Who are Worse? Everton or West Ham?

Everton and West Ham meet on Wednesday, both looking to start a renaissance after sacking under-achieving managers. Another embarrassing defeat for Everton at Southampton on Sunday capped off a miserable week, in which they saw themselves concede five at home to Atalanta in the Europa League on Thursday. Whereas West Ham currently sit in the bottom three, having not won a league game since September.

A lack of goals has been a problem for both sides this season, with West Ham not scoring more than two in a league game this season, and Everton have only done so once this campaign themselves. The introduction of Javier Hernandez in the summer looked like it would solve that issue for the Hammers, who had put their faith in Michail Antonio in the last year, playing as an unorthodox centre forward. However, the Mexican has only managed four league goals this season as his side continue to struggle in front of goal.

Everton on the other hand, failed to replace their best player, Romelu Lukaku. The Belgian narrowly missed out on the golden boot last season, and earned himself a move to Manchester United, but he left behind a side that is terribly goal shy without his services. Their top goalscorer this season is currently Oumar Niasse, with five. A player who wasn't even wanted at the club this time last season. Wayne Rooney's return has hardly been a fairy-tale, and Sandro Ramirez was not an adequate replacement for someone who was sold for £75million.

It was difficult to understand why the Everton board thought that signing Rooney and Sandro were going to get 25 goals a season, when one has never played in the league and the other hasn't been at their best for four or five years. Buying a striker of top quality is harder than ever now, but you have to think that they could have done better with the money they spent. They didn't need to buy Sigurdsson, they could have gone for Batshuayi, in order to try and stop the effect of not having a prolific forward. They decided to try and sign a few players who can create opportunities, but if you don't have someone to finish the chances then there's no point.

Goals Scored in the League

Everton - 13

West Ham - 12

Defensively, both teams are also struggling, but Everton are the ones who seem worse in that department. Despite the introduction of Michael Keane and Jordan Pickford, they haven't managed to get out of their defensive woes that still haunt them from the Roberto Martinez days. The Spaniards tactical approach was much more offensive, rather than building a strong unit. Bringing in Ronald Koeman should have improved that with his defensive experience as a player and proving that he can maintain a strong defence at Southampton.

It is easy to say that he was trying to get more goals so he was pressing further forward, but the amount of goals they were conceding was ridiculous. Bringing in Sam Allardyce will spark a huge improvement defensively, and they should be able to have more control in games. People tend to dismiss his style of play due to it being less attractive, but he is extremely efficient in his methods, and they will get results. He won't come in and win his first three or four games but by January or February they will look much more comfortable in their play.

West Ham concede goals because it is so easy to find their weaknesses. They have virtually no pace in their defence. Jose Fonte is ridiculously slow. When at Southampton he was a good defender because he was in a system that worked for him, but in a back three it's harder to play the role if you lack pace. Your full backs push forward usually and that means you need to shift further to that side to cover space. If you're not playing as the sweeper in the back three then you may have to chase opponents down the flanks on a counter. When Fonte played at Southampton, he was in a back four where his duty was to watch centre forwards rather than inverted wingers. He could get into physical battles rather than a race. Even when West Ham play four in defence, they will likely play Zabaleta at right-back, and those two together will get out-paced every week.

Goals Conceded in the League:

West Ham - 26

Everton - 28

The Hammers seem to be in a downwards spiral with a lack of morale and cohesion. They have some talent in their squad, but they also have a lot of players who lack consistency, and also lack real class. When I look at their squad I see Joe Hart, a leader who, when on top form is one of the best shot stoppers in the league, but struggles to find that form enough. Then I see one of the most frustrating players around in Arnautovic, because it's obvious he is good. When he was at Stoke you could only pick out ten games at a maximum where he played really well, and at West Ham, I'm not sure I've seen him play well yet.

Their fans believe Lanzini is their one player with genuine class and part of me agrees. Just like the Austrian though, he doesn't do it enough. He's good at dead ball situations, and is possibly their only player to pick a good ball, but I don't think he's as good as what they think. When you have genuine class you influence games regularly. When they had Payet, every now and again he would do the odd thing that made you get off your seat. Coutinho is the same at Liverpool and the same as Eriksen at Spurs. They produce that bit of magic out of nowhere. Lanzini just doesn't do it enough and he needs to step up to be the clubs catalyst, because I feel like he could become a great player if he does it more often.

Who will win this huge game? Everton's players will go into the game looking to prove a point to their new manager, whilst David Moyes is still looking for a first win at West Ham. I'm not sure why they hired him because they needed someone who will motivate their players again, and Moyes is possibly the most uninspiring manager around. I do fear for West Ham because they really could be down there all season and I wouldn't actually be that surprised if they went down. I'd be shocked if Everton went down though, at the moment I would say they are the worst team in the league, maybe along with Newcastle, but with a bit of structure and experience from Allardyce, I feel like their fortunes will turn. This game could be full of goals though, unless Everton actually decide to defend.