Everton vs West Ham Match Preview: Previous Meeting, Key Men, Team News & More

Everton entertain West Ham in the Premier League with plenty riding on a humungous clash at Goodison Park.

David Moyes will hope to compound the Toffees' misery by securing a vital win against his former club, while the Blues will be desperate to put the past two heavy defeats behind them with their own much needed three-point haul.

Here's all you need to know ahead of the bout on Merseyside:

Previous Meeting

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Everton ran out 2-0 winners over West Ham in October 2016's previous Goodison contest as Romelu Lukaku and Ross Barkley bagged second half goals for Ronald Koeman's hosts.

The Toffees ended a run of five matches without a win as Lukaku bagged his seventh goal in as many appearances against the Irons before Barkley's stunning half volley made sure of the points.

The two sides also played out a listless 0-0 draw back in April as both teams struggled to break each other down.

Key Men

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Given how horrendous Everton are at the moment, you could pick anyone to be their 'key' man.

With Gylfi Sigurdsson receiving a confidence boost from his sweet strike against Southampton on Sunday, he seems as good an option as any to pick.

The 27-year-old is still working tirelessly to help Everton end this wretched run of form and, despite only bagging one goal in 10 previous games against West Ham, does have the makings of being a player who could earn a massive three points.

For West Ham, it's hard to look past Andy Carroll as a potential matchwinner for the visitors.

The ex-Liverpool frontman has only notched two goals in 11 games against Wednesday's opponents, but his physicality and aerial dominance will be a huge test for the ageing Phil Jagielka and Ashley Williams.

If West Ham can supply Carroll with decent balls into the area, akin to the ones Charlie Austin profited from at the weekend, he could seal a second league win for West Ham at Goodison in the past three seasons.

Team News

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Leighton Baines and Michael Keane have joined seven other Everton stars on the treatment table as the injuries continue to tot up for the Premier League strugglers.

Oumar Niasse is unavailable as he sees out the last game of his two-match retrospective ban, but Tom Davies could feature after sitting out the match against Southampton through suspension.

Moyes won't have James Collins, Jose Fonte, Marko Arnautovic or Javier Hernandez for this one due to a variety of injuries, but club captain Mark Noble could be recalled to the starting lineup after he was dropped for last Friday's draw with Leicester.

Predicted Everton Starting Lineup: Pickford; Kenny, Williams, Jagielka, Martina; Gueye, Davies; Vlasic, Sigurdsson, Lookman; Sandro.

Predicted West Ham Starting Lineup: Hart; Zabaleta, Ogbonna, Reid, Cresswell; Lanzini, Obiang, Noble, Kouyate, Ayew; Carroll.

Prediction

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There's more than just three points riding on Wednesday, with Moyes taking on both his former side and one of his former players in Unsworth.

The Scot has lost all four encounters against the Toffees since leaving in May 2014 and won't have a better chance to end that streak by beating them on his former patch.

Unsworth will be keen to sign off as the Blues' temporary boss with a win as Everton finally eye a permanent successor to Ronald Koeman, but it'll depend on how his players react after two heavy losses.

Expect a poor game that ends in a draw.

Prediction: Everton 1-1 West Ham