Nuno Espirito Santo makes his debut as West Ham manager in a Premier League trip to Everton.
Victory will see David Moyes’ Toffees climb to eighth in the table, whilst West Ham can climb out of the relegation zone with a win and move up to 17th at the expense of Espirito Santo’s former club – Nottingham Forest.
Team News
Merlin Rohl is ruled out for Everton after he missed their Carabao Cup exit at Wolves due to a groin injury.
Jarrad Branthwaite remains sidelined with a hamstring injury.
West Ham will again be without Aaron Wan-Bissaka due to a stomach injury.
Tomas Soucek is serving the second of his three-match ban.
When is Kick-Off?
Everton host West Ham at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Monday 29 September at 8pm BST, live on Sky Sports in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Everton have won one of their last five meetings against West Ham (W1, D2, L2).
- West Ham have lost one of their last five visits to Everton (W3, D1, L1).
- A draw would mark the first time since April 2010 – January 2011 that Everton have played out three consecutive draws against West Ham.
- Everton are yet to concede at home in all competitions (W2, D1).
- Max Kilman has played more successful short passes than any other West Ham player this season (224).
Prediction
Having conceded twice in their last two away games in all competitions and mounted a wasteful display at Wolves to slide out of the Carabao Cup, Everton will be relieved to be back at home where they already seem comfortable but they will need to polish their final touches if want the win.
West Ham meanwhile are difficult to call following Nuno Espirito Santo’s unexpected hiring just two days before the match because whilst they will have a managerial bounce, shoring up the leaky defence is his first call tactics wise before implementing his counter-attacking style on the team.
On that note, this game feels like it could go either way but I do think that Everton will get the win such the importance West Ham will likely put on their defence.
Prediction: Everton 1-0 West Ham
Result: Everton 1-1 West Ham