West Ham vs Everton LIVE: Premier League result, final score and reaction as Jarrod Bowen wins it for Hammers

Where are the goals coming from today?

The Hammers’ top scorers are Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio, both with eight strikes in the Premier League this term.

Support attackers Pablo Fornals and Said Benrahma have half a dozen apiece, too - so while they have no single reliable source of goals, they do share them around that front line well enough. West Ham have scored only five goals in their last five games across all competitions.

Everton are worse - they’ve netted just three in the last five, while conceding ten in that time.

Demarai Gray is their top scorer in league terms, with five, while Richarlison has four and three players have three. Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s long spell on the sidelines injured has clearly been a big factor here.

So let’s take a look at what the two sides are fighting for today.

The Hammers have been in contention for European spots all season long but a recent drop-off in form has left them down in eighth and they really need to rediscover consistency if they want a Europa spot for next term. Victory today would bump them up to sixth, above Wolves and Manchester United. A two-goal margin of victory or better would also see them leapfrog Spurs into fifth on goal difference, but of course Antonio Conte’s side could regain that position when they play Newcastle later today.

As for Everton, it’s all about avoiding relegation for them this season.

They have a three-point buffer down to Watford as it stands, but have also played three games fewer. Leeds, in 16th, are five points ahead of the Toffees so they won’t be changing league positions today - their only target now is really to make sure they don’t change leagues over the summer.

Just 11 games to play, and only three points in it - Everton are in their biggest relegation fight in almost 20 years and far from certain to avoid the fate the fans cannot abide the thought of.

An awful lot might be riding on the late three points picked up against Newcastle in their last Premier League outing, but even the optimism earned there has since been wiped out by a dismal FA Cup hammering to Crystal Palace. The big factor in the Toffees’ favour right now, aside from being the team just the right side of the relegation zone, is the fact they have two games in hand.

Frank Lampard was officially appointed on transfer deadline day at the end of January; since then it has been fewer than one point per game earned. Applying his current rate to the rest of the season would see the Toffees total 34, a very low tally which would have been enough to avoid the drop last term, but go down in five of the prior six.

The numbers suggest Everton are actually getting worse - so can the manager turn it around in a pivotal week? Here’s a look at the data behind Lampard’s start and the key areas the Toffees need to improve in, fast.

Everton manager Frank Lampard does not believe Richarlison has struggled with the burden of being the team’s senior striker this season.

Injury has restricted England international Dominic Calvert-Lewin to just 11 appearances and in his absence the Brazilian, who has played most of his career out wide, has had to be the nominal centre-forward.

A paltry return of just five goals (four in the league) in 23 matches means Richarlison is only third behind summer signings Andros Townsend – whose season has been ended by a knee injury – and Demarai Gray.

The 24-year-old has scored only one Premier League goal since early December but Lampard, who saw the Brazil international score in his first match in charge after taking over from Rafael Benitez, does not think the responsibility has weighed heavy on the player.

“I think the burden of wanting to score goals is a natural one for a goalscorer. I see a hungry player who shows that in his performance a lot,” he said ahead of Sunday’s trip to West Ham.

“It’s the the way I’d want it, I was a similar player myself. I don’t think it is a burden in terms of negative sense.

“It is good burden and when we get a better output from the top end of the pitch we will see results.”

More from Lampard:

Here we go then - looks like both sides opt for 4-2-3-1 with the Hammers having their preferred central midfield combo and Bowen overcoming his fitness issues.

Frank Lampard has gone for on-loan Donny van de Beek in the centre of the park, with Ukrainian left-back Vitaliy Mykolenko in the side too.

WHU: Fabianski, Fredericks, Dawson, Zouma, Cresswell, Rice, Soucek, Fornals, Benrahma, Bowen, Antonio

EVE: Pickford, Kenny, Godfrey, Keane, Mykolenko, Doucoure, Van de Beek, Gray, Iwobi, Richarlison, Calvert-Lewin

Just a few minutes now until the line-ups are confirmed for today’s early game.

Ahead of today, both teams had concerns over a handful of players.

Vladimir Coufal and Jarrod Bowen are facing late fitness tests while Angelo Ogbonna remains ruled out. Manuel Lanzini is set to be available despite being involved in a car crash earlier this week.

Yerry Mina, Allan, Fabian Delph, Tom Davies and Andros Townsend are all ruled out for Everton. Donny van de Beek is a doubt due to illness.

West Ham United host Everton in the Premier League this afternoon.

David Moyes’s side have lost ground in the top-four race and entered the weekend four points adrift of Arsenal, who also have two games in hands.

The drop-off has perhaps partly been down to the Hammers’ exploits in Europe, with a heroic comeback against Seville ensuring the club’s place in the Europa League quarter-finals, where they will now face Lyon.

For Everton, there is far less to celebrate. Frank Lampard’s side are in genuine danger of the drop, having lost four of their last five games, even if victory over Newcastle prior to the international break did help to alleviate some of the gloom.

Despite that result, though, the Toffees were still only three points clear of the relegation zone heading into the weekend.

Here is everything you need to know:

Everton manager Frank Lampard has called for his players to develop better resilience to improve the worst away record in England’s top four divisions.

Just six points from a possible 39 on the road is the poorest return from the 92 clubs comprising the Premier League and EFL.

In fact, dropping all the way down to National League North and South, only one side – National League Dover – have performed worse away from home.

Lampard blames a poor reaction to adversity for such an appalling statistic, but with his side sitting just one place above the relegation zone he knows they cannot just rely on results at Goodison Park to make them safe.

“Mentality is a word which gets thrown around a lot but there is so much which goes into it,” said the Toffees boss ahead of the trip to West Ham.

“Our job as coaches is to find little nuggets within that, whether it is individual or collective, to make sure the players believe in themselves and have confidence because in the Premier League you will take hits.

“When we’ve had them away from home we haven’t recovered from them and that is something we just have to improve.”

Read all of the manager’s thoughts on his team’s poor away form:

Veteran goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski will be handed a new one-year deal at West Ham.

The former Poland international turns 37 this month but is playing as well as ever as the Hammers chase another top-six finish.

Fabianski’s form has been so impressive that he has restricted on-loan France keeper Alphonse Areola to appearances in the cup competitions.

“He has been really good,” said Hammers boss David Moyes. “I actually think he has been pushed by Alphonse, who has done really well for us in European games and cup games as well.

“I think maybe the age Lukasz is at we have tried to spare him, and I have to say I think Lukasz, touch wood, has been very, very good in the league and performed consistently well.”

Full report:

Welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of West Ham vs Everton as both teams find themselves in desperate need of points in battles at opposite ends of the table.

Everton’s proud record of being Premier League ever-presents is in genuine jeopardy as they lie 17th, just three points above the drop zone. Frank Lampard hasn’t yet had the desired impact since coming in as manager, although victory over Newcastle just before the international break was a huge result that they hope will spark a run of form.

Meanwhile, West Ham are gunning for European football although, paradoxically, their exploits in this season’s Europa League appear to be harming their chances.

The Hammers brilliantly beat Sevilla to reach the Europa League quarter-finals but they have slipped down the Premier League table in the race for the top four, with Arsenal surging away. Three points at home to a team battling relegation is a must for David Moyes’s men if they want to keep their quest on track.