Everton v West Ham will go ahead as Blues linked again with forwards
The Premier League has confirmed that Everton v West Ham United will go ahead this weekend as games return following the break to honour the Queen’s passing.
Everton were due to travel down South to face Arsenal last Sunday but of course all those matches were cancelled due to the death of the Monarch.
In some ways, while not wishing to diminish the reason for it, not having to play Arsenal last weekend was perhaps a little bit of a blessing for the Blues’ given the fact they have a terrible record at the North London club and with Jordon Pickford out injured.
I think had the Toffees’ gone to the Emirates and got heavily beaten (as they often have in past games there) it might have damaged the still fragile, emerging confidence we’ve seen in recent performances.
That would have been more likely I think without Pickford, who was obviously critical to Everton eventually securing a point in the Merseyside derby.
The England number one is still out for the West Ham game, but a match at Goodison Park with the vocal crowd behind the remaning players and against a struggling Hammers team, doesnt’ seem quite so difficult a fixture.
I’m not taking David Moyes’ team lightly though and it would be just like the Blues’ to slip to defeat and provide the East London side with a win.
The home team are also still seeking a first win of the season and Sunday’s match would be a perfect time to claim it.
In other news, Italian media outlet Calciomercato is claiming Everton will move again for two forwards linked with the club in the summer transfer window.
Those players are Adama Traore and Mykhaylo Mudryk.
Traore was a player very strongly and consistently said to be on the Toffees’ radar a few weeks ago as they searched for forward reinforcements following Richarlison’s departure for Spurs.
The Wolves star has fallen out of favour at Molineux an was playing for Barcelona on loan last season, but the Calalan giants decided not to keep him and he was apparently available for transfer in the recent window.
Everton didn’t actually make a concrete move for him and ended up with just one more forward signed when they added Neal Maupay from Brighton.
Ukrainian international Mudryk was a more tentative link whose name emerged late in the transfer window as the Toffees’ were associated with an ever-increasing number of names.
I felt that although the Blues’ had a good transfer window overall, with the defence and midfield both considerably strengthened, another forward was ideally needed before the window shut.
The January window might well provide an opportunity to go back and add another striker and the club should be open to a move, although it’s a notoriously difficult window to get a good deal done for a player in that short time.