Everton V West Ham United Betting: Sunday, 4th April (Sky Sports)

Everton V West Ham United

Sunday, 4^th April – 16:00 GMT

TV Coverage: Sky Sports 1

Everton

League Position: 8th

Recent Form: WDWWD

Everton will continue their pursuit of European football once again this weekend as they prepare themselves for West Ham’s arrival at Goodison Park. They are unbeaten in five in the league and look a solid bet to make that six but if they want to continue harbouring hopes of a top six finish, they really must win the majority of their remaining fixtures. This home encounter with struggling West Ham, a team who’ve lost their last six league games, does appear their easiest assignment left for David Moyes’ Toffees, but after losing ground at Wolves last Saturday, can Everton make an instant return to winning ways? 

Goodison Park has been a happy hunting ground for Everton since the turn of the year, with the home crowd departing Goodison a happy bunch on six separate occasions in 2010, while Everton are enjoying a run of seven successive wins at home in the league. Some big teams have fallen by the wayside at the hands of the Evertonians on Merseyside with Man City, Man Utd and Chelsea all suffering bitter tasting defeats away at the hands of Everton. Compared to those scalps, West Ham look a doddle so surely this is a three point banker for David Moyes’ men. 

Everton Football Club wouldn’t be Everton Football Club were it not for it’s regular supply of nasty injuries so news that Dan Gosling, one of David Moyes’ upcoming stars at the club, will be out of action for at least nine months isn’t even surprising, although devastating to hear. However, the good news is that Mikel Arteta, whom sat out Everton’s 0-0 draw with Wolves at the weekend, is fit to return to the Everton fold and we all know just how influential the Everton midfielder can be on his day. His last appearance was against Man City in Manchester and he was instrumental in Everton claiming a stunning 2-0 victory. He scored their second and killer goal but David Moyes sadly missed the Spaniards creativity during his sides trip to Wolves on Saturday in a rather unadventurous game of football at Molineux.

We don’t usually like to rule a team off but Everton really should stroll through this fixture with a hapless Hammers. Their superb run of seven successive home runs looks set to extend to eight after the visit of West Ham, while they should also bolster their ever increasing goal difference in the process. Not since the middle of December have Everton failed to surpass the one goal marker in a home fixture, although strangely enough they’ve scored exactly two goals in five of their last seven home games. If you’re partial to patterns of form then look no further than that statistical beauty. Then again, with that way West Ham are playing right now Everton could score four or five.

West Ham United

League Position: 17th

Recent Form: LLLLL

West Ham had to take in a ittle breather during the week after the club endured yet another league defeat on Saturday – Their sixth in a row. It’s their worst run in their Premiership history and they may struggle to end their baron streak at Goodsion Park against an Everton team who’ve won their last seven home fixtures – Talk about up against the odds. Even more so after hearing that West Ham have lost their last four away fixtures and haven’t picked up an away point since their visit to bottom of the league Portsmouth at the end of January. It looks ominous!

The board welcomed a break from football for both the players and the managerial staff, while it gave Gianfranco Zola time to reflect. Within the three day break, Zola reaffirmed what a large portion of the West Ham fans wanted to hear – That the Italian would be staying at the club and that he was willing to fight this relegation battle right to the bitter end. Finally, some fighting talk coming out of West Ham instead of just childish bickering. The club are going through a difficult period, where results just aren’t going their way, but it’s a time where everyone needs to unite for the good of the cause and not blame one another for the messy situation they’re in. Let’s just hope the two David’s keep their noses out of Zola’s business for at least West Ham’s following few fixtures s their involvement in recent weeks has been just am awkward distraction for the players.

The mini break does throw a small spanner in the works as you just don’t know how the players will take to a break in their regime. I personally think it was a good call as there didn’t seem much of a fighting spirit within the club, while now the players will arrive back to Upton Park feeling refreshed and ready for their next battle. They could of ideally done with an easier fixture than this trip to Everton to get the ball rolling but if they were to somehow get a result at Everton, even a draw, then it could do wonders for the atmosphere in the West Ham dressing room. We think a win is a tad too over ambitious but a point isn’t out of the question.

West Ham will need to better their drastic away form though to get a result on Merseyside. The Hammers have only managed one away win all season while they’ve gone 15 games without one. That’s not too surprising if truth be told but they could do with drawing a few more of their away encounters just to keep some points regularly coming in. I’m sure Zola will pinpoint a draw as a fantastic result this weekend and they aren’t without a fighting chance of attaining that point. The core of their team is very strong, with Green in goal, Upson in defence, Parker in midfield and Cole up front. Is the rest of the team which is flailing and as a result West Ham have lost their mojo. Cole doesn’t get enough of the ball nowadays while Mido fluffs the chances he gets. It’s a lack of confidence, but like we said, the break came at just the right time and hopefully the players feel they can now start with a clean slate because of it.

Match Verdict: Everton to WIN – 1.45 Expekt 

That little break may have worked wonders for Zola and his West Ham players but only time will tell if that’s the case. So in the meantime, we have no option but to go with a far more reliable and consistent Everton side who are going strong at Goodison Park after a run of seen successive wins on Merseyside. They create plenty of chances, they’re converting a large chunk of them and they should put West Ham to the sword on Sunday in a match both sides must win. Everton are still harbouring hopes of European football for next season, while West Ham are stuck in a battle for Premiership survival. Defeat for West Ham though would be far more costly but we can’t rely upon Zola’s men to put in a decent shift on Merseyside and so a strong preference is for David Moyes’s Everton.

Match Odds:

Everton – 1.45 Expekt

Draw – 4.3 Bodog

West Ham United – 8.50 WilliamHill

SoccerBetting Value Tip: Mikel Arteta Anytime Scorer – 4.00 PaddyPower