West Ham to keep up the pressure on the CL places
West Ham United go into their meeting with Everton four points off Chelsea at the time of writing, and with the Blues visiting Manchester City this weekend, there's every chance their London rivals will drop points. The Toffees are still an outside bet for a European spot, especially with their game in hand on their opponents on Sunday afternoon. David Moyes has done fantastically well to get his side into fifth, and their shot at snatching fourth isn't over just yet. Read our preview here:
A Fornals conclusion
One player whose contribution to his team's cause that has been largely overlooked is Spanish attacking midfielder Pablo Fornals. Granted, in terms of directly resulting n goals (six), it's not high, but his work rate and ability to help out in defensive situations. This has helped the Hammers rarely look exposed down the flanks or more centrally when being countered on, and is one of the main reasons Moyes has been able to utilise him in different roles to accommodate different individuals over the course of the season. Elsewhere, Declan Rice will be unavailable, which could mean a rare start as a double pivot for Manuel Lanzini. The Argentinian is more of a playmaker, but given the hosts really do need to win, having someone like that dictate the play from deep could be a huge boon.
Woah, Iwobi
Talisman James Rodríguez is a big doubt with a calf strain, which will doubtlessly hurt Everton's chances at the London Stadium. Gylfi Sigurðsson has a very different style to the former Real Madrid forward, and will be much more centred around a careful build-up than anything particularly dyanmic. Flanking him though will be Richarlison and Alex Iwobi, who have no shortage of pace and ability, but perhaps aren't the best crossers of a ball. That puts the onus on the full-backs to provide the true width and passes to Dominic Calvert-Lewin up top. Seemingly, it's a strategy meant more to draw their opponents in than to take the game to them, which is a risky strategy when they need all the points they can get to sustain their dreams of European football.
Hammers and tongs
Both teams cannot hold a single thing back in their clash. A draw in this encounter is effectively a defeat in terms of practical usefulness and psychologically speaking. There have been fewer occasions during 2020/2021 where West Ham looked susceptible to a collapse of that sort, and that augurs well for Sunday. betway have odds of 2.30 for a vital victory.
