The international break is currently upon us, which means for West Ham fans, and fans of every other Premier League club for that matter, that there will be no action in the domestic league this weekend. However, the following weekend when the top flight returns, West Ham will not be an under-pressure side.
That’s because of who the Hammers will be up against. Despite the fact that West Ham’s six-game unbeaten run came to an end at home to Crystal Palace last weekend, Everton, who the Irons will be travelling to face, are undoubtedly the side under more scrutiny at the moment.
Marco Silva’s job could well be on the line in this one, and given that the last time West Ham travelled to Everton saw Andriy Yarmolenko run the show with two superb goals in a 3-1 away, a lot of people will be expecting yet another manager to take a bullet should the Irons win on the road.
The Daily Mail have run a story talking about Silva and his future, and whilst the Portuguese gaffer is set to stay in the role for at least that West Ham game, it’s no secret that David Moyes has been named as the favourite to get the job should the Toffees’ results not drastically improve.
With this in mind, when West Ham travel to Merseyside to take on the Goodison Park side, none of the pressure will be on them. Manuel Pellegrini’s side can go out and play with freedom, knowing that the media speculation will be firmly focused around their hosts, no matter the result.
This is by no means a free hit for the Hammers, but with the pressure well and truly on their opponents, getting all three points is certainly doable, especially if Pellegrini can get the best out of the likes of Felipe Anderson, Sebastien Haller and Yarmolenko.
