Analysis: Everton

Everton set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Idrissa Gueye and Morgan Schneiderlin operating as the two deep-lying central midfielders. Gylfi Sigurdsson played in the number 10 role, while Theo Walcott and Dominic Calvert-Lewin took up the wide attacking midfield positions behind lone striker Cenk Tosun.

The hosts attempted to build possession from the back and would look to drop Schneiderlin or Gueye between the centre-back and full-back on the side they were building. This allowed the full-back on that side to push further up and provide the width, allowing the wide attacker to push inside and provide an extra man in the central attacking areas.

They favoured attacking through the wide areas and, where possible, would use the full-backs to provide this width. There were regular switches of play, as they attempted to break their opponents down – sometimes through fast movement of the ball across two or three players, sometimes through one long diagonal pass. This exploitation of the wide areas was used to good effect for their single goal on the day, scored by Sigurdsson from a Jonjoe Kenny cross.

The introduction of Bernard for Schneiderlin just before half-time allowed the Toffees to maintain their attacking threat between the lines, but increased the involvement of goalscorer Sigurdsson in the build-up at an earlier stage.

Out of possession, the home side set up in a 4-4-2, with Sigurdsson joining Tosun on the top line while Calvert-Lewin and Walcott would drop in to form the second line. They would look to press West Ham but struggled to cope with the staggered positioning of their opponents’ midfield. They didn’t help themselves by sprinting to close the visitors down in central areas, though – this made it easy for the Hammers to play around them, and pull them out of the slots they then failed to cover.

Given the terrible start to the season made by West Ham, Marco Silva might have been expecting a more impressive display from his admittedly injury-hit squad at home. Everton were undeniably outplayed, however, and couldn’t match the clinical performance from Manuel Pellegrini’s men.