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Everton vs West Ham United

Match Preview

With the home straight of the final 10 games of the Premier League season approaching and an FA Cup Quarter Final at Arsenal looming next weekend, Everton enter a crucial phase of their season as they prepare to welcome West Ham United to Goodison Park this weekend.

Just two wins from eight League games since the turn of the year, including potentially decisive defeats to two rival clubs for fourth place in Liverpool and Tottenham, has seen the Blues' Champions League challenge falter and last week's loss at Chelsea saw them slip out of the top six for the first time since November. There is also a yawning 11-point gap now between Roberto Martinez's side and that fourth qualifying spot for Europe's gravy train, although they have played a game less than the teams above them.

That makes Saturday's clash with the Hammers vital for Everton's European hopes but Sam Allardyce's men have been in improved form since their utter humiliation at the hands of Manchester City in the League Cup in January. A 9-0 aggregate defeat came on the heels of disaster in the FA Cup at Nottingham Forest where they were whipped 5-0 by the Championship side and it seemed as though Allardyce was just one more abject defeat away from the sack.

A hugely creditable — if somewhat miraculous, given Chelsea's shots-on-goal tally — goalless draw at Stamford Bridge at the end of January sparked a four-match winning streak, though, that culminated in a handsome 3-1 win over Southampton at Upton Park last weekend, one which lifted the East Londoners up to 10th in the table. They will arrive on Merseyside in good spirits and, as a physical side who like to get at their opponents, they will be no pushover.

Everton's biggest problem has been finding the net and a return of just six goals from those eight games since the end of 2013 tells its own story. Martinez was already struggling to get his team scoring enough goals prior to Romelu Lukaku's injury a month ago but, with neither Steven Naismith nor Kevin Mirallas able to provide a solution during his absence, much is expected of the Belgian as he makes his expected return to action this weekend.

Lukaku remains the Blues' top scorer, though, and his presence leading the forward line has been sorely missed given how much focus opposition defences are forced to put on him when he is playing. Goals are only part of what the 20-year-old brings to Martinez's team.

West Ham will no doubt be hoping he isn't pitched straight back into Everton's starting XI given how crucial he was in the return fixture in September — although he scored his emphatic winner with just five minutes having come on as a second-half substitute and it's possible he'll be eased in by his manager this time around.

Should he be named on the bench, Martinez will be restricted to the same attacking options as last weekend after Lacina Traore was ruled out with the hamstring injury that threatens his loan spell from Monaco. That will likely mean the continuation of the Mirallas-Naismith partnership, although the manager's team selection for the aborted Crystal Palace game suggests that he is apt to mix things up.

He has more options in midfield, with Gerard Deulofeu in need of playing time after two substitute appearances since returning from his own injury layoff and Aiden McGeady more fully fit than at any time since he arrived during the January transfer window.

And there's the question of Ross Barkley who has been visibly lacking match sharpness since being rushed back for the Anfield derby and whose confidence appears to now be suffering as a result. A starting berth this weekend would reinforce the manager's faith in him, faith that is well-placed given his form in the first half of the campaign, but it would not be without its risks to the 20-year-old's morale if things don't go well for him.

At the back, Phil Jagielka's absence with a hamstring injury will enforce at least one change on the team that started at Chelsea, with Antolin Alcaraz the likely deputy.

There is a lot riding on this match for Everton, the first of a succession of must-win games if they are to realise their European dream this season. They are certainly going to have to be more incisiveness and direct in their approach in the final third than they have been on their travels but if they can make an early breakthrough, West Ham have shown that they can fall apart under pressure.

Kick off: 3pm
Referee: Jonathan Moss

Full coverage: ToffeeWeb Match Reports

• Global TV
• Live Matchday Forum
• Memory Lane — Match 27

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