Match Preview

Predicted: Everton delight as David Moyes goes strong with just four West Ham changes for Leicester

Add as preferred source on Google

Everton will be delighted as David Moyes goes strong with just four West Ham changes for the crucial game against Leicester.

West Ham will have a huge say in the Premier League fates of Everton and Leicester City in the final game of the season.

It is two from three to drop on the final day between Everton, Leicester and Leeds United.

The Hammers did both Everton and the Foxes a big favour last weekend with a 3-1 win over Leeds.

And Sunday sees West Ham go to Leicester where Everton will be hoping for more help from their former boss David Moyes.

The major worry for Everton was that West Ham seemed to have little but pride to play for as well as more than one eye on their huge Europa Conference League final against Fiorentina on June 7th.

AZ Alkmaar v West Ham United: Semi-Final Second Leg - UEFA Europa Conference League
Photo by NESimages/Geert van Erven/DeFodi Images via Getty Images

Predicted: Everton delight as David Moyes goes strong with just four West Ham changes for Leicester

But Chelsea’s 4-1 defeat at Man United on Thursday night has changed the landscape somewhat.

As a result West Ham now only need a three-goal swing to finish above their fierce rivals should they beat Leicester.

With Chelsea facing Newcastle – who will be gunning for victory to try and finish third in the table – the final day could also bring in an extra £4m for the Hammers as each Premier League position is worth around £2m in prize money.

So West Ham will be highly motivated to beat the Foxes and potentially jump to 12th above Chelsea and Wolves.

While Everton have their destiny in their own hands, the Toffees will have one eye on what kind of team Moyes puts out against the Foxes.

We predict Everton delight as Moyes goes strong with just four West Ham changes for Leicester.

Difficult balancing act for Moyes

The Scot faces a difficult balancing act between protecting key players for the Euro final and keeping them sharp with another 10 days until the big game.

So we think Moyes will go strong from the start and look to bring players off at various stages in the second half.

Number one Lukasz Fabianski will start in goal.

We think Thilo Kehrer may come in for Vladimir Coufal at right-back in change number one.

And either Ben Johnson or Aaron Cresswell will replace doubt Emerson at left-back in change number two.

Burnley v West Ham United - Premier League
Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Expect pre-planned early substitutions

The central defensive partnership is a big dilemma for Moyes. We think Nayef Aguerd will start having missed Leeds. But does he rest Kurt Zouma or pair them together for continuity?

We think Angelo Ogbonna and Aguerd will start with Kurt Zouma protected in change three.

Jarrod Bowen welcomed twins into the world this week and there has been some talk he could miss the game.

But he is one West Ham player who prefers to play to keep his fitness and sharpness. So we expect him to start.

We think the only other change could be Michail Antonio starting up front instead of Danny Ings.

Moyes knows Antonio needs to play to keep his own sharpness and maintain his recent high performance levels.

Antonio will be starting against Fiorentina as long as he is fit. But he can’t go over two weeks without much action. So we expect him to start with Ings coming on at half-time or just after.

Predicted West Ham starting XI to face Leicester:

Fabianski, Kehrer, Aguerd, Ogbonna, Johnson or Cresswell, Rice, Soucek, Paqueta, Fornals, Bowen, Antonio.

MORE WEST HAM NEWS

O2 will show West Ham Euro final against Fiorentina – tickets on sale soon.

Romano update could be damaging for West Ham over Rice but great news for Arsenal.

Moyes makes big statement on Scamacca’s West Ham future.