6th placed Everton face a tough game against 15th placed West Ham at Goodison Park. Only 5 points separate the teams ahead of Sunday’s game so let’s take a look at a combined XI of the two-
Key Stats
Goals: Lukaku (Everton), Antonio (West Ham)
Assists: Bolasie (Everton), Payet (West Ham)
Chances Created: Barkley (Everton), Payet (West Ham)
Formation: 3-4-1-2
Goalkeeper- Stekelenburg
Everton’s Stekelenburg once again rules the combined XI goalkeeper spot as he hardly faces much competition. This is partly down to his good form but he’s yet to face off against a class keeper. Unfortunately due to West Ham’s poor form in the league, Adrian misses out on the spot with his Squawka performance score being heavily hit with all the conceded goals.
Defence- Jagielka, Williams, Reid
In defence it was hard to ignore the incredible form of Winston Reid who remains as solid as ever for West Ham. So much so that we had to play three in the back and kick off both Coleman and Baines, who is still a doubt for Sunday’s game.
Jagielka and Williams have reigned supreme in the centre back positions for our previous combined XI’s and continue to do so. The pair have been formidable in the back for the Toffees and it’ll take quite a bit of serious competition to remove them.
According to Squawka performances scores, the best performing centre backs at both clubs are in the order of Reid, Jagielka and Williams. Holgate has also impressed recently, reaching triple digits in performance score but not quite doing enough to dislodge any of the three.
Midfielders- Gueye, Kouyate, Lanzini, Antonio, Payet
Central defensive midfielders Idrissa Gueye and Cheikhou Kouyate are the perfect pair to help protect the centre backs while our attacking front five terrorise defences. The two combating midfielders have an incredible combined 42 interceptions and 44 tackles won.
If we break the statistics down it truly shows how they’re a great pair- Gueye won most of the tackles at 34 tackles while Kouyate intercepted most at 34 interceptions. This means both will cover for each others so called weaknesses which are still decent numbers.
Michail Antonio and Dimitri Payet are our devastating wingers at right wing and left wing respectively. As mentioned earlier, Antonio is West Ham’s leading goalscorer in the Premier League with 5 goals to his name.
Payet is their leading assister and creator, showing why they are also the perfect pairing at the wings. With 29 chances created to his name it makes sense to have one winger capable of creating chances while the other scores the goals.
At centre attacking midfield we have Lanzini, another high Squawka performance scorer. In fact he’s performed so well for his club he’s edged out highly respected Gareth Barry and Mark Noble too.
He’s averaged a decent passing completion of 90% and is capable of creating chances with 10 to his name not to mention his goalscoring ability with two goals so far in the Premier League.
Forwards- Lukaku, Mirallas
Up top we have the unmovable Romelu Lukaku. He’s outscored all the players on both teams with 6 goals in 9 Premier League games so far. Due to the incredible competition in midfield we’ve paired him with Mirallas.
West Ham hardly have a good in form striker according to Squawka performance scores and so the team could do with a more pacy alternative to Lukaku in Kevin Mirallas. Normally a winger, he’s the most comfortable of both clubs midfielders in the striker role and is capable of scoring goals.
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He started the season somewhat unlike himself but has pressed on and it has showed with his Squawka performance scores doubling recently. Lukaku is more than capable with playing as a solo striker but with Mirallas by his side they can form a devastating pair, especially with the solidity and creativity of the players behind them.
Well that completes our combined XI for the Everton vs West Ham match on Sunday, keep an eye out for the match preview tomorrow. Let us know in the comments section who you think should be in the combined XI!