West Ham United and Liverpool are set to face off in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon in a vital game for Reds head coach Arne Slot.
Liverpool are currently in the midst of a nightmarish run of form. In their last game, which took place in the Champions League, they were thumped 4-1 at home by Eredivisie outfit PSV. As such, they will be looking to bounce back against the Hammers – but they won’t make it easy for them.
West Ham, after a diabolical start to the 2025/26 campaign, are now benefitting from an uptick in results. They are unbeaten in their last three Premier League games, winning two and drawing the other under new boss Nuno Espirito Santos.
West Ham United injury news
West Ham will be without 3 of their senior team players for their game against Liverpool, while a further two are considered doubtful at this stage.
Lukasz Fabianski, Oliver Scarles and star man Lucas Paqueta will all miss out on the game against the Reds. In particular, Paqueta will be a huge miss – he has often led the line for the Hammers this season and has scored 3 goals in the Premier League this season.
Additionally, both Crysencio Summerville and Konstantinos Mavropanos are injury doubts – their status has yet to be confirmed by West Ham head coach Nuno Espirito Santo.
Liverpool injury news
Like West Ham, Liverpool also have three first team players who will not be available to play on Sunday. Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong have both been ruled out until mid-December at the earliest, while Giovanni Leoni is expected to miss out on the entire 2025/26 season with an ACL tear.
Meanwhile, the Reds also have three players who are facing late fitness tests. Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike and Alisson could all be fit to play, but this has yet to be made clear by Arne Slot. Ekitike, in particular, will be a huge miss if he is unable to play – he has been one of Liverpool’s best players in 2025/26.
Match prediction
This is a very difficult game to predict. Normally, we would give little thought to backing a Liverpool win, but their respective form makes things a lot more complicated.
West Ham will give Liverpool trouble in this one and will look to unsettle them, but without Lucas Paqueta, their attacking ranks look far more flat that they would usually. Jarrod Bowen and Callum Wilson have both been firing, but only sporadically.
Additionally, West Ham often struggle at home in their cavernous stadium with little atmosphere. They lack the same home advantage as other clubs due to the complete lack of a positive atmosphere at the Olympic Stadium. The fans don’t like it – and, where results are concerned, nor do the players.
As such, we’ll back Liverpool to fend off their opposition in this one, but only by a narrow margin. This game is an absolute must win for the Reds and Arne Slot – can they pull a rabbit out the hat when they need it the most?
Final prediction: West Ham United 0-1 Liverpool