David Moyes nails Michail Antonio decision as West Ham United XI confirmed v Everton

During the 4-2 victory over Brentford on February 26, the Jamaican international was benched and replaced late by Lucas Paqueta. The 33-year-old was replaced in the starting lineup by the Brazilian international, who was making his comeback to the team after missing seven weeks due to a calf injury.

The Hammers manager has selected the same lineup for their matchup with the Toffees as they used to defeat the Bees at London Stadium. Alphonse Areola will start in goal for the Irons, while Vladimir Coufal, Kurt Zouma, Konstantinos Mavropanos, and Emerson will make up the back four. The Irons announced this information via their official Twitter account before to kickoff.

Tomas Soucek and James Ward-Prowse will start in midfield alongside Edson Alvarez, while Mohammed Kudus, Paqueta, and Jarrod Bowen will start in the attacking positions. As a result, Antonio will have to start from the bench once more after playing poorly against Forest in his injury comeback, where his team lost 2-0. Despite missing several months due to injury, the forward’s performance this season has been somewhat lackluster, with only two goals in 16 appearances.

He only made 76 touches of the ball in his 76 minutes on the field at the City Ground, and the three dribbles he tried during the afternoon were unsuccessful [SofaScore]. The Jamaican did nothing to help his team move up the pitch, winning just three of his thirteen ground duels and failing to muster any shots on goal.

With Paqueta in the lineup to balance out the dangers provided by Kudus and Bowen—who scored a hattrick during the match—the Hammers were considerably more fluid moving forward against Brentford. Although Moyes has received some flak for his team’s recent performances, he made the right choice by starting Antonio later in the game and sticking with a winning squad at Goodison Park.

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