The Premier League returns this mid-week, with Liverpool playing their game in hand against West Ham United. A win for the Reds would open up a 19-point lead at the top of the Premier League table, while also adding to the woes that West Ham United have.
Match Preview
Liverpool lost their winning run over the weekend as they squandered a 2-0 lead to draw with Shrewsbury Town in the FA Cup. That would have been the last thing that Jurgen Klopp wanted, as a replay will now be played at Anfield to add another fixture to Liverpool’s upcoming list. Klopp decided to rest many of his top stars for that fixture, but he did throw on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah in the final 20 minutes.
Nobody can take away their excellent Premier League record, however, as they have only dropped two points so far this season. They are now fancied by many punters to end the season without a defeat. Their last outing in the Premier League showcased their title credentials as they worked hard to cement a 2-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers. Salah put the Reds ahead before the Wolves equalised in the second half. However, Liverpool took all three points from the West Midlands as Firmino scored in the dying moments. It should be more straightforward against the Hammers on Wednesday evening.
The Hammers have only won once since the arrival of David Moyes, and that means that they are just one place above the relegation places. There is a serious danger that the Hammers could end the weekend in the bottom three, and they definitely need to bring in some extra faces to help with their depleted squad. They haven’t won in their last five games, and have only managed to take one point from that run of fixtures.
Their downturn in form was highlighted in their recent FA Cup defeat against West Bromwich Albion. The Championship leaders were down to ten for the majority of the second half of that game, but the Hammers couldn’t muster up much in the way of threat in the attacking third. The players were booed off at the full-time whistle, and they will need to play much better to have any kind of chance against the team that have been so dominant in the Premier League this season.
Head to Head
The Reds hold the dominant advantage in the overall record between the two sides. They have registered 74 wins in this fixture, while the Hammers have only won on 28 occasions. There have also been 38 draws between the two sides. The Hammers, however, will take confidence that they managed to get a point from the last meeting between the sides in February last year. However, the Reds won the four previous meetings before that and scored an average of four goals per fixture.
West Ham United Team News
West Ham will be without a number of crucial first-team players for the fixture. Robert Snodgrass, Arthur Masuaku, Felipe Anderson and Lukasz Fabianski are all missing. Meanwhile, Andriy Yarmolenko, Ryan Fredericks and Jack Wilshere will also be missing.
Liverpool Team News
Sadio Mane will be the big concern for the Reds as he will be missing. Xherdan Shaqiri, James Milner and Nathaniel Clyne will also be absent.
Prediction
This could be a comfortable evening in the capital for the runaway leaders. Liverpool’s front three will cause no end of problems for the vulnerable West Ham backline, and they will get at least three goals in this fixture. Punters shouldn’t look past Liverpool keeping up with their average of scoring at least four goals in wins against the Hammers.
Prediction: West Ham United 0-4 Liverpool
