Mark Lawrenson predicts Everton v West Ham clash
Everton travel to face West Ham on Sunday as they look to get back to winning ways, having claimed just one victory in their last seven Premier League games.
West Ham meanwhile remain in the hunt for Champions League football, having ended a brief dip in form with a confident 2-1 victory over Burnley last week.
Everton’s game against the Hammers must be considered a must-win for the Blues, but that will be a difficult challenge for the underperforming Merseyside club.
In his weekly Premier League predictions for BBC Sport, Mark Lawrenson claimed that West Ham would be too much for Everton to endure, despite their impressive away record.
He said: “West Ham were very impressive when they beat Burnley last weekend. I thought they were tailing off a bit after losing their previous two games, but they looked really strong at Turf Moor.
“Everton are much better on the road than they are at home but I think they are in for a difficult day in east London.
“The Hammers beat them at Goodison Park in January and I am expecting them to do the same at London Stadium on Sunday.”
The BBC pundit has backed a comfortable 2-0 win for West Ham over the Toffees.
Can’t afford anymore mistakes
Far too many of the goals that Everton have conceded in recent weeks have come directly from defensive errors, and that’ll be something the club must stamp out when they face West Ham this weekend.
The Blues are still within touching distance of Europe ahead of next season but they can’t afford any more slip-ups, and with the Hammers posing a very real threat it will take a lot of focus and hard work to keep them at bay.
Other than Jean-Philippe Gbamin and Abdoulaye Doucoure, Carlo Ancelotti has the strongest squad available to him with every other player fit, and that leaves him little excuse if the players fail to perform.
More than simply for the sole purpose of getting the club into Europe, a number Everton’s players must be aware that they are playing for their futures in the final few weeks, and we need to see an all-round committed performance against the Hammers to kick off the final stretch of the campaign.
In other Everton news, journalist questions this Toffees player that Ancelotti is constantly shouting at during games.
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