Sunday May 13 (15:00), London Stadium
Two managers who could well be looking for another job this summer lock horns on Sunday as West Ham and Everton meet at the London Stadium.
Doubts remain over the ability of both David Moyes and Sam Allardyce to push their respective clubs on next season, with both likely to depart for pastures new in the weeks proceeding Sunday's end of season curtain call.
Three points here would be a nice way for either manager to bow out in a game that otherwise has little riding on its outcome. West Ham secured Premier League survival last weekend, while visitors Everton look unlikely to slip below eighth in the table.
With 2017-18 one to forget for both clubs, attention on the terraces, though, has already turned to the next step. Few, in truth, would expect Moyes and Allardyce to be in the same dugouts this time next season.
Team news
David Moyes could well be forced to make do with the same group of players that saw West Ham to a 0-0 draw with Manchester United on Thursday evening. Winston Reid, Pedro Obiang and Michail Antonio will all miss Sunday's match, with James Collins and Javier Hernandez both rated as doubtful.
That should mean that the ex-Everton manager perseveres with the 3-4-2-1 formation that has helped secure the Irons' Premier League future in recent weeks. Adrian looks set to take advantage of Joe Hart's poor form by keeping his place in goal, while Marko Arnautovic's move to the lone striking role has been one of the major success stories of Moyes' tenure.
Joao Mario and Manuel Lanzini will likely form a talented attacking midfield duo behind the Austrian international.
For visitors Everton, a significant doubt surrounds not just the future of Wayne Rooney, but also his participation this weekend at the London Stadium. The ex-Manchester United forward missed last Saturday's 1-1 draw with Southampton and missed training on Friday in the build-up to the clash at the London Stadium. At this stage, the rumoured move to DC United of MLS seems a distinct possibility.
Injury to Gylfi Sigurdsson has deprived manager Sam Allardyce of a like-for-like replacement, with the Icelander now rated as touch and go for this summer's World Cup. The pair's absence may mean another outing for Tom Davies as part of a three-man midfield.
Changes could well be few and far between elsewhere, although Theo Walcott may come back into the side in place of either Yannick Bolasie or Nikola Vlasic should he shake off injury in time to feature.
What they said
David Moyes: “We took the players away after the Burnley game. We were criticised for going away, but it was the best thing we did. It pulled the players together and we worked hard when we were away.
“The players had a good time together as well, we all did, and since we came back we have been bang at it.
“We’ve done ok against the big sides, especially at home. We didn’t play well against Manchester City a couple of weeks ago, but overall we’ve given the so called bigger teams a good game here.
“We want to climb the league table, we want to be higher, so if we can win against Everton, great. But obviously we’ve done the job we came in to do, which was make sure we weren’t relegated."
Sam Allardyce: “It’s a club I put back into the Premier League and had four good seasons there. David has come in this season and turned around a very difficult situation. They’re safe, and David will find out next week what happens with him next week when his contract finishes.
“We want to try and win and reach 52 points. That’s no mean achievement from where we started. I think recruitment is the start of the process to try and achieve a top six challenge.
The next level of recruitment has to be quality players. There’s an area we need to improve and that's goals.
"We would still need another goalscorer who gets 15 or more goals in the Premier League next year. The goal tally has to be at a certain amount to achieve sixth. You need at least two players to be hitting that mark and your wide players to score around seven or eight too."
Expected starting lineups
West Ham: Adrian; Rice, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Zabaleta, Noble, Kouyaté, Joao Mario, Masuaku; Lanzini, Arnautovic
Everton: Pickford; Coleman, Jagielka, Keane, Baines; Gueye, Schneiderlin, Davies; Bolasie, Vlasic, Tosun
Prediction
Given how little is riding on this game for both sides, the worry here is that Sunday becomes a damp squib in keeping with traditional end of season fare.
Both Allardyce and Moyes, though, will want to go out on a high as they bid to either keep their jobs or secure their next move.
The hosts will no doubt look to isolate Marko Arnautovic against the shaky Michael Keane, while Manuel Lanzini's dribbling from midfield could also be a considerable weapon against the Everton backline.
In Cenk Tosun, though, the visitors have someone capable of finishing clinically should chances present themselves, and so some form of stalemate appears the likeliest outcome at the London Stadium.
West Ham 1-1 Everton
