West Ham vs Liverpool – Preview, Lineups, Score Prediction

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Fixture: West Ham United vs Liverpool 
Competition: Premier League
Kick-off: 23rd November, 14:05 UK time

West Ham United will smell blood as they welcome a Liverpool side who are not bleeding, but haemorrhaging, this afternoon at the London Stadium.

The Hammers are unbeaten in November and have lifted themselves out of the Premier League’s relegation zone on goal difference, at the expense of Leeds United, the last side they lost to.

It is a far cry from October, where one commentator labelled them the worst team he had seen in the Premier League this season and West Ham star Aaron Wan-Bissaka has remarked upon the importance of sustaining momentum.

There has been an element of luck, goalkeeping errors they have benefitted from and a general sense of scrappiness to the goals they have scored, but it is exactly scrappy that is kryptonite to this Liverpool side.

Despite losing a two-goal advantage against Bournemouth to drop two points last week, West Ham had shown resolve in their previous two games against Burnley and Newcastle United to come back from a goal down to secure victories.

Nuno Espirito Santo can welcome Lucas Paqueta back into the side following his suspension against Bournemouth.

‘Always look on the bright side of life’ sang the PSV fans at full time after their 4-1 win at Anfield, but it feels like all the light has been snuffed out of a Liverpool fan’s life. The Reds are enduring relegation form, with nine defeats in 12 fixtures.

The statistics make for grim reading. The PSV loss was the joint-heaviest in the Champions League for Liverpool. The loss against Nottingham Forest four days earlier was the joint-heaviest at Anfield in the Premier League. Liverpool have lost three games in a row by a margin of three goals, for the first time since 1953/54.

Two of those came at Anfield, which has not occurred since 1907. The PSV result meant that Arne Slot’s side now have three three-goal home defeats since late October, which is more than Jurgen Klopp suffered in the entirety of his tenure, and the most since the 1929/30 season.

It was not this bad under even Graeme Souness, Roy Hodgson or Brendan Rodgers. There are problems aplenty, but no easy solutions forthcoming.

As Andrew Roberton’s post-match interview after Scotland qualified for the World Cup showed, the tragic passing of Diogo Jota is still weighing heavily on the players’ minds. If the squad are grieving, and it goes without saying that they should be given the space and time to grieve however long and in whatever way they need to. There is little Slot can do to alleviate their grief.

The lack of cover at centre-back means that Slot will have to stick with Ibrahima Konate until at least January, despite his poor form throughout the season. Liverpool relied on their full-backs to progress play under Klopp and regardless of the injuries to Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong, Trent Alexander-Arnold was always going to be a miss. Milos Kerkez’s strong angle bias, closed body while passing and the inability to disguise his passes has made him ineffective in the attacking sense, in stark contrast to Robertson.

Liverpool have lost each of their last five away league games against London sides, which is as many as in their previous 31, and West Ham by inflicting a sixth such defeat, could hasten the departure of Slot, which one former Premier League star now feels is inevitable.

Predicted Lineups

Recent Form (league)

West Ham United: DWWLL
Liverpool: LLWLL

Key Men

West Ham United

Alphonse Areola made smart saves against Bournemouth to help the Hammers to a point and a repeat of such a performance can help deflate an already dispirited Liverpool side quickly.

El Hadji Malick Diouf has three assists from left-back and might be instrumental in exploiting Liverpool’s weak right flank.

Callum Wilson has three goals in the last two games, and he might further joy against an off-colour Konate.

Liverpool

Dominik Szoboszlai has been Liverpool’s player of the season so far and the Hungarian will be instrumental if Liverpool are to turn their form around.

Federico Chiesa has probably been the only player other than Szoboszlai who can hold his head up high this season. The Italian is unlikely to start though, and will have to do a job off the bench.

Now there are major question marks over whether Mohamed Salah should be starting games, so poor has he been, and the Egyptian needs to step up here.

Match Prediction

Though this fixture has favoured Liverpool historically, now is the time, if any for the Hammers to throw out the history books.

They will be hugely encouraged by seeing a Liverpool team that are simply falling apart and with a manager in Slot who looks genuinely clueless about how to stop the rot.

Liverpool need a slice of luck and for several players to rapidly up their levels, but even when that has happened of late this season, the wins have not been sustained.

Two months ago, West Ham beating Liverpool at the London Stadium would have been considered to be hugely unlikely, but now it is the outcome many expect.

Inside Futbol Score Prediction

West Ham United 2-1 Liverpool

Where To Watch?

West Ham United vs Liverpool in the Premier League will be live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Ultra HDR for a 14:05 kick-off in the UK.

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