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Preview: Liverpool vs. West Ham United - prediction, team news, lineups

sportsmole.co.uk, 17 October 2022, 16:36
Liverpool will be aiming to build on their huge victory against Manchester City when they host West Ham United in the Premier League on Wednesday.

The visitors, meanwhile, were held 1-1 by Southampton on Sunday.

Match preview

Many questioned whether Liverpool's 7-1 drubbing of Rangers at Ibrox Stadium in the Champions League was a sign that the Reds were heading back towards top form, and they appear to have received their answers after Jurgen Klopp's side inflicted Man City's first defeat of the season at Anfield on Sunday.

Mohamed Salah - who scored the fastest hat-trick in Champions League history at Ibrox - performed a magical turn from Alisson Becker's long punt forwards to spin Joao Cancelo in behind, before delicately placing the ball over the onrushing Ederson and into the back of the net with 14 minutes of normal time remaining.

The Egypt winger had been denied by Man City's goalkeeper in a similar incident earlier in a frantic second half, which also saw the visitors have Phil Foden's goal chalked off due to a foul by Erling Haaland on Fabinho in the build-up.

Given the amount of effort Liverpool had to put into the match to claim all three points, it may not be the worst time for West Ham to play them only 72 hours later, although Klopp will be determined to ensure those performances levels do not end up being a one-off after a difficult start to the season.

The German has avoided a touchline ban for now despite being sent off after reacting angrily to Salah being denied a foul despite the match-winner clearly having his shirt pulled by Bernardo Silva, with the Football Association wanting to review the incident further before taking any action against the 55-year-old.

David Moyes, meanwhile, was left frustrated himself by West Ham's failure to take all three points away to Southampton on Sunday having dominated the majority of the encounter at St Mary's Stadium.

The Hammers had 25 shots in total alongside 61% possession and 14 corners, although they did trail their opponents for almost 45 minutes after Romain Perraud had broken the deadlock in the 20th minute, with Jarrod Bowen controversially obstructed by referee Peter Bankes in the build-up.

Declan Rice levelled the proceedings shortly after the hour mark with an excellent strike from outside of the area, but Said Benrahma and Gianluca Scamacca squandered decent opportunities to snatch all three points late in the match.

Moyes will fully expect a completely different match at Anfield on Wednesday, with his side likely to sit much deeper and surrender possession of the ball in most instances, but he will hope to catch the Reds cold after their emotionally draining experience against Man City on Sunday.

Liverpool Premier League form:

W

W

D

D

L

W

Liverpool form (all competitions):

W

D

W

L

W

W

West Ham United Premier League form:

D

L

L

W

W

D

West Ham United form (all competitions):

L

W

W

W

W

D

Team News

Liverpool suffered a major blow in the closing stages of their win against Man City, with Diogo Jota stretchered off during injury-time due to a calf injury. The early indications are that the 25-year-old may face a race against time to be fit for Portugal for next month's World Cup.

With Luis Diaz already out until the New Year with a knee issue, Darwin Nunez could be handed a start from the left flank alongside Roberto Firmino and Salah in attack.

Joel Matip, Arthur Melo, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain remain sidelined, but Klopp will hope to have Ibrahima Konate available once again after the France defender failed a late fitness test in the build-up to the weekend's action.

West Ham, meanwhile, were without a key defender of their own on Sunday as Kurt Zouma missed out on the trip to Southampton with a cold.

Ben Johnson and Thilo Kehrer deputised for Zouma and Craig Dawson, who suffered a dead leg against Anderlecht in the Europa League on Thursday, but the pair should return to provide much-needed experience at the heart of the visitors' defence.

Maxwel Cornet and Nayef Aguerd are still out with thigh and ankle issues respectively, while Michail Antonio may be considered in place of Scamacca in attack given his pace and power in transition.

Liverpool possible starting lineup:

Alisson; Gomez, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Fabinho, Thiago; Salah, Firmino, Nunez

West Ham United possible starting lineup:

Fabianski; Kehrer, Dawson, Zouma, Cresswell; Soucek, Rice; Bowen, Paqueta, Emerson; Antonio

We say: Liverpool 2-1 West Ham United

We expect West Ham to give the hosts a difficult game on Wednesday, especially after the exertion Jurgen Klopp's side put in to beat Man City at the weekend.

However, Liverpool look to have turned a corner in recent matches and, with the Anfield crowd roaring them on, they should get over the line in the end.

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