Ahead of his return to Goodison Park today, West Ham manager David Moyes has the luxury of a bolstered squad after some positive news over the international break.

The Hammers entertain Moyes’ former employers Everton at the London Stadium this afternoon as they bid to regain the form which saw them climb into the Champions League places earlier in the season.

With just two wins from their last six games across all competitions, they have lost momentum at the worst possible time of the season and will no doubt require a valiant effort against relegation battlers Everton, who will surely give all their might to try and secure a win.

There was some positive news for the Irons, though, as Moyes boosted fans’ hopes for the return of talisman Jarrod Bowen. The 25-year-old is West Ham’s top scorer this season and leads the way for assists, minutes per goal, successful dribbles per match and shots on target per match, whilst also functioning as their top creative outlet this season having created the most big chances with eight.

News on the injury status of Czech Republic international Vladimir Coufal was also revealed as Moyes addressed the pair’s chances of featuring against Everton, saying: “There’s a chance that both could make it. They both did a bit of training over the international break. I’m not quite sure both of them are match-fit and ready, that’s my only concern.”

This is how we believe the West Ham XI will look as they take on Frank Lampard’s Everton, with two changes in personnel from their most recent outing against Tottenham:

Areola; Johnson, Dawson, Zouma, Cresswell; Lanzini, Rice, Soucek; Fornals, Antonio, Benrahma

Our prediction sees Moyes give a rare Premier League start to Alphonse Areola in goal ahead of Lukasz Fabianski, a potentially big call that we have discussed in detail on Football FanCast.

We also predict that £43k-p/w full-back Arthur Masuaku will be axed, paying the price for his poor performance against Tottenham a fortnight ago, with the “fantastic” Pablo Fornals coming into a system which could see his creativity unleashed.

Perhaps the biggest change is the formation. Last time out against Antonio Conte’s Spurs, Moyes opted to match the Italian’s 3-4-2-1 system and go man-for-man, which resulted in a disappointing 3-1 loss.

The Hammers are no strangers to a 4-3-3 shape, which was used against Sevilla in the impressive Europa League win in March, and we think the Scot might revert to that today as West Ham seek a return to winning ways.

In other news – Moyes must unleash “incredible” £138k-p/w maverick today, West Ham need him