Everton manager David Moyes will renew acquaintances with one of his former clubs West Ham United when they do battle at Goodison Park in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.
Neither side could be separated when they played out a goalless stalemate in the reverse fixture at the London Stadium four months ago.
Match preview
© Imago
Since losing his first game back in charge of Everton at home to Aston Villa (1-0) in mid-January, David Moyes has enjoyed an eight-game unbeaten run with the Toffees in the Premier League (W4 D4) - the club's longest since a run of nine games without defeat under Ronald Koeman between December 2016 and February 2017.
No team in this season's top flight have drawn more matches than Everton (12), who have picked up a solitary point in four of their last five fixtures, drawing each of their last three with Manchester United (2-2), Brentford (1-1) and most recently Wolves (1-1) last weekend.
Everton's fears of relegation have evaporated thanks to the impact of Moyes, who sees his side sitting 15th in the Premier League table, 16 points clear of the bottom three and just six points behind Crystal Palace in 11th with 10 games remaining.
The Toffees' improvements in attack have contributed to their impressive upturn in form. In just nine league games under Moyes, they have scored 16 goals and one more than they managed in their previous 19 matches under former boss Sean Dyche.
Everton will need to be prolific in the final third once again on Saturday if they wish to get the better of a West Ham side who have beaten the Merseysiders four times in their last six top-flight visits to Goodison Park, with the Hammers most recently winning 3-1 in March last season.
© Imago
Following back-to-back victories without reply against Arsenal (1-0) and Leicester City (2-0), West Ham were unable to celebrate a third successive win under Graham Potter on Monday night as they were beaten 1-0 at home to Newcastle United.
A second-half tap-in from Bruno Guimaraes condemned the Hammers to their 13th league defeat of the season and they have now failed to score in 37.5% of their PL games under Potter (three out of eight), compared to 20% under former boss Julen Lopetegui (four out of 20). West Ham also average just 9.3 shots per game under Potter in the top flight, compared to 14.6 under Lopetegui.
West Ham are in no danger of relegation, but they will be keen to end the campaign on a high by moving up from their current position of 16th, and like Everton who are level on points and one place above them, the Hammers are only six points behind 11th spot with 10 games left to play.
Saturday will see West Ham reunite with former manager Moyes, who took charge of 198 Premier League games for the club across two separate spells between 2017 and 2024. The Hammers have won nine of their last 10 league encounters against their former managers (D1), with Alan Pardew the last to beat them as Crystal Palace boss in February 2015 (3-1).
West Ham's chances of coming out on top this weekend will be boosted if they manage to keep a clean sheet, as they have won all four of their Premier League away games this season without conceding a single goal - they have not won any of their last 12 on the road when conceding at least once (D4 L8).
Team News
© Imago
Everton are still having to cope without Iliman Ndiaye, Dwight McNeil, Orel Mangala (all knee), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (thigh) and Armando Broja (ankle) as they continue to recover from injury.
Seamus Coleman recovered from a calf injury to watch on as an unused substitute last weekend, and although he is in contention to feature in some capacity against West Ham, the Irish defender is unlikely to displace compatriot Jake O'Brien at right-back.
Jack Harrison ended his 36-game Premier League goal doubt by netting the opener against Wolves last time out; the winger has been involved in more PL goals against West Ham than against any other opponent (five - three goals, two assists) and he is set to continue on the left flank, as Jesper Lindstrom operates on the right and Beto leads the line.
As for West Ham, Michail Antonio (leg), Niclas Fullkrug (hamstring) and Crysencio Summerville (thigh) all remain sidelined with injuries, while Vladimir Coufal (thigh) will be assessed ahead of kickoff.
Despite losing to Newcastle last time out, Potter will be tempted to name the same starting lineup for the fourth game in a row, with Jean-Clair Todibo, Max Kilman and Aaron Cresswell all set to continue in a three-man defence.
Oliver Scarles has been favoured ahead of Emerson Palmieri in recent weeks and is in line to continue at left wing-back, while Lucas Paqueta - who recovered from an ankle injury to feature as a substitute against Newcastle - will be pushing to start in midfield this weekend, although Tomas Soucek, Edson Alvarez and James Ward-Prowse may all be preferred in the middle of the pitch.
Everton possible starting lineup:
Pickford; O'Brien, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Garner, Gueye; Lindstrom, Doucoure, Harrison; Beto
West Ham United possible starting lineup:
Areola; Todibo, Kilman, Cresswell; Wan-Bissaka, Soucek, Alvarez, Ward-Prowse, Scarles; Kudus, Bowen
We say: Everton 2-1 West Ham United
Another closely-fought contest between Everton and West Ham could be on the cards, and the first goal may be crucial as the team who has opened the scoring has gone one to win seven of the last eight Premier League meetings.
Moyes has faced Potter seven times in the top flight and is yet to celebrate a victory (D5 L2) - the Scotsman has only faced Pep Guardiola on more occasions without ever winning in the division (13). However, we feel that Saturday could the day when his winless streak comes to an end and Everton continue their fine run of form.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Oliver Thomas
