Here we go then, players are out onto the pitch.
West Ham hope this will be the start of a huge week at the London Stadium – need to get it off to a winning start before they turn their attentions to Lyon.
Bad news for the Toffees…
Donny van de Beek has picked up an injury in the warm-up and will play not part in this afternoon’s match.
Mason Holgate comes in to replace him – Everton really short of midfielders at the moment.
Dele on the bench
Really attacking lineup from Lampard but Dele still finds himself among the substitutes.
He’s been limited to cameo appearances since he made the move to Goodison Park, and is still to get off the mark in terms of goals for his new side.
Lampard: West Ham offer a big challenge
Frank Lampard returns to West Ham this afternoon, the club he grew up supporting. He’ll be hoping to come away with what would be a massive three points.
“It’s a big challenge because we all know what a great team David Moyes has built there,” Lampard said.
“Really strong team physically, very well organised team, lots of threats, difficult to break down and that absolutely shows in their league position, so it’s a tough match.
“I came through at West Ham as a young lad and grew up as a West Ham fan.
“It feels like a very long time ago but it never falls short on me that the people that influenced my career in terms of people like Harry Redknapp and Tony Carr, the youth team manager there was a huge influence on me.
“In those terms it’s an area where I grew up basically. There’s a lot to it (coming back to West Ham) for me. But also most importantly is what we get on the day.”
Moyes: Rice is not for sale
David Moyes says Declan Rice is worth a “minimum” £150million and claims West Ham will take inspiration from Tottenham’s stance on Harry Kane this summer.
Spurs chairman Daniel Levy stood his ground as Kane pushed to leave the north London club for Manchester City last summer, with the Premier League champions refusing to meet Tottenham’s own £150million valuation.
Manchester United and Chelsea are both interested in England midfielder Rice this summer, but Moyes insists the captain is not for sale and that with more than three years left on his deal, West Ham are in control.
Rice has never agitated for a move away from West Ham but rejected two contract offers earlier this season and is keen to test himself at the highest level of club football.
“The first thing to say is that he is not for sale,” Moyes said.
“If you are interested, well, it will be north of that because £100million was cheap last summer.
“£150million just now would be [the] minimum but he is not for sale. What I do know is that it means there are only certain clubs that could even consider it.”
Big news for West Ham is that Bowen returns and is straight back into the starting lineup. Hammers will be hoping he can pick up from where he left off.
Fredericks starts at right-back, with Coufal on the bench. No Johnson or Lanzini in the squad.
For Everton, it’s an attacking looking lineup. Calvert-Lewin is fit to start up front, with Richarlison, Gray and Iwobi behind. Van de Beek also starts, while Dele has to settle for a place on the bench once again.
Everton team news
Starting XI: Pickford, Kenny, Keane, Godfrey, Mykolenko, van de Beek, Doucoure, Iwobi, Richarlison, Gray, Calvert-Lewin
Subs: Begovic, Dele, Holgate, Price, Rondon, El Ghazi, Branthwaite, Gordon, Dobbin
West Ham team news
Starting XI: Fabianski; Fredericks, Dawson, Zouma, Cresswell; Soucek, Rice; Bowen, Benrahma, Fornals; Antonio
Subs: Areola, Alese, Diop, Coufal, Masuaku, Noble, Vlasic, Yarmolenko, Kral
Team news should be with us in about five minutes.
Will be interesting to see whether David Moyes goes full strength, or if there’s a temptation to have an eye on the Europa League this Thursday. Got to imagine it’ll be a strong side, West Ham will want to go into that match with confidence high.
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