Arne Slot is under tremendous pressure at Liverpool going into the Premier League fixture against West Ham.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side play host to Liverpool at the London Stadium on Sunday and are on the back of some decent results.
They picked up a respectable point from a 2-2 draw against Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium and, before that, beat Burnley 3-2 in the Premier League.
Liverpool, on the other hand, lost 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest and before that lost to Manchester City by the same scoreline.
West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo on the touchline for the draw at Bournemouth
Photo by Alex Broadway/Getty Images
Sack pressure to ramp up on Arne Slot if West Ham beat Liverpool
After an incredible first season that saw Slot win the Premier League title, against all odds, the year after has been what many thought it would be right after Jurgen Klopp.
The team is struggling for cohesion, the players seem unaware of what their roles are, and Mo Salah appears to be anonymous, having carried the side for years.
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With 12 games played, Liverpool find themselves in 12th position and could end the weekend as low as 14th if they lose to West Ham United and results elsewhere do not go in their favour.
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Being in such a miserable position with one-third of the season over is not something their owners will be too happy about and three straight wins could be all it takes for them to part ways with Slot.
Chelsea FC v Liverpool FC - Premier League
Photo by Robin Jones/Getty Images
How can Nuno win the tactical battle against Slot?
What Nuno could do is move away from the back three he deployed against Bournemouth and play a back four against the Reds.
This would give him an extra body in midfield and also have orthodox full-backs rather than wing-backs.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka is a good one-on-one defender, so having him as close to his box against a fluid attack may be all it takes to nullify Liverpool’s attacking threat.
Nuno could also deploy a man marker on Florian Wirtz and completely take him out of the game, which a lot of teams have done in previous games.
Home advantage will also be key, and West Ham United need to make the most of it to spoil Liverpool’s trip to the capital.
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