Still plenty of positives but Blues need forwards back

Ian Kennedy, BBC Radio Merseyside

It's probably worth putting Everton’s defeat by West Ham into some sort of context.

Clearly it wasn’t their best performance of the season, but take two of the best players out of any team - especially forward players - for any length of time, and sooner or later it’ll catch up with you.

Everton have been without both Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin for over a month. In that time they’ve beaten Norwich and got a decent point at Manchester United, but Sunday's game perhaps underlined the need to get them back as quickly as possible.

It’s also worth noting that had Everton won the game, they’d have joined Manchester City on 17 points and recorded their best start to a season since 1978-79. There’s still plenty to be positive about.

The visitors dominated possession early on and it took a while for Everton to get going. They had their moments, and the match remained in the balance until Angelo Ogbonna headed in the only goal. That said, West Ham keeper Lukasz Fabianski wasn’t troubled often enough.

The Hammers showed determination to bounce back from losing to Brentford, and that’s what Everton must do now. Next up is Watford, who they will expect to beat with home advantage.

Whether Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin will be back remains to be seen - the Brazilian appears to have the better chance. Rafa Benitez will certainly hope his attacking options have increased by the time Claudio Ranieri’s side arrive at Goodison.