‘Written all over it’ – Chris Sutton delivers brutal Lopetegui verdict, predicts West Ham score v Everton

West Ham United slumped to a disappointing 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest last weekend. 

The Hammers produced an awful display at the City Ground and deservedly lost by a big margin. 

The result has piled huge pressure on manager Julen Lopetegui who now looks to be on the brink of getting sacked. 

The Spanish boss received heavy backing from the West Ham board in the summer transfer market but he has completely failed to deliver results on the pitch so far. 

Time is running out for Lopetegui who now must guide his side to victory in their next home match against Everton on Saturday. Failure to secure maximum points from the London Stadium encounter may result in the 58-year-old’s dismissal. 

Football pundit Chris Sutton is also far from convinced with the former Real Madrid boss as he claims the Hammers don’t have an identity under him. 

However, the former Celtic star is backing them to secure a 2-2 draw on Saturday as Everton also haven’t been very convincing with their performances this season.     

Writing in his column for BBC Sport, Sutton said: “West Ham are in trouble. As I said on the Monday Night Club, they don’t really have an identity under Julen Lopetegui.

“He has always been a pragmatic manager in my eyes but they want to be a more expansive side and he is stuck somewhere in between at the moment.

“There is a lot of uncertainty around them at present, and I am certainly not convinced by them at home. They beat Manchester United there a couple of weeks ago, but they were lucky to win that one.

“While the Hammers are still above Everton in the table, the Toffees’ had been in better form, but then they lost at struggling Southampton last week which is a disappointing defeat whichever way you look at it.

“The only team Everton have beaten away this season is Ipswich, so I would not feel confident backing them to bounce back with a win here.

“I don’t want to pick another draw, but this has got one written all over it”.

David Moyes was hugely successful during his stint at West Ham as he led them to the Europa Conference League trophy.   

However, many fans were unhappy with his defensive brand of football and that ultimately led to his departure last summer. 

The Irons brought in Julen Lopetegui as his replacement, but the Spaniard has neither implemented an exciting brand of football nor delivered good results so far. 

The East Londoners are currently 14th in the Premier League standings after 10 matches, with just six points above the relegation zone.