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Jeff Stelling predicts result of Everton trip to West Ham for Sky Sports
Jeff Stelling has predicted Everton to suffer yet another defeat against a relegation rival when they travel to the London Stadium to face West Ham.
The Toffees were beaten 2-1 at home by then-bottom Wolves on the Boxing Day return to action following the World Cup, and went down to the same scoreline at the weekend (14 January) to current bottom side Southampton, whom they now sit level with on points in 19th place.
Also on 15 points are the similarly struggling Hammers who round out the relegation zone in 18th, making the 21 January game another crucial one in the battle against the drop.
But in his Super6 predictions for Sky Sports Stelling has gone for a 2-1 home win for David Moyes, leaving Frank Lampard in even deeper peril at Goodison Park.
Piling up
Repeatedly losing to other teams who are scrapping against relegation is a good way to go down, and while the former Chelsea boss kept the club up last season the current direction of travel is south.
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Rather than attempt to galvanise the fanbase around the struggling players as proved so crucial last season, the board have now soured anything that was left of a relationship with the supporters to make the atmosphere all the worse.
It is difficult to see where the manager goes next if he is beaten by the club where he began his career, with a visit of the league leaders Arsenal next up, before the Merseyside derby.
Farhad Moshiri has publicly backed Lampard in his surprise appearance on talkSPORT (12 January), and plenty would rather see him and his board depart than the man in the dug out.
So if there aren’t to be any major changes then a massively improved performance on the pitch has to be generated from somewhere to record a result that could prove crucial come the end of the season.
And while the window ticks by with the squad still waiting on reinforcements this game has the makings of a real slog.
The only positive is that West Ham are in a mess of their own and the potential pressure of performing in front of their own fans in the current situation could give Everton a much-needed opening, and if so they must take it.