Just three days after their first European outing of the season, Jurgen Klopp and his teammates face a difficult clash with West Ham at Anfield this Sunday.
For the first time this season, the Red Devils face a midweek fixture, with the balance between the Europa League and Premier League being very tense.
Both clubs are off to a strong start to the 2023/24 campaign.
Liverpool are back to their best and sit third on 13 points, while West Ham appear to have spent Declan Rice’s money well, reinvigorating the team and are just three points off sixth place.
While the Red Devils have beaten Newcastle and Aston Villa, a win against a strong Hammers side after European duty would signal to the rest of the league that Liverpool will be title contenders this season.
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The team is expected to have plenty of turnover after their trip to Austria against LASK on Thursday, but the team has plenty of stars capable of creating big moments, as we’ve seen this season.
Liverpool and West Ham have faced each other 147 times in history, the Red Devils won 81 matches, drew 37 and lost only 29.
In the last ten matches between the clubs, Liverpool have put in some incredible performances, winning eight, drawing one and losing one, with the Red Devils’ most recent loss to the Hammers coming in November 2019.
2021.
The last three results between the two teams all won by 1 goal in favor of Liverpool (1-0, 1-0 and 2-1).
For British audiences, unfortunately the match will not be broadcast live
In Europe, the game is available on DAZN.
American audiences can watch on Peacock.
Chris Kavanagh will referee the match, with Mat Wilkes and Mark Scholes as assistants and Craig Pawson as fourth official.
Meanwhile, David Coote will be in charge of VAR and Nick Greenhalgh will be the assistant.
Liverpool will play a Premier League match with captain Virgil van Dijk for the first time since the clash with Newcastle on August 27.
The Dutchman was initially banned for the match against Aston Villa, but later protested.
His reaction to being sent off at St.
James’ Park, he was fined £100,000 and his ban was extended to rule him out of the Wolves match.
Ibrahima Konate was on the bench against Wolves and impressed in his brief appearance late on.
Given the Frenchman’s injury record, Klopp may be cautious and gradually help him return to action against LASK, but he is expected to feature against West Ham this weekend .
Trent Alexander-Arnold is expected to recover from injury in time to face the Hammers, having missed the win over Wolves due to a hamstring problem against Aston Villa before the international break.
If the Red Devils’ vice-captain does indeed miss the game, Joe Gomez will almost certainly start again at right-back, with Conor Bradley likely to miss much of the remainder of the calendar year.
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In midfield, Thiago Alcantara is not yet ready to play for Liverpool as he continues to recover from his latest injury.
Although it is likely that Spaniard Stefan Bajcetic will play at least a few minutes against LASK, he has appeared on some of Liverpool’s bench and played for the Spain Under-21 team.
If he plays against the Austrian team in midweek, he is unlikely to play much against West Ham, and Klopp may gradually increase the young player’s playing time.
Ahead of Sunday’s game, there appear to be no further injury concerns from West Ham’s perspective, with Moyes’ side fit and ready to travel to Anfield on Sunday (barring any late injuries which may arise in the middle of their week).
Europa League match).
Liverpool-linked Jarrod Bowen has been one of the best players of the season so far, with 3 goals and 1 assist.
Meanwhile, James Ward-Prowse, Lucas Paqueta and Michail Antonio all impressed, with the veteran striker even predicting the Hammers will upset Liverpool this weekend.
With Klopp set to field two starting lineups in four days for the first time this season, more changes are expected in the squad.
However, this match against West Ham will likely be a priority and needs a stronger squad.
This could be one of Liverpool’s toughest matches this season.
Not only are West Ham in good form, but the match also takes place just days after their Europa League clash – although the Hammers are in the same boat.
In recent history, the matches between the two teams have been very close and Liverpool should have enough to come out on top once again.
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