Lawrenson predicts Everton v West Ham
The clash on Saturday between Everton and West Ham United is a hugely intriguing one, bring together, as it does, two teams under fresh management.
The Hammers are now under the watchful eye of former Toffees boss David Moyes, back for a second spell at the London Stadium.
As for the Merseyside outfit, they travel to the capital with Carlo Ancelotti in tow, a manager with one of the most glittering trophy cabinets in existence.
Despite the gradual progress made by the Italian, highlighted by last weekend’s largely comfortable victory over Brighton & Hove Albion, former Liverpool defender Mark Lawrenson believes the hosts will prevail 2-1 on Saturday.
“I still think David Moyes has had positive start to his return as Hammers boss, and the same obviously goes for Carlo Ancelotti at Everton – apart from when they went to Liverpool in the FA Cup, they have been good,” he wrote on the BBC Sport website.
“I think this will be tight, and West Ham will be happy to keep it that way.
“Moyes is not going to play open, expansive football because he doesn’t know some of his players yet, and they have not been playing well – you have got to understand that his priority will be to make it difficult for teams to play against them.”
Could the Toffees fall short here?
West Ham will certainly want to keep things tight, but they are suffering from some injuries to key men. Having said that, so are the Blues.
This could well be a clash of two depleted teams, relatively short on confidence, and may turn out to be a 1-1 draw or something like that.
However, if people like Bernard and Dominic Calvert-Lewin show up, Ancelotti’s team should be able to knick a victory.
In other Everton news, the club have reportedly missed out on a central midfielder that Ancelotti really wanted.