Everton v West Ham - Depleted Toffees to come unstuck

EVERTON are unbeaten in the Premier League this season but will be kicking themselves as their three draws could easily have been victories against sides they would expect to defeat. The Toffees host the struggling West Ham in their next contest at Goodison Park and Ross Casey (@RossCasey24) shares his best bets.

Wolves v Everton | Sunday 16th September 2018, 16:00 | Sky Sports

Both of these sides spent big in the summer, but it is fair to say that Everton have started the better of these two sides. The unbeaten Toffees also have home advantage here which is important – they lost just five times at Goodison Park last season and that was all to teams in the top half.

West Ham look a very disjointed side under Manuel Pellegrini so far with results proof of that – they sit bottom of the league after four matches after losing all of them with an aggregate score of 2-10. They did beat League One AFC Wimbledon, but made hard work of that too despite The Dons being down to 10 men for virtually the whole game.

Everton

After all the upset and strife about Sam Allardyce's style of play last season, Everton fans have gotten what they wanted at Goodison Park and a more progressive coach is now in charge.

That has brought a host of excitement to Merseyside as has the departures of some big wages in Wayne Rooney, Fuenes Mori, Kevin Mirallas and Davy Klaasen who all have the bad taste of the previous regime about them.

It feels like a new start at Everton, but whilst the style of play is certainly more attractive, results have been hard to come by. Their pre-season form was pretty shocking with just one win in seven. They actually lost four in a row heading into the season, with a 3-0 away loss to Blackburn probably the lowlight. Since the start of the Premier League they have picked up just one win in four too and are missing some big names for this clash.

For a side that have not kept a single clean sheet this season, it is worrying that they only have six fit defenders with Phil Jagielka, Michael Keane, Yerry Mina and Sheamus Coleman all out whilst in attack they are without Richarlison, Bernard, Andre Gomes and have injury worries over Theo Walcott and Dominic Calvert-Lewin!

West Ham

What can we say about West Ham? They have had a truly horrible start to the season with multiple changes to their starting 11, massive holes in their defence and an inability to put away the chances they have been creating! The possession they do have tends to be in their own half with a reluctance to be brave and penetrate their opposition and it has all amounted to them being bottom of the league with four defeats from four.

Despite all this and the fact that they lost this fixture 4-0 I feel that the international break may well have done them some good and against an Everton side ravaged by injury and suspension, they could well cause a surprise here. The Hammers are available at 45/17 for the draw or 11/4 to win.

Of course they have been horrible at the back and a clean sheet seems unlikely as they have conceded 10 in just four games, so they will need to find their shooting boots to have a chance of picking up any points!

The betting angle

I think the bookies have got this right in terms of favourtism as Everton have an excellent home record, whilst West Ham have been shocking both home and away. I think if Richarlison was fit they would be odds on to win this game, but he is not and will be missing along with a host of others, so even at 28/25, Everton look a little short for me.

The Toffees have drawn three of their four Premier League games so far this season and I think that another draw may well be on the cards here against a Hammers side desperate for their first points of the season, and judging by the amount of players missing, I wouldn't even rule out an away win if these talented Hammers players can finally click.

They are available at 87/50 in the draw no bet market which is a better price than backing an Everton win, so for me with a safety blanket of money back for a draw – that is my selection.