West Ham v Everton preview: Romelu Lukaku aims to continue scoring streak
Saturday 22 April 2017 14:00, UK
Romelu Lukaku will be looking to score for the 10th game in a row against West Ham when Everton travel to the London Stadium on Saturday.
The striker is the top scorer in the Premier League this season with 24 goals.
And Hammers manager Slaven Bilic said: "We have to try to get him out of his favoured positions and stop the service to him.
"Lukaku has a good record against us but it is a job for our defenders. In some of the games against Everton we did well but he still scored.
"He's really good and also consistent for his age. Everton have done a great job to keep him which shows how ambitious they are. He's not only one of the best players in the Premier League but in the whole of Europe."
Lukaku's form has helped Everton challenge for a top-six spot in the Premier League this season and they start the weekend three points behind fifth-placed Manchester United.
West Ham are 11 points clear of the relegation zone after drawing 2-2 with Sunderland last weekend.
A last-gasp strike from Fabio Borini denied the Hammers back-to-back wins for the first time since January.
Team news
Andy Carroll and Sam Byram are the latest additions to West Ham's absentee list.
Striker Carroll is out with a recurrence of a groin injury and right-back Byram is suspended following his red card at Sunderland last weekend.
Captain Mark Noble completes a two-match ban while Michail Antonio (hamstring), Angelo Ogbonna (knee) and Pedro Obiang (ankle) are injured, but Winston Reid (groin) and Diafra Sakho (back) could return.
Everton's on-loan striker Enner Valencia is ineligible to face his parent club West Ham.
Midfielder James McCarthy may not feature again this season as he continues to struggle with a hamstring problem.
Muhamed Besic will play his second match for the Under-23s on Friday as he steps up his comeback from a serious knee injury, while Ramiro Funes Mori and Yannick Bolasie (both knee), Seamus Coleman (broken leg) and Aaron Lennon all remain absent.
Opta stats
West Ham have won only one of their last 17 Premier League games against the Toffees (D5 L11).
Everton haven't lost away to West Ham in the Premier League since April 2007, winning six of the last eight (D2).
Romelu Lukaku has scored in each of his nine previous appearances against West Ham for Everton (all competitions, nine goals in total).
Lukaku is the top scoring Premier League player in 2017, netting 14 times with just 23 shots on target.
Both teams have scored in each of the last seven Premier League games in which the Hammers have hosted Everton, although this is their first meeting at the London Stadium.
The Hammers have 16 fewer points this season after 33 Premier League games than they had at this stage last season (53).
Slaven Bilic's side have also scored eight more goals on the road this season (26) than they have at the London Stadium (18).
Phil Jagielka has scored in each of his last three games for Everton; as many as he had scored in his previous 71 in the Premier League.
Merson's prediction
It will be a difficult game for Ronald Koeman's side but Everton's fine form should continue in east London.
West Ham need to get a couple more points to confirm their top-flight status and I can see them battling to a draw this weekend.
I don't think they are as bad as everybody seems to be saying.
PAUL PREDICTS: 1-1 (Sky Bet odds 11/2)
Betting
Everton are considered 23/20 favourites with Sky Bet, who make West Ham 11/5 outsiders while pricing the draw at 13/5. Romelu Lukaku heads into the clash as the 1/4 favourite to be Premier League top goalscorer while he also leads the first goalscorer betting at 7/2.
Andy Carroll is considered the hosts' main threat at 11/2 to net first while the powerful duo are 4/1 to both find the net.
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