West Ham United V Everton
Tuesday, 28th December – 17:30 (GMT) – LIVE on Sky Sports HD1
Post-Christmas is generally a time of year when families rummage together, raid the piggy bank so to speak, while it’s unfortunately the most common time of the year for suicides. I’m sure David Moyes has contemplated the latter on more than one occasion this season, after yet another typically sluggish start from his Everton side, who continue to frustrate every punter in the country with their indifferent form and inconsistent nature. However the former point we made, about the aftermath of Christmas and the effect it has on everyone’s wallets, applies to Everton ahead of the January transfer window.
After watching his striker’s combine to score just three league goals between them, Moyes would be the first to shout from the rooftops that he’s desperate for some fresh impotence up top. However, it would appear funds have run dry and Moyes has now been reduced to searching for possible loan recruitments ahead of a crucial second half of the season which Everton simply must do better in if they’re to even come close to achieving their season-long aim of securing European football. It’s not as though Moyes didn’t have the money to spend during the summer on a new star-studded forward. Over £6Million was wasted on former Leeds striker Jermaine Beckford, who actually top scores out of all the available forwards at the club with two goals.
While Beckford has some useful energy, and does boast plenty of hunger and is very much a determined sort, he lacks that awareness and vision required at this level to score goals on a consistent basis. Against some hardened defenders, you really do need to have your wits about you. Beckford, because he has spent so long in the lower tiers, hasn’t quite got the knack nor nous of playing against defenders of a Premier League calibre. But Beckford’s reasons for his shortcomings is a viable excuse in my opinion. However Louis Saha and Yakubu, two players who have seemingly spent an eternity in the top-flight and haven’t exactly been shy in front of goal during their time in the Premier League, don’t have a leg to stand. In actual fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if these two have actually played the entire campaign thus far with one leg, as their record in front of goal is lousy to say the least.
Lous Saha
2010/2011 League Appearances: 7
League Goals: 0
Yakubu
2010/2011 League Appearances: 12
League Goals: 1
So, in the wake of the deaths to Saha and Yakubu, whom have been lifeless in front of goal all season thus far, Everton have been heavily reliant on their little Aussie once more. Tim Cahill, who will soon be off to Qatar for the AFC Asian Championships with Australia for a month, has unbelievable figures of nine league goals in seventeen league appearances, averaging one every-other-game, an impressive goal ratio considering he’s a midfielder by trade, albeit a very attack minded one. Without him in the team, and without his goals, it begs the question where on earth would Everton be right now? The relegation zone would be a solid shout, and probably the unwanted honour of being the lowest scorers in the top-flight as well.
David Moyes paid homage to his free-scoring Aussie not so long ago, claiming Cahill leads by example; a player of tremendous character, who fights for every ball, isn’t afraid to tackle and has no qualms whatsoever about sticking his head in where it might get hurt if it means getting on the scoresheet. Unfortunately for Moyes and the Everton fans, no-one else has followed his lead. With Tim Cahill set to miss up to a month of action over the course of January, David Moyes desperately needs someone, preferably one of his forlorn strikers, to raise their game in 2011 and step up to the plate.
A touch of irony, and possibly good fortune for David Moyes and Everton, is that their next opponent is that of West Ham, a side they’ve beaten more times in the Premier League than anyone else. Moreover, the head-to-head with the Hammers also makes for very good reading, with the Toffees having lost just four of their last fifteen encounters at Upton Park, and in the Premier League have won on their previous three visits. Throw in Louis Saha and Yakubu’s rich vein of scoring form against West Ham, with the former plundering five in his last four appearances for Everton and Yakubu three in his previous four for the Toffees, and all the arrows appear to be pointing in one direction; a change of wind for the Toffees, and by that we mean the likelihood of goals finally springing up from out of nowhere against an opponent where both points and goals have come in plentiful supply in recent forages into London.
The Hammers, though, while they may occupy a distasteful 19th in the table, will put up stern resistance at Upton Park on Tuesday evening on the back of two positive outcomes over Christmas. The first came at Blackburn, with a point an encouraging result considering how abysmal their away form has been this season, although the second was outstanding, even though we anticipated and tipped them to overcome the odds at Fulham’s Craven Cottage. Avram Grant’s men ran out 3-1 winners at Fulham on Boxing Day and will now host Everton in buoyant mood and seeking back-to-back league wins for the very first time this season. And they’ll fancy their chances of landing that second quick-fire victory, with their previously out of sorts strikers, Frederic Piquionne and Carlton Cole, enjoying themselves in front of goal on Boxing Day as the former scored once while the latter, Carlton Cole, bagged a brace, his maiden brace in the Premier League.
With the words ‘must-win’ echoing around the West Ham dressing room following rumours that Grant must win one of his remaining 2010 fixtures, which he acheived at Fulham last time out, the players have responded positively and there appears to be a renaissance on the cards. The confidence is now oozing out of them and with dry land now just one win away, expect nothing less than a match-winning effort from the Hammers.
Two teams occupying unsavoury positions in the table, both just as desperate for three vital points, should equal one thing: A pulsating affair in East London. West Ham can ill-afford to let their recent upturn in form pass them by, it’s imperative they seize on all this positive momentum, whereas Everton will feel they need to make the most of Tim Cahill while they can. Their forwards, though, despite their dire records for the term, have a proven record of scoring at Upton Park, so banking on deja-vu coming back to bite the Hammers in the backside could pay dividends. However, our initial bet is a little more cautious but has every chance of being a hum-dinger, as should the match itself.
Matt’s Selection(s):
Both Teams to Score – 1.83 Bet365
Value Bets:
Tim Cahill to Score – 3.00 Unibet
Possible Goalscorer Bets:
Carlton Cole to Score – 3.50 PaddyPower
