Liverpool host West Ham on Sunday looking to complete the double over their East London counterparts and trying to get into those crucial European places. Liverpool is currently placed 7th on the league table while West Ham are in 11th position. West Ham go into the match with a morale boosting 3-1 victory over West Brom.
Liverpool maintained their quest for European football last week after sneaking pat Aston Villa in a game which was by no means dominated by Liverpool and was lucky to win it. The key man for Liverpool this time around will again be Luis Suarez who won that winning penalty for them last week.
They are on a pretty good run of form, winning 4 of their last 5 games and cn continue that if they put in a top notch performance again at home. This will be the first of Liverpool ‘s remaining 4 games at Anfield and they ‘ll look to get as much points from these home games as possible to remain in contention for those European places.
Liverpool don‘t have much problems with injuries for this match. Fabio Borini and Joe Allen out of this game with shoulder injuries with long term absentee Martin Kelly joining them on this list with a Knee injury. Raheem Sterling is in doubt to play against West Ham as he has some problems with his thigh.
West Ham has won 2 of their last 3 matches and manager Sam Allardyce would be looking to carry the momentum forward and confirm their stay in the premier league.
At his press conference, he said “We need to be on top form and we need to take our chances when they arrive. If we don’t then life will be really tough at Anfield”, which almost clarifies that West Ham will be playing a defensive game and will look to hit Liverpool on the counter attack.
One more win for West Ham will almost guarantee them security in this year ‘s Premier League and they ‘ll be more than happy to come away with a point from Anfield.
Big miss for West Ham in this game will be their on-loan striker Andy Carroll who scored twice in their last week‘s 3-1 win over West Brom, as he is not allowed to play against his parent club. This makes way for Carlton Cole or Marouane Chamakh to lead the line on Sunday. Joe Cole will also miss the game with a hamstring injury.
Mark Noble is on the doubts list for this game, as he is may or may not be able to play against Liverpool with a shoulder injury.
Possible Line-ups:
Liverpool:Reina;Johnson,Carragher,Agger,Enrique;Lucas,Gerrard,Coutinho;Downing,Suarez,Sturridge
West Ham: Jaaskelainen;Demel,Reid,Collins,O’Brien;Diame,O’Neil;Jarvis,Nolan,Vaz Te;Cole
Match Facts:
- West Ham have never beaten Liverpool at Anfield in 16 previous Premier League attempts.
- Liverpool are looking to complete a sixth Premier League double over The Hammers.
- West Ham’s only post-war top-flight win at Liverpool was a 2-1 victory in September 1963.
- The Hammers have failed to score in their last four league visits to Anfield.
Prediction:
Liverpool 3-0 West Ham