Everton manager Ronald Koeman has rather unsubtly questioned why Romelu Lukaku would want to join Manchester United.
Manchester United are now fifth in the Premier League while they must come through three matches if they are to qualify for the Champions League via winning the Europa League.
"We need a good away performance because I still think there is a little difference in the way we play, like to press and how we like to make it hard for our opponents", Koeman told the club's website. We are showing that you can give good competition to the strong teams, the big teams, when they are not having a fantastic season.
"Ronald Koeman tried to persuade me to move to Everton".
Koeman's faith in Everton's young talent stands in stark contrast to his reputation at Southampton where, despite their own impressive record of youth development, academy products made only fleeting appearances during his two seasons in charge.
Romelu Lukaku has been linked with a move to United, but Koeman said Everton were now able to keep hold of their best players.
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- West Ham are without a win against Everton in their last nine Premier League home games (D3 L6) - with their last win coming in April 2007 thanks to a Bobby Zamora goal.
Of the five remaining games on the calendar, the Toffees play at Goodison twice and will be on the road for the other three games.
"I have been there as a player too".
West Ham, meanwhile, stay 13th and move on to 38 points as they edge closer to making mathematically sure of safety.
And they did not improve after the break, failing to register a shot on target, with Maarten Stekelenburg saving from Manuel Lanzini in one of the few moments Everton's goalkeeper was tested. A European slot is not realistic but it has already exceeded last year's total of 47 points and is well above its 11th place finish last year.
The Blues have played 16 away games so far this season, winning 4, drawing 5 and losing 7 for a total of 17 points, which is only 9th best in the League, compared to table toppers Chelsea who have 36 points away from Stamford Bridge.
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