Jordan Pickford has defended under fire Michail Antonio and absolutely raved about three other West Ham stars ahead of the Everton clash.
West Ham’s fine start to the season has hit a bump in the road this week with defeats to Aston Villa and Olympiacos.
So there is a fair amount of pressure on the Hammers and David Moyes when Everton come to the London Stadium for the Sunday lunchtime game live on TV.
Everton have improved after a difficult start and any Sean Dyche side is usually hard to beat.
But on paper West Ham – if they have serious ambitions of competing for the European spots – should be beating the likes of the Toffees at home.
Jordan Pickford defends under fire Michail Antonio and absolutely raves about three other West Ham stars ahead of Everton clash
Many fans have been calling for the likes of Michail Antonio and Nayef Aguerd to be dropped after poor performances.
Antonio has not scored since the win at Brighton back in August. Yet Moyes continues to persist with the Jamaican up front.
It remains to be seen whether Antonio starts against the Toffees.
But with questions raised over his place in the first XI, the West Ham striker has found an unlikely ally in Everton’s star player.
Jordan Pickford has defended under fire Antonio and absolutely raved about three other West Ham stars ahead of the Everton clash.
Speaking in a Q&A with Everton’s official website, Pickford has discussed what kind of test he expects from West Ham.
And he has singled out Antonio, James Ward-Prowse, Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta for praise.
‘They’re a good side with some quality players’
“I don’t think so (West Ham’s European defeat will give Everton and advantage),” England’s number one said.
“They made some changes midweek for that game and we expect a different team to come out at the weekend.
“We’ve got to be ready for that. We know they’re a good side with some quality players who work hard on and off the ball. For us, we just have to be ready to execute our game plan.
“They’ve got players like Antonio. He’s powerful, will run down the channel, he’ll hold the ball up well. Prowsey (Ward-Prowse), who has top class delivery. Jarrod is in good form at the moment. Paqueta who gets that free role and is a good player. But it’s about us as well, not worrying too much about them. It’s about us doing our job properly and getting the result.
“He (Ward-Prowse) works hard on his set pieces. When you execute it, all that hard work on the training pitch pays off. You’ve got to take your hat off to him for that but come Sunday hopefully he’s very quiet.”
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