Preview:Everton vs West Ham United - prediction, team news, lineups

Looking to recover from opening defeats in the Premier League Summer Series, Everton and West Ham United get Wednesday’s action underway at Soldier Field in Chicago.

Bournemouth vs. Manchester United will follow at the same venue, and those two sides beat Everton and West Ham, respectively, in the first round of fixtures on Saturday.

Match preview

After travelling to the United States on the back of some underwhelming results, especially drawing with Accrington Stanley and losing at Blackburn, Everton were beaten convincingly by Bournemouth at the weekend.

The 3-0 margin of defeat may have been slightly harsh given that Everton were the better team in the first half, but some woeful individual mistakes cost David Moyes’s men after the interval in a damaging scoreline just three weeks out from the new season.

Moyes has bemoaned the lack of arrivals at the club all summer, with Thierno Barry the only new additional outfield player from last season’s threadbare squad, which has lost further players since the end of the campaign.

A move for Adam Aznou is close to going through from Bayern Munich, but Malick Fofana has reportedly turned down a move to the club, still leaving Everton lacking in pace and creativity.

Moyes worked miracles with a modest squad last season, eventually guiding Everton to 13th, 23 points clear of the bottom three, after winning their final three matches, but vast investment is required if they are to kick on this season.

Man United await in their final game Stateside at the weekend after this clash with the Hammers, before Everton face Roma in their last match before going to Leeds United on the opening weekend.

This could be a more even affair compared to that heavy defeat at the weekend, as Everton and West Ham drew both of their Premier League encounters last season.

West Ham were also beaten at the weekend, losing 2-1 to Man United a few hours after Everton had taken to the MetLife Stadium against Bournemouth.

There were some positives for manager Graham Potter, who needs to utilise preseason after having minimal impact following his arrival at the London Stadium midway through last season.

The Hammers beat Grasshoppers 3-1 before flying out to the USA, and another win here would raise spirits greatly despite losing to the Red Devils last time out.

Movement on the transfer front has been minimal so far, so there is some discontent around that, but there is still two-and-a-half weeks until West Ham get their Premier League campaign underway against Sunderland.

Potter guided West Ham to two wins in their final three league games last season, so there is some optimism, but the fans will be aware that came after an eight-game winless run, leading to an unconvincing 14th-place finish.

Everton Club Friendlies form:

D L W L

West Ham United Club Friendlies form:

W L

Team News

Moyes’s criticism of the club’s lethargic transfer business was laid bare at the weekend, as a makeshift defence shipped three goals to Bournemouth, with Jarrad Branthwaite, James Tarkowski and Michael Keane all out injured.

Nathan Patterson and Vitalii Mykolenko were both forced to drop in and play as part of a three-man defence which did not work well in the second half, so Moyes has a dilemma on his hands if all three of those central defenders remain out.

Barry was given his first appearance in a blue shirt and looked lively in the final 15 minutes, but there was little the Frenchman could have done with his team 3-0 down, and looking very leggy due to the lack of substitutes available to Moyes.

Potter handed a West Ham debut to El Hadji Malick Diouf in the defeat to Man United at the weekend, and another could be in store for Kyle Walker-Peters on the opposite flank, after he joined on a free from Southampton last week.

Jarrod Bowen ended last season in spectacular form, scoring five and assisting three in his final six matches, and it was he who got their goal in the 2-1 defeat to Man United, so expect a lot to go through him in attack.

Mohammed Kudus has left the club for Tottenham Hotspur and Crysencio Summerville is out injured, so the Hammers are slightly weakened in wide areas, especially if Bowen is utilised as a central striker for this one.

Everton possible starting lineup:

Pickford; Patterson, O’Brien, Mykolenko, McNeil; Alcaraz, Iroegbunam, Garner, Gueye, Ndiaye; Barry

West Ham United possible starting lineup:

Areola; Todibo, Kilman, Mavropanos; Walker-Peters, Soucek, Rodriguez, Ward-Prowse, Diouf; Lucas Paqueta, Bowen

We say: Everton 0-2 West Ham United

With barely a squad to choose from, Moyes must be careful not to burn his Everton players out in challenging conditions, after seven players played 90 minutes on Saturday, and that is likely to see performance levels suffer, or see the manager forced into playing a number of youngsters.

West Ham have a much healthier squad available to them, and Potter can rotate here without compromising on quality, and that should make them slight favourites for the win.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.