back fit for the match. 18-year-old Reece Burke has filled in at centre back the past three weeks, impressing with two clean sheets. James Tomkins will still be sidelined after he dislocated his shoulder on the 13th of March.
Last time out against Everton, West Ham won a thriller in the FA Cup, 2-2, 9-8 on penalties. While this match will not be heading to penalty kicks, West Ham do have something to play for. Speculation of a light match by the Hammers should be swept aside as West Ham aim to avoid a loss to Everton who are only 3 points below in the Premier League. A loss could drop the Hammers to 11th place in the Premier League, while a win could put West Ham at 9th. The bookies have Everton as slight favourites to win at Upton Park, following West Ham’s current team form.
