West Ham travel to Goodison Park after the international park in what has historically been a high-scoring fixture.
Everton lost 1-0 away to Burnley in their last game. They are the not the team that their owner Farhad Moshiri would have hoped they’d be.
The Merseyside club actually have an impressive squad of players that should be playing to a much higher level than they are currently.
Richarlison is their key man in terms of goals and creating attacking chances, although Marco Silva has looked to Dominic Calvert-Lewin to provide the crucial hold-up play for Everton’s attacking midfielders. Neither, however, are consistent in terms of scoring goals.
Defensively, Everton have two really strong full-backs in Seamus Coleman and Lucas Digne, albeit the former will be suspended for this game. Their centre-back pairings, however, have proven to be the downfall behind their defensive record. As evidenced by Michael Keane’s performance against Bulgaria, Everton can be caught napping at the back.
West Ham showed their own defensive frailties against Crystal Palace.
It was all too easy for Jordan Ayew to beat the offside trap and put the ball past Roberto from a few yards away. These are silly mistakes that the Hammers concede in the closing moments of games against teams that should be beating.
Similiar to Everton, West Ham have a strong attacking line-up. Their first goal against Crystal Palace showed that they are capable of scoring carefully constructed goals and that all their players can be dangerous in the build-up play.
This game will have goals and potentially defensive mistakes involved. Here are the key battles ahead of this weekend’s trip to Goodison Park:
