Image Credits: Imago Images
This Premier League meeting between West Ham and Liverpool comes at a time when both clubs are experiencing very different emotional trajectories.
Liverpool, champions less than six months ago, travel to London burdened by three consecutive defeats and a deeper decline that stretches beyond a brief dip in form.
A 4-1 loss to PSV in midweek only intensified concerns, not just because of the scoreline, but because it followed back-to-back 3-0 defeats to Manchester City and Nottingham Forest.
Nine defeats in 12 matches explain the sudden collapse in confidence. Arne Slot’s position has come under scrutiny.
Liverpool now sit 11 points off the Premier League summit, and their title defence has shifted from uncertain to highly improbable within a fortnight.
Slot will know that the need for a response is now urgent.
Speaking ahead of the game, the Dutchman said: “There is a lot of pressure if you work or play at a top club.
“Even more so if you start losing more games than this club or these players or this manager is used to.
“Then there is always pressure. But there was a lot of pressure last season as well for us to win the league.
“Now it’s a different kind of pressure because we have lost so many games.
“What it does to me… I can just do the same, but I don’t have to play.
“So, maybe my job is a little bit easier if it comes to this, because I think it’s hard for every player if you are in a bad run of results if you go down immediately after three minutes and then you play a good first half.
“Then 10 minutes after half-time again you concede.
“We get knock after knock after knock, which is hard but that’s why I keep saying, especially when it happens, we have to keep fighting.
“That’s what we’ve done so well last season and what this club is about for so many years.
“The minimum of what we, and I, expect is that we do this over 90 minutes, which is not always easy if you get knock after knock after knock.”
Liverpool have confirmed they will wear their white adidas away kit for Sunday’s trip to West Ham, paired with black shorts and black socks.
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