Preview: West Ham United vs Liverpool – stats, team news, line-ups | OneFootball

Hoping to bounce back from a gut-wrenching derby defeat last weekend, West Ham United host an equally bruised Liverpool side looking to reignite their faint Premier League title hopes at the London Stadium on Saturday.

The Hammers are down in the dumps after a run of one win in eight games across all competitions (D3, L4), which culminated in a 5-2 drubbing against Crystal Palace last time out.

After slipping to eighth in the Premier League table, two points behind seventh-placed Newcastle United, West Ham’s European dream is effectively dead in the water.

David Moyes is expected to leave the club when his contract expires this summer, with West Ham already exploring potential replacements.

However, another defeat could speed up the Scottish manager’s exit.

West Ham will be determined to avoid further humiliation despite coming up against a Liverpool side desperate to salvage their title ambitions.

Intriguingly, Liverpool also lost to Palace this month in the Premier League, albeit in a contrasting fashion.

Unlike the Hammers, who were second best to Oliver Glasner’s rampant troops, Liverpool created several chances against Palace – nearly half a dozen excellent ones.

However, they somehow failed to find a response to Eberechi Eze’s opener before falling to a 1-0 defeat.

They returned to winning ways against Fulham, but a subsequent 2-0 defeat in the Merseyside derby against Everton may have put the final nail on Jurgen Klopp’s farewell tour.

Liverpool’s quadruple push has become nothing more than a pipe dream, and it increasingly looks like Klopp will depart Anfield with the Carabao Cup as a consolation trophy.

There’s still much to play for, but they no longer have their destiny in their hands, although a trip to West Ham offers a perfect opportunity to return to winning ways after a rough couple of weeks.

Match Preview

West Ham head into the weekend contest facing an uphill battle. They have won just one of their last eight league games at London Stadium (D5, L2).

A 2-0 defeat to Fulham in their most recent outing only amplifies the need for a turnaround, with the looming threat of consecutive home defeats for the first time since late 2022.

However, their record against Liverpool has been nothing short of abysmal.

They’ve been on the losing end of 12 out of their last 14 meetings with the Reds in the Premier League, losing each of their last five since a narrow 3-2 win in November 2021.

Liverpool appear to have West Ham’s number this season, having already dispatched the Hammers twice by a combined score of 8-2.

A comfortable 3-1 league win in September was followed by a dominant 5-1 victory in the League Cup just three months later.

However, while these results paint a clear picture of dominance, history suggests a potential twist on Saturday.

Liverpool hold a commanding record against West Ham under Klopp’s leadership, with only Crystal Palace suffering more defeats (13), but there’s a curious anomaly.

Despite facing the Hammers on three or more occasions in ten previous Premier League seasons, the Reds have never managed to secure a clean sweep.

Team News & Potential Line-ups

Jarrod Bowen missed the London derby defeat against Palace but is in contention to feature against Liverpool on Saturday.

He could be joined in the starting XI by Nayef Aguerd and Konstantinos Mavropanos, although the defensive duo will have to pass a late fitness check.

Klopp’s front line once against failed to deliver the goods in Merseyside, so we can expect the German to shuffle the pack for West Ham with Cody Gakpo returning to the fold after the birth of his child.

Ibrahima Konate was hurled off during the Everton defeat after another underwhelming performance, so Virgil van Dijk could be partnered by young Jarell Quansah in London.

West Ham potential starting line-up:

(4-2-3-1): Alphonse Areola; Vladimir Coufal, Kurt Zouma, Nayef Aguerd, Emerson Palmieri; Edson Alvarez, Tomas Soucek; Mohammed Kudus, James Ward-Prowse, Lucas Paqueta; Michail Antonio.

Liverpool potential starting line-up:

(4-3-3): Alisson; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jarell Quansah, Virgil van Dijk, Andrew Robertson; Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo, Alexis Mac Allister; Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo, Luis Diaz.