Graham Potter is confident of turning things around at West Ham United despite leading the Hammers to a third Premier League defeat in four games against Newcastle United.

Potter watched on as Bruno Guimaraes' second-half strike sealed a confidence-boosting win for the Magpies, who face Liverpool in the EFL Cup final on Sunday. 

The Hammers are down in 16th ahead of facing Everton this weekend, with Potter winning just three of his nine games in charge of the club across all competitions. 

Though still in the infancy of his tenure with West Ham, Potter believes that the foundations are there to build something special at the London Stadium. 

"It ebbed and flowed a bit. We had a good start, and they came back into it. Then we had some good opportunities. There wasn't much in it," Potter said after Monday's defeat. 

"We didn't do enough to win the game, but we could have got something out of it.

"You have to look at what the situation was. We were conceding a lot of goals. We tried to stabilise things. Overall, the attitude and commitment was really strong. 

"We just need to carry on improving our attacking play. It's not easy to do it at mid-season, but I'm pretty confident we can turn it around."

Everton, meanwhile, continued their resurgence under David Moyes, though they were held to a 1-1 draw with relegation-threatened Wolves in their last Premier League match. 

The Toffees are now ahead of West Ham in the standings on goal difference, while also bridging a gap of 16 points between themselves and the relegation zone. 

But ahead of facing his former employers, Moyes said that his side were not safe just yet, suggesting his team need to continue their upward trajectory in order to fully confirm their top-flight status next season. 

"I think we're in a really good position," Moyes said. "When you think of when we started and where we were, I've just said to the players that maybe a couple of months ago they wouldn't have seen the game against Wolves. 

"So, I don't think we're safe yet because the numbers don't allow us to say that. But it will be getting harder for the teams below us to catch us. I think with the form we are in, we are capable of going and winning some more games.

"It's the challenge to our players to win. We're saying, 'Come on,' we don't want to be a club down the bottom of the league. We want to be a club challenging the better teams near the top."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Everton – Jack Harrison

Harrison scored his first Premier League goal in 36 games last time out and will be hopeful of continuing his form against one of his favoured opposition in the top-flight.

He has been involved in more Premier League goals against West Ham than he has against any other opponent (five – three goals, two assists).

West Ham – Mohammed Kudus

Kudus has been a shining light in a disappointing season for the Hammers, attempting more dribbles than any other player in the Premier League this campaign (142).

The Ghanaian has, however, been dispossessed more often than any other player this term (70), and he will need to be on top form to help his team get back to winning ways.

MATCH PREDICTION: EVERTON WIN

Everton are unbeaten in their last eight Premier League games (W4 D4), their longest since a run of nine between December 2016 and February 2017 under Ronald Koeman.

But the Toffees have failed to score more than once in any of their last 10 Premier League meetings with West Ham (six goals in total), with the reverse fixture in November finishing 0-0.

Everton have also drawn 12 Premier League games this season, more than any other side, including each of their last three in a row. The Toffees last drew four league games in succession in September 2022 and last drew more in a league campaign overall in 2015-16 (14).

Everton boss Moyes has, however, never won in seven Premier League meetings with Potter (D5 L2) – the Scotsman has only faced Pep Guardiola more without ever winning in the competition (13).

But West Ham's struggles under Potter this season have been in attack. They have failed to score in 37.5% of their Premier League games under the Englishman (3/8), compared to 20% under Julen Lopetegui (4/20).

However, all four of West Ham's away wins in the Premier League this season have been to nil – they've not won any of their last 12 on the road when conceding at least once (D4 L8) since a 2-1 win at Wolves in April 2024.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Everton – 46.4%

Draw – 26.8%

West Ham – 26.8%