Goodison Tactics: How can Everton cause West Ham problems?
Everton face West Ham on Sunday afternoon in what should be a fascinating game of football between two good sides.
The Toffees are well in the race for the top four, while the Hammers aren’t too far behind them.
Both teams have scored plenty of goals this season, and the Toffees will have to be at their very best to stop the Irons from scoring.
However, how can they hurt them?
Well, WhoScored list one of the Irons’ main weaknesses as defending attacks down the wings, and they have conceded quite a few goals from crosses coming into the box.
Here we are going to analyse three goals that the Irons have conceded in the Premier League to work out how the Toffees can cause the Hammers some serious problems.
So, this was a very easy goal, and once Newcastle created the overload, the Hammers couldn’t stop the cross or mark the man.
Now you would think that Andros Townsend could provide some quality deliveries into the box if he is handed this amount of time and space, while Abdoulaye Doucoure could make a late run into the box.
West Ham then conceded from a cross in their second game of the season against Crystal Palace.
So, again, this was a pretty avoidable goal for the Irons, and ultimately, an overload at the far post led to Gallagher firing the ball home.
Again a late runner did the damage, and you would think Doucoure could definitely cause some damage if the Hammers defend like this.
The third goal we are going to look at is Cristiano Ronaldo’s from Manchester United’s 2-1 win in September.
So, there you are, three goals conceded by the Hammers from crosses.
Every cross was from the left, suggesting that Vladimir Coufal could be targeted, while Cresswell proved on several occasions that he had no idea where the ball or his man were.
Certainly, there are positive signs for Rafael Benitez ahead of Sunday, and it is clear that the Toffees can cause some serious problems for David Moyes’ side.
In other Everton news, Rafael Benitez has relayed team news ahead of the match on Sunday.
Be sure to follow Goodison News on Facebook and Twitter for 24/7 updates on Everton and more exclusive interviews with Kevin Campbell.