Barclays Premier League
Everton v West Ham United
Goodison Park
Saturday 16 May
3pm
Referee: Phil Dowd
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• West Ham United travel to face David Moyes' Everton for their 19th and final away match of the 2008/09 Barclays Barclays Premier League season on Saturday afternoon.
• Gianfranco Zola's side sit in ninth place in the Barclays Premier League table, two points behind seventh-placed Fulham with two matches remaining. The Cottagers make the long trip to Newcastle on Saturday. A seventh-place finish will be good enough to qualify for next season's inaugural UEFA Europa League.
• FA Cup finalists Everton go into Saturday's match sixth in the table with 57 points from 36 matches.
• West Ham have won five (Fulham, Sunderland, Portsmouth, Wigan Athletic and Stoke City), drawn seven (Middlesbrough, Liverpool, Chelsea, Newcastle United, Arsenal, Blackburn Rovers and Aston Villa) and lost six (Manchester City, West Bromwich Albion, Hull City, Manchester United, Bolton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur) of their away matches this season.
• The Hammers go into Saturday's match having lost just two of their last 12 away matches in the Barclays Premier League. Since going down 2-0 at Manchester United on 29 October, West Ham have won at Sunderland, Portsmouth, Wigan and Stoke City, drawn at Middlesbrough, Liverpool, Chelsea, Newcastle, Arsenal, Blackburn and Aston Villa and only lost at Bolton and Tottenham.
• West Ham will hope to gain revenge for the 3-1 defeat by Everton at the Boleyn Ground on Saturday 8 November.
• This is the 108th league meeting between the two sides. West Ham have won 32, Everton have won 53 and there have been 22 draws.
Referee
• Saturday's referee is Phil Dowd.
• Dowd began refereeing in 1984 before graduating to the Staffordshire Senior League and Midland Football Alliance.
• Dowd joined the Football League list of assistant referees in 1992 before joining the list of referees in 1997.
• Dowd was promoted to the Barclays Premier League list of referees in 2001. This is his eighth season as a top-flight referee.
• Dowd was the fourth official at the 2006 FA Cup final between West Ham United and Liverpool at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.
• Dowd has been the man in charge of four West Ham matches so far this season, most notably the 3-1 home victory over Newcastle United on 20 September, Gianfranco Zola's first match as Hammers manager. Dowd was also the man in the middle for West Ham's home matches against Arsenal, Fulham and Manchester United.
• Dowd has taken charge of 27 Barclays Premier League matches this season, issuing five red cards and 85 yellow cards.
Last time out
Saturday 9 May 2009
Barclays Premier League
West Ham United 0-3 Liverpool
West Ham United: Green, Neill, Tomkins, Upson, Ilunga, Boa Morte (Payne 80), Noble, Kovac, Stanislas (Collison 59), Di Michele (Sears 70), Tristan
Subs not used: Lastuvka, Lopez, Savio, Spector
Booked: Boa Morte, Kovac, Di Michele
Saturday 9 May 2009
Barclays Barclays Premier League
Everton 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Everton: Howard, Neville, Yobo, Lescott, Baines, Gosling (Osman 69), Rodwell, Cahill, Pienaar, Fellaini, Jo (Saha 69)
Subs not used: Nash, Castillo, Vaughan, Jacobsen, Wallace
Booked: Lescott, Pienaar
West Ham United
• West Ham go into Saturday's match eager to return to winning ways after going down to a 3-0 home defeat by Liverpool at the Boleyn Ground on Saturday 9 May.
• The Hammers have won on just one of their last 12 visits to Everton. Since winning 1-0 on New Year's Day 1994, West Ham's only other success at Goodison Park came in the shape of a 2-1 victory on 14 December 2005. A Bobby Zamora strike and an own-goal from David Weir were enough to see the Hammers secure the three points.
• West Ham's biggest ever away win at Everton came on 10 April 1929, when a Vivian Gibbins hat-trick and an own-goal saw the Hammers run out 4-0 winners in front of a crowd of 10,000 at Goodison Park.
• Carlton Cole is West Ham's top scorer in the Barclays Premier League this season with nine goals. He has eleven in all competitions. Cole is hoping to be back for Saturday's game from a groin injury.
• Goalkeeper Robert Green is the only West Ham player to have played every minute of the club's 36 Barclays Premier League matches so far this season. Green has started and finished West Ham's last 86 Barclays Premier League fixtures, a run that began with the 1-0 home defeat by Watford on 10 February 2007.
• Cole has been sent-off twice, more than any other West Ham player, while Noble has been shown the yellow card on eight occasions.
• Cole has unleashed more shots in total (74), on target (45) and off target (29) than any other West Ham player this season. Cole also has more assists (five) than any of his team-mates, and been caught offside (28) and committed the most fouls (62).
• Mark Noble has made more crosses (35) than any other West Ham player.
• Upson has made more defensive clearances (58) and blocks (30) than any of his team-mates.
• Valon Behrami has won more free-kicks (70) than any other West Ham player this term.
James Tomkins made his West Ham United debut in this fixture last season, hitting the crossbar with a header in the fourth minute of the 1-1 draw on 22 March 2008.
Everton
• Everton have already qualified for next year's inaugural UEFA Europa League after reaching this season's FA Cup final. The Toffees will take on Chelsea at Wembley on Saturday 30 May.
• Everton have lost just one home match since 7 December, going down to a 2-1 Barclays Premier League defeat by Manchester City on 25 April. Since losing 3-2 to Aston Villa on 7 December, the Toffees have lost just one of the 12 matches they have played at Goodison Park in league and cup.
• Everton's biggest ever home win over West Ham came on 22 October 1927. The Toffees secured a 7-0 victory in front of a crowd of 10,000 at the Boleyn Ground.
• Everton will be looking to complete their fifth Barclays Premier League double of the season, having already beaten Bolton, West Brom, Stoke and Sunderland home and away in 2009/10.
• Everton have gone 28 consecutive Barclays Premier League matches since losing by more than a single goal, the longest such streak in the top-flight.
• Tim Cahill and Marouane Fellaini are Everton's joint top scorers in both the Barclays Premier League and all competitions. Cahill and Fellaini have both scored eight league goals and nine in total.
• Goalkeeper Tim Howard is the only Everton player to have started all 36 Barclays Premier League matches this season. Howard has kept 16 clean sheets this season, enough to rank him fourth among Barclays Premier League goalkeepers.
• Everton midfielder Leon Osman celebrates his 28th birthday on 17 May.
• Fellaini has been booked 13 times this season, while Cahill has received the only red card shown to an Everton player in the Barclays Premier League this season.
• Cahill has unleashed more total shots (50), more shots off target (23) and been caught offside (21) more times than any other Everton player in the Barclays Premier League this season.
• Leighton Baines has created more goals for his team-mates (7) than any other Everton player.
• Fellaini has had more shots on target (30) and committed more fouls (100) than any other Everton player.
• Mikel Arteta has unleashed more crosses (79) than any other Eveton player this season.
• At the back, Joleon Lescott has made more defensive clearances (36) than any of his team-mates, while Phil Jagielka has made the highest number of defensive blocks (24).
Team news
• West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola expects to welcome back England striker Carlton Cole to his squad as the 25-year-old has recovered from the groin injury he suffered during England's 4-0 friendly victory over Slovakia at Wembley on 28 March.
• Wales midfielder Jack Collison will be hoping to make his first Barclays Premier League start since dislocating his kneecap at Wigan on 4 March. The 21-year-old has appeared as a second-half substitute in each of the Hammers last two matches.
• Savio has also trained fully this week after last week's preparations were affected by illness.
• Zola has been given a major boost with the news that Wales defender Danny Gabbidon could return to full training next week. Gabbidon has not made a senior appearance since the 2-1 League Cup defeat by Everton at the Boleyn Ground on 12 December 2007. Like Dean Ashton, Gabbidon is targeting a pre-season return.
• England midfielder Scott Parker is working hard to recover from a groin injury but will not be available this weekend, while Wales defender James Collins is continuing his recovery from the calf injury he suffered at Aston Villa on 18 April.
• Zola will be without midfielder Valon Behrami. The Switzerland midfielder will be out of action for around six months after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury in his knee on 1 March 2009.
• England midfielder Kieron Dyer will likely miss this Saturday's match as he continues his recovery from a muscle strain. Dyer has been training on his own this week ahead of an expected return to full training next week.
• For Everton, England defender Phil Jagielka (anterior cruciate knee ligament), Spanish midfielder Arteta (cruciate knee ligament), strikers Yakubu (calf) and Victor Anichebe (knee) and goalkeeper Iain Turner (ankle) are all definitely out of Saturday's match.
• Portugal full-back Nuno Valente is a major doubt with the knee injury that has kept him out of action for the past five months.
• Right-back Tony Hibbert is also a concern with a lingering neck injury.
Last meeting
• The teams met at the Boleyn Ground on Saturday 8 November. West Ham took a 62nd-minute lead through Jack Collison's first goal for the club, only for Everton to score three times in the final eight minutes to steal all three points. Joleon Lescott equalised on 82 minutes before substitute Louis Saha added a late brace.
• The lineups were:
West Ham United: Green, Neill, Collins, Upson (Collison 18), Ilunga, Faubert, Parker (Di Michele 87), Bowyer, Sears, Bellamy, Boa Morte (Etherington 57)
Subs not used: Lastuvka, Lopez, Mullins, Reid
Goal: Collison 62
Everton: Howard, Neville, Yobo, Jagielka, Lescott, Arteta, Cahill, Rodwell (Vaughan 65), Osman, Saha (Hibbert 89), Anichebe (Baines 86)
Subs not used Nash, Castillo, Jutkiewicz, Gosling
Booked: Lescott
Goals: Lescott 82, Saha 84, 86
Attendance: 33,961
Old boys
• Among the other players who have represented both clubs are Niclas Alexandersson, Ray Atteveld, Slaven Bilic, Joe Blythe, David Burrows, Tony Cottee, Charlie Crossley, George Eccles, William Kelly, George Kitchen, Alex McCartney, John Russell, David Unsworth, William Wildman, Danny Williamson and Richard Wright.
Head to head
Last six meetings (Barclays Premier League unless stated)
8 November 2008 - West Ham United 1-3 Everton
22 March 2008 - Everton 1-1 West Ham United
15 December 2007 - West Ham United 0-2 Everton
League Cup, 12 December 2007 - West Ham United 1-2 Everton
21 April 2007 - West Ham United 1-0 Everton
3 December 2006 - Everton 2-0 West Ham United
Overall record v Everton (all competitions) W 36 D 24 L 59
Next up
• West Ham will play host to Middlesbrough on Sunday 24 May, with kick-off at 4pm.
• Everton will travel to Fulham on Sunday 24 May, with kick-off at 4pm
General information
• Standard tickets for this fixture are SOLD OUT. One wheelchair/ambulant ticket is still available, priced at £32 adult including carer.
• The weather forecast for Liverpool this Saturday is for drizzle with a maximum daytime temperature of 13C.