Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off in the Premier League may prove to be Marco Silva’s final game in charge of Everton when they host West Ham.
The Portuguese took charge at Goodison Park in the summer of 2018 but has yet to produce the type of free-flowing, attacking football promised, and after a significant financial outlay the board are said to be growing restless.
Everton approach this game on the back of four straight defeats and another reverse would mark the first time they have lost five in a row since October 2005.
Only Watford and Newcastle have scored fewer goals than the Toffees’ six this season, while things are arguably worse at the back, having conceded a league-high 22 goals from set-pieces since the start of last term.
Loanee Djibril Sidibe is set to make his first Premier League start at right-back due to Seamus Coleman’s suspension for a red card at Burnley, while Fabian Delph is fit after missing England duty although Jean-Philippe Gbamin is a long-term absentee with a thigh injury.
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West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini has played down the pressure on Silva in the build-up to the game although he will be aware that his own side’s away record is better than their home one.
The Hammers are unbeaten in six away league games and the Chilean has fond memories of Goodison. It was in this fixture last September that he claimed his first win in the job, Andriy Yarmolenko netting twice in a 3-1 victory.
Declan Rice has overcome the illness that ruled him out of England’s 6-0 win in Bulgaria and is expected to take his place in midfield, while Aaron Cresswell and Robert Snodgrass are back in the frame after recovering from knocks.
Lukasz Fabianski, Michail Antonio and Winston Reid all remain out, with Pellegrini likely to stick with the majority of the side that lost 2-1 at home to Crystal Palace ahead of the international break.
