Everton host West Ham United in the Premier League on Monday evening, and David Moyes will look to take advantage after the beleaguered Irons sacked Graham Potter on Saturday.

It’s no secret that West Ham have endured a torrid start to the season, and in fact, have toiled ever since parting ways with Moyes at the end of the 2023/24 campaign.

The two sides sit at opposite ends of the Premier League scale right now, and while Everton are tenth, they find themselves with a glorious chance to return to the win column and put the frustrating Carabao Cup exit at Wolves behind them.

Moyes shuffled his pack for that midweek defeat, but by reinstating his side’s biggest stars, the Blues might just get the job done.

How Everton can beat West Ham

Everton have yet to taste defeat at their new home, and for that to change on Monday would be considered a big blow for a side looking to make headway after several years of imperilled fortunes.

But stranger things have happened, and West Ham will hope to use this transitional period to strike while expectations are low. However, with the likes of Jack Grealish and Iliman Ndiaye returning to the starting line-up, Everton should have enough to breach a wobbly defence.

The Londoners’ xG allowed total of 7.6 is next-to-last in the standings right now, marginally behind pointless Wolves. This effectively means they have been poor in defence, shipping many chances and lacking the authority and coherence to repel danger.

Grealish must be excited to test himself against such rusted Iron, and Ndiaye too. But West Ham have weapons of their own, and the home side’s backline must have their wits about them.

Everton have enjoyed, by their standards, a fine start to the season, habitually slow to get into gear. And all this without their star defender Jarrad Branthwaite, who is now ready to return to the field.

Branthwaite has not yet kicked a ball at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, but his form and fitness will yet shape the mood on the blue half of Merseyside over the coming months, and he will be crucial in silencing Hammers talisman Jarrod Bowen.

The return of Jarrad Branthwaite

Said to be “one of the best defenders” out there by journalist John Barlow, Branthwaite has settled comfortably into his standout role at Everton over the past few seasons.

And, for the second campaign in succession, he’s been absent throughout the early weeks. This proved detrimental for Sean Dyche’s system one year ago, but Moyes has staved off any threat of a relegation-battling term, having made some emphatic summer signings.

With the England star now fit again and in line to make his seasonal debut, the Blues might just shape into a force to be reckoned with, the backline reinforced and setting a rigid framework for the forwards ahead.

It might prove the missing piece of the puzzle to raise Everton’s game and rebuff a disorganised West Ham side.

Matches (starts)

35 (35)

30 (28)

Goals

3

0

Assists

0

1

Clean sheets

12

8

Touches*

52.2

51.9

Accurate passes*

31.4 (80%)

32.7 (83%)

Ball recoveries*

5.2

3.1

Tackles*

1.9

1.2

Interceptions*

1.4

0.9

Clearances*

4.5

6.3

Ground duels won*

2.5 (67%)

1.9 (69%)

Aerial duels won*

2.7 (68%)

2.1 (59%)

And it’s the forwards who are taking the plaudits in Everton’s team right now. The Toffees have been hard at work this summer, with Moyes adding Grealish and Tyler Dibling to pre-existing ranks boasting the fickle Beto and the deadly Ndiaye, who was the club’s top scorer last year with ten strikes across all competitions.

However, Bowen would love nothing more than to torment his former mentor on Monday night, and while West Ham have struggled this season, with two goals from three recent league matches, the Three Lions forward is one to watch.

Bowen scored three goals from his first six games against Everton, but has blanked across each of the past two top-flight terms. Curiously, those four fixtures coincide with Branthwaite’s return from PSV to Merseyside.

Previously said to be “unplayable” on his day by The Guardian’s Barney Ronay, the 28-year-old will certainly be up for the task. As per Sofascore, he has averaged five duels a game in the Premier League this season, also converting his only two big chances.

Bowen’s pace and tenacity on the ball serve him well, but Branthwaite would directly impede that facet of his game, one of the toughest tacklers in the Premier League.

As per FBref, he also ranks among the top 7% of central defenders across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for clearances per 90.

Moreover, Branthwaite has a cast-iron relationship with the stand-in skipper, James Tarkowski, on the field, and his return to fitness will only raise the 32-year-old’s game once more.

Perhaps the most exciting part is that Branthwaite is still only 23 years old and has much still to learn as he marries his physicality and athleticism with a more cultured take on the technical side of the game.

The development and modernisation of Moyes’ tactics will give rise to such growth, to be sure, and while Branthwaite is an “absolute monster” of a centre-half, as he has been declared by talent scout Jacek Kulig after winning back-to-back Young Player of the Year awards on Merseyside, there is still room for improvement.

But the fact that he has the skillset to negate the threat of a talisman such as Bowen at this stage of his career bodes well indeed. West Ham are in disarray, and Everton are not. A combination of fluent attacking play and steely defensive work should prove enough for Everton to withstand against the advances of their opponents and strike them down.