Seeking to strengthen their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League, Liverpool welcome relegation-threatened West Ham United to Anfield for a Premier League clash on Saturday afternoon.
The Hammers will be out for revenge against the Reds after suffering a 2-0 defeat in the reverse fixture at the London Stadium three months ago.
Match preview
Liverpool’s Premier League matches have seen more goals scored in the 90th minute or later than any other team this season (13 - seven for, six against). Nine of those goals have changed the outcome of the game, with the Reds scoring three winning goals (D2 L4).
The latest of those dramatic victories came last weekend when Alexis Mac Allister netted in the 97th minute to snatch a 1-0 victory for Arne Slot’s side away against Nottingham Forest. The Argentine had seen a goal ruled out by VAR just minutes earlier in a contest the hosts had dominated for large spells.
This time last year, Liverpool were sitting 12 points clear at the top of the Premier League with 66 points before going on to win the title. Now, the Champions League-chasing Reds are a whopping 21 points worse off and are down in sixth place in the table after 27 games, level on points with Chelsea in fifth and just three points behind Man United in fourth spot.
Liverpool have won their last two Premier League matches by a 1-0 scoreline (beating Forest and Sunderland) and they head into Saturday’s clash with West Ham looking to claim a third successive victory without conceding for the first time since Slot’s first three matches in charge of the club last season.
The Merseysiders will back themselves to pick up maximum points, as they have lost just one of their last 19 top-flight meetings with the Hammers (W15 D3), winning seven of the last eight since a 3-2 away defeat in November 2021.
© Imago / IMAGO / Action Plus
West Ham’s 14-year stay in the Premier League remains under threat, but 11 points accumulated from their last six matches (W3 D2 L1) - as many as they had collected from their previous 18 league games (W2 D5 L11) - has given them a fighting chance of survival.
Five of those points have been picked up in February, with a 2-0 victory at Burnley followed by back-to-back draws with Man United (1-1) and Bournemouth (0-0). Sharing the spoils with the latter last weekend leaves the Hammers 18th in the Premier League table and two points adrift of safety.
A fast start against Saturday’s opponents Liverpool could be key if West Ham wish to pull off an upset, as 59% of their Premier League goals this season have been scored in the first half, the highest share in the division (19/32). In contrast, Liverpool have netted the lowest share of their goals in the opening 45 minutes of games this term (31% - 13/42).
However, success at Anfield has been hard to come by for the Hammers, who have prevailed in only one of their last 52 Premier League away encounters with Liverpool (D12 L39), beating them 3-0 in August 2015 under former boss Slaven Bilic.
West Ham have also lost 26 of their 29 away matches against the previous season’s Premier League champions (W1 D2) - their only victory coming at Man United in December 2001 - while head coach Nuno Espirito Santo has lost more PL games against Liverpool than any other opponent (eight), so history is against the Hammers this weekend.
Liverpool Premier League form:
D
L
W
L
W
W
Liverpool form (all competitions):
W
W
L
W
W
W
West Ham United Premier League form:
W
W
L
W
D
D
West Ham United form (all competitions):
W
L
W
D
W
D
Team News
© Imago / Pro Sports Images
Liverpool are still having to cope without injured quartet Alexander Isak (leg), Conor Bradley, Giovanni Leoni (both knee) and Wataru Endo (ankle), but Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong could be ready to return from respective back and hamstring problems.
Wirtz pulled out of the Reds XI before kickoff against Forest, but his issue is not thought to be serious and could therefore return to start in his favoured No.10 role. Whether Frimpong is ready to start remains to be seen, though, so Dominik Szoboszlai could once again be tasked with filling in at right-back.
Out-of-form Cody Gakpo is in danger of losing his starting spot to 17-year-old starlet Rio Ngumoha or Federico Chiesa, while Mohamed Salah and Hugo Ekitike are likely to continue in attack – Salah has not scored in his last nine PL games, though, while Ekitike has blanked in seven of his last eight top-flight appearances.
As for West Ham, Freddie Potts will serve the second of a three-match suspension, while January signing Pablo Felipe (calf) and backup goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski (back) remain out through injury.
Nuno may consider switching to a back five, with Jean-Clair Todibo potentially recalled to play alongside Konstantinos Mavropanos and Axel Disasi at centre-back as Aaron Wan-Bissaka and El Hadji Malick Diouf operate as wing-backs.
Mateus Fernandes, Tomas Soucek and Soungoutou Magassa will all battle for starts in midfield, while Crysencio Summerville and captain Jarrod Bowen are expected to provide support in attack for new recruit Valentin Castellanos, who scored his first PL goal in West Ham’s last away match against Burnley.
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Alisson; Szoboszlai, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Mac Allister, Gravenberch; Salah, Wirtz, Gakpo; Ekitike
West Ham United possible starting lineup:
Hermansen; Todibo, Mavropanos, Disasi; Wan-Bissaka, Fernandes, Magassa, Diouf; Bowen, Summerville; Castellanos
We say: Liverpool 2-1 West Ham United
West Ham have looked a much stronger outfit since the turn of the year and Nuno’s side have the credentials to frustrate Liverpool in what could prove to be a tighter contest than many expect.
Liverpool’s Premier League home form has been mixed (W4 D3 L3), but they should still be regarded as favourites given their historical dominance in this fixture. If some of their key attackers can rediscover their form here, you would expect Slot’s men to get the job done.
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