David Moyes Hosts Former Club - A Huge Chance To Thrive Away From The Danger Zone!

Both Everton and West Ham sit in the bottom half of the table, with the Toffees in 15th and the Hammers one place below in 16th. Although it may seem this game is a giant occasion in terms of Premier League survival, the stress, especially for David Moyes' side, the classy recent run of form has relieved the pressure.

Over the past 5 league results, Everton have managed to claim 7 points, 4 draws, and a victory over Crystal Palace away from home. However, Graham Potter's side has also been going through a great period of form. Apart from the result on Monday night, where Eddie Howe's side travelled to the London Stadium and came away with a strong three points supporting the Toon's hopes of European football come the end of the season, with Bruno Guimaraes' finish following a Harvey Barnes cross in from the left-hand side turning out to be the only goal of the game, West Ham had two back-to-back victories.

A 2-0 win over relegation-threatened Leicester City at home, where an easy tap-in from Czech midfielder Tomas Soucek after a saved shot from Kudus left the whole Foxes' backline stumped as they claimed for offside in unison, and an own goal from Jannik Vestergaard gave West Ham the victory. The gameweek before, Potter's side travelled to face Arsenal, who were already struggling to catch league leaders Liverpool, with Arne Slot's side only losing one Premier League game all season, and the Hammers came and added insult to injury as Jarrod Bowen scored the only goal in a huge 1-0 victory. West Ham's star man opened the scoring just before the halftime whistle was blown by referee Craig Pawson; in the second half, the only notable event was when young Arsenal fullback was sent off after a lengthy VAR review confirming the 18-year-old had denied Mohammed Kudus a goal-scoring opportunity.

The main man, and only goalscorer in the victory over Arsenal a few weeks back, Jarrad Bowen, has been the biggest threat this season for West Ham. The Hammer's highest goalscorer, claiming 7 goals this Premier League season as well as the top assister with 4, means the 28-year-old is perhaps the biggest threat David Moyes should be keeping his eye on, and due to working with each other in the past, then surely the job is easier.

During Moyes' second spell at the Hammers, the Scottish manager managed to win a UEFA Conference League after defeating Italian side ACF Fiorentina 2-1 with a 90th-minute winner from Bowen to claim the Hammers' first major trophy in 43 years. The following season, the 61-year-old led the squad to a semi-final finish in the UEFA Europa League, unfortunately being defeated 3-1 by Eintracht Frankfurt across two legs. Although a small slip-up in form and the West Ham backroom staff not believing the January transfer window was exploited enough, Moyes was confirmed to be leaving the Hammers on 6th May 2024, following a 5-0 defeat to Chelsea.

Now, Moyes is back proving his worth and the Toffees, and with goals being an issue around the side, as the only fit striker is Portuguese man Beto, who has been struggling to make an impact for the past couple of weeks, it is good news emerging from Finch Farm as Albanian attacker Armando Broja may be fit enough to feature on the bench for the Toffees on Saturday. Broja, who was stretchered off during the Blues' 2-0 victory over Peterborough in the FA Cup, the game prior to the appointment of Moyes, has been recovering from crucial ligament damage in his ankle and now is set to return to the matchday squad.

On the other hand, Graham Potter has confirmed that German striker Niclas Füllkrug will be lucky to return to the matchday squad after suffering a hamstring injury during the Hammers' defeat to Aston Villa in the FA Cup third round. Both Summerville and Coufal remained sidelined with their hamstring injuries as well, and French defender Jean-Clair Todibo is building up fitness but will not play a full 90 minutes.

There is also a developing story surrounding Brazilian attacking midfielder Lucas Paquetá. In May 2024, the FA allegedly charged Paquetá for deliberately influencing matches by receiving yellow cards to manipulate betting systems for financial gain. Although the FA was expected to present evidence of these allegations within the same month, reports suggested a lack of concrete proof. Meanwhile, Paquetá’s uncle, Bruno Tolentino, is reportedly linked to a match-fixing scandal in Brazil, with claims of a £5000 payment made to Real Betis winger Luiz Henrique to acquire yellow cards. Tolentino has denied the allegations, claiming the money was for personal debt. If found guilty, he could face up to six years in prison under Brazilian law. Paquetá himself could face consequences, as his FA hearing is set to take place in the coming months. If the charges are upheld, he could potentially be banned from football for life. With Paquetá recently returning from injury, this could be his last appearance in English football, depending on the outcome of the case.

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Premier League Gameweek 29:

Saturday 15th March:

Everton 15:00 West Ham United

Ipswich Town 15:00 Nottingham Forest

Manchester City 15:00 Brighton & Hove Albion

Southampton 15:00 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Bournemouth 17:30 Brentford

Sunday 16th March:

Arsenal 13:30 Chelsea

Fulham 13:30 Tottenham Hotspur

Leicester City 19:00 Manchester United

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Thank you for reading my pre-match article!