Three things to look out for against Everton

West Ham face sixth-placed Everton this Sunday with The Toffees well rested having not had a midweek game. Here are three things to look out for…

Going on a winning run

As we saw last season, momentum is key. We knew that once we won our first game after that bad spell, more wins would start to come more frequently, and it has. The games against Crystal Palace and Sunderland were only won by one goal but the most important thing was the three points. Now, after beating Chelsea, our confidence is the highest it has been all season and it appears that we are not going into games with fear anymore.

Everton have not won in five games and although they are still a difficult team to play against, they looked a lot more difficult a month ago. We need to capitalise on their bad form and take the game to them. Can we make it three wins in a row in the Premier League?

The importance of Aaron Cresswell

We saw Cresswell’s impact immediately on his return against Crystal Palace. After 19 minutes his great cross assisted Manuel Lanzini and put us 1-0 up. With his return we now have a threatening option from defence. In our early games we missed his ability to overlap on the wing and deliver great balls into the box. Not only that, he allows Dimitri Payet to cut-inside and still give us an option out wide.

In this game Cresswell will be crucial. Everton’s wingers like to cut in and their full-backs do like to bomb forward so not only will Cresswell need to be defensively disciplined, he will also need to be aware of the space left in Everton’s defence and attack. It’s no surprise that our good form has coincided with his return. Will Cresswell prove to be as influential once again this season?

A solution to our striker problem?

We have struggled with the striker position ever since the season began. Andy Carroll displayed fine form in pre-season but got injured and while Simone Zaza and Jonathan Calleri are undoubtedly talented, they have not performed as well as expected.

But Andre Ayew is now back after months out injured and came on against Chelsea in the 78th minute. Is he the solution to our striker problem? He did score twelve goals in the Premier League last season and his return may see Michail Antonio back on the wing, where he has proved to be effective.