Preview: Liverpool vs West Ham United – prediction, team news, line-ups

High-flying Liverpool will be looking to maintain their near-impeccable Premier League start when they lock horns with West Ham United at Anfield on Sunday.

Jurgen Klopp had a sense of deja vu when his side slumped to an early deficit on Thursday’s Europa League trip to Austria to meet LASK Linz, witnessing another underwhelming start to the game.

However, the Reds followed an established pattern, which has seen them win three of their last four Premier League outings despite conceding first, to post a comfortable 3-1 win and assume early control of Group E.

That same scoreline decided the Merseyside outfit’s last Premier League fixture as they pulled off a second-half comeback to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux last weekend.

Liverpool’s turnaround in the Midlands forms part of their four-game winning streak in England’s top flight following a 1-1 draw at Chelsea on the opening weekend.

It’s now a near-certainty that Klopp’s side will be relevant in the Premier League title race this season, which bodes well for our Liverpool 2023/24 season prediction. 

Visiting West Ham could be on the verge of exceeding our Hammers 2023/24 expectations despite being knocked down from a three-match winning league streak by Manchester City last time out.

David Moyes’ men took the lead through James Ward-Prowse but slipped to a 3-1 home defeat to the perennial champions, days before an almost carbon-copy European win over Serbian side TSC Backa Topola.

After last season’s Europa Conference League triumph, the Hammers came into the new Europa League campaign with lofty ambitions and barely lived up to them, courtesy of a second-half comeback.

Match Preview

Klopp has grown accustomed to tensions since taking charge of Liverpool, winning more matches (36) and points (138) from losing positions than any other Premier League manager during his Anfield career.

But his last game on home turf went smoothly as the Reds trounced Aston Villa 3-0 on the eve of September’s international break, stretching their eye-catching unbeaten home league run to 14 (W11, D3).

The aforementioned victory at Wolves took their undefeated streak in the Premier League to 16 matches on the trot (W11, D5), accounting for the longest ongoing such run in the division.

West Ham’s visit to Anfield can inspire more confidence in the Liverpool camp, with Klopp’s men winning their last six top-flight home encounters against the Hammers. 

The last time West Ham avoided defeat on Merseyside in Premier League action was in December 2016, eking out a 2-2 draw in Klopp’s first season in England. 

However, Moyes’ side have since failed to score more than once on five out of six league visits to Anfield, including back-to-back 1-0 defeats in their last two away H2Hs. 

West Ham have historically struggled at this iconic venue, picking up just one win in their last 54 matches here (D13, L39), and Moyes doesn’t strike as a manager capable of bucking that trend. 

The former Manchester United boss has yet to taste a victory in front of the Kop despite being given 20 opportunities (D7, L13).

Team News

Klopp rested numerous first-team stars in midweek Europa League action, with Mohamed Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister, among others, starting on the bench.

They’ll return to the starting line-up this weekend, with Virgil van Dijk set to reclaim the captain’s armband after serving a two-game ban for a red card against Newcastle United.

But his fixture will come too soon for Liverpool’s long-term absentee, Thiago Alcantara, who remains the only injured player in both camps. 

Like his Reds counterpart, Moyes took the opportunity of facing a below-par opponent to give Nayef Aguerd, Vladimir Coufal, Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio an extra rest period.

Liverpool potential starting line-up: 

(4-3-3): Alisson; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Andy Robertson; Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Curtis Jones; Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez.

West Ham United potential starting line-up: 

(4-2-3-1): Alphonse Areola; Vladimir Coufal, Nayef Aguerd, Kurt Zouma, Emerson Palmieri; Tomas Soucek, Edson Alvarez; Lucas Paqueta, Jarrod Bowen, Said Benrahma; Michail Antonio. 

We Say: Liverpool 3-1 West Ham United

Liverpool’s long-standing home dominance in this fixture rules out the possibility of an upset as we back the Reds to pack a punch against familiar foes.