With just 5 more matches to be played in the Premier League, Everton are chasing a better final placement than the 7th spot that they are currently occupying. They will be traveling to London on Saturday, April 22nd, where they will be hosted by West Ham. West Ham have no hopes for a European spot, as they are sitting much closer to the relegation zone.
Everton have been solid lately, as they Everton (16-8-9) are coming into this match after securing a comfortable win at home against Burnley by 1-3. After a goal-less first half, it was Everton who took the lead at the 49th minute, before Burnley pulled even just 3 minute later. However, Everton were in no mood for jokes, as they scored a couple of goals in a 3 minute span in order to secure the 3 points. They have now lost just one of their last 6 matches (4-1-1), as they are still sitting at the 7th spot of the Premier League with 57 points. They currently sitting at a spot that grants a ticket to the Europa League qualifiers next season, but they have just as many points as Arsenal above them, and only 3 less than Manchester United. However, both these teams have 2 matches in hand, so Everton will probably have to come to terms with the fact that they can’t go much higher in the standings. Everton have been solid at home, having lost just a single match all season (12-1-4), but they have been quite mediocre on the road so far (4-7-5). They have struggled to take points away from home lately, as they are win-less in their last 5 trips (0-2-3), while they have won just 2 of their last 14 matches on the road (2-7-5). They will be coming into this match with their usual absences, as Bolasie, Coleman, Lennon, McCarthy and Mori are still injured.
On the other hand, West Ham (10-16-7) are coming into this match after a frustrating 2-2 draw on the road against bottom-placed Sunderland. Even though West Ham managed to take the lead twice in that match, Sunderland found the way to equalize both goals (the second at the 90th minute), in order to steal a point from this match. They haven’t been in good form lately, as they have won just one of their last 9 matches (1-5-3), keeping just a single clean sheet in the process. West Ham are now sitting at the 13th spot of the Premier League with 37 points, and they have probably run out of things to fight for in the season. They are sitting 20 points behind the top 7 spots that grant entrance to the European competitions next season, but only 9 points above the red line. Of course they still haven’t secured their stay in the league, but they will need to be rather unlucky in order to find themselves in risk of relegating. They have been mediocre at home so far (6-7-3), where they have won just one of their last 5 matches (1-3-1). They only kept a single clean sheet in that span, as they conceded a total of 13 goals. They will be coming into this match with a handful of absences, as Antonio, Obiang and Ogbonna are injured, while Reid is still listed as questionable to participate.