TEAM NEWSLeighton Baines and James McCarthy will not be available for Sunday's game against West Ham United.
Ronald Koeman held his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon and confirmed he would again be without the duo for the 1.30pm clash at Goodison Park.
Left-back Baines has missed the last five games with a hamstring problem and midfielder McCarthy has since sustained a similar injury.
"Baines is out and McCarthy is out," answered Koeman when asked about his team selection ahead of the weekend. "[James has] a slight hamstring problem that came after he played for Ireland."
FORMEverton are looking to bounce back from the last-gasp 2-1 defeat at Burnley last weekend.
The Blues, however, remain just five points off top spot in the league table and boast the second best defensive record in the top flight.
Romelu Lukaku has netted in his last eight appearances against West Ham for Everton, making himself the only player to do this for the Blues against any side. Dixie Dean scored in eight successive appearances against Bury from 1926 to 1933, but missed two games during that sequence.
The Belgian has scored nine goals in his last eight games for club and country.
West Ham, meanwhile, have enjoyed an upturn in form after a slow start to the season, winning their last three matches in all competitions.
After two 1-0 wins over Crystal Palace and Sunderland respectively, Slaven Bilic’s side progressed to the EFL Cup quarter-finals with a 2-1 triumph over Chelsea on Wednesday.
CLASSIC MEETING: Everton 6-0 West Ham, 8 May 1999
Kevin Campbell netted a memorable hat-trick to secure a thumping victory over the Hammers in the penultimate game of the 1998/99 season.
Super Kev opened the scoring on 14 minutes before Michael Ball’s penalty and Don Hutchison’s 20-yard drive put the hosts in a commanding position at the interval.
Campbell then netted twice more in the second half to seal his treble and Francis Jeffers got in on the act late on to complete the rout.
After a testing campaign, the victory at Goodison secured Everton’s top-flight status.
ONE TO WATCH: MANUEL LANZINI
After a stunning maiden season in the Premier League and a productive Euro 2016, Dmitri Payet has continued his fine form for West Ham this term campaign.
But as well as the 29-year-old Frenchman, fellow creative midfielder Manuel Lanzini has also been influential for the Hammers.
Lanzini netted against the Blues in the 1-1 draw at Upton Park last term - and Dave Evans, West Ham correspondent for the Recorder Newspapers, believes the diminutive Argentinian forward has become even more influential since sealing a permanent move from Al Jazira in the summer.
As part of an interview in Sunday’s matchday programme, he said: “Lanzini is very important, and he plays so well with Payet. If one of them is tightly marked, that usually gives space to the other in midfield and that has enabled them to cause all sorts of problems to defences. It’s something opposing teams will have to keep an eye on.”
MAN IN THE MIDDLE: ANTHONY TAYLOR
The Cheshire-based official will be taking charge of his first Everton match of the season - the last time he took charge of a game involving the Blues was last season’s 3-0 defeat at Sunderland.
In all competitions, Taylor has officiated 11 games so far in 2016/17, with his most recent Premier League outing being the goaless draw between Liverpool and Manchester United at Anfield.
In those matches, he has flashed 33 yellow cards - but has yet to issue a red card this campaign.
LIVE COVERAGE! As always, there will be free live audio commentary of Saturday’s contest here on evertonfc.com.
Click here to listen to broadcast duo Ian Snodin and Darren Griffiths’s coverage of the action on matchday.
Get involved in the broadcast on Saturday by tweeting in your shout-out requests using #EFCLive.
In addition to our live commentary, look out for the brand new live blog which will bring you updates, imagery, video and team news from Goodison. Head to the match centre, the official App or the evertonfc.com homepage on matchday to find it.
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