Liverpool vs West Ham Preview:
Possible starting lineups:
Liverpool:
Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, R. Williams, Gomez, Robertson, Wijnaldum, Henderson, Jota, Salah, Firmino, Mane
West Ham:
Fabianski, Coufal, Balbuena, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Masuaku, Fornals, Rice, Soucek, Antonio, Bowen
Liverpool are sharing the top of the table with Everton as both teams have 13 points. The Reds started the campaign with three straight victories, beating Leeds United with 4:3, Chelsea with 2:0 and Arsenal with 3:1. Salah and Mane were the main players, the Egyptian scored a hat-trick against the Whites, while Sadio Mane scored in the derbies against Chelsea and Arsenal. But then came something that is hard to be explained, a 7:2 loss to Aston Villa. The Reds were humiliated like never before, it was the worst defeat in the club's history. The next match was Merseyside derby with Everton at Goodison Park. The derby produced more headache for Klopp as key defender Virgil van Dijk sustained severe knee-ligaments injury. The Dutchman will be sidelined for at least six months. His absence is a big handicap, Van Dijk is World's best defender and he is simply irreplaceable. Considering the fact Lovren left the club during the summer, Klopp has just two recognized central defenders - Joe Gomez and Joel Matip. The later is also injured, so Fabinho was used as reserve option in the heart of defense. The Brazilian did a solid job against Ajax, then played poor against Sheffield United, while suffered a muscle injury against Midtjylland on Tuesday. The 19-year-old Rhys Williams is now the only option on that position. He wasn't bad against the Danes, but his inexperience could be a big problem in the next period. But not only the defenders are injured, new signing Thiago Alcantara also suffered a knee injury against Everton and missed the last three games. According to the latest news, the Spaniard will skip the next two games, at least. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain remain long-term injury victim, while Naby Keita and Kostas Tsimikas are rated as doubtful.
West Ham have a balanced record of 2 victories, 2 draws and 2 defeats after the opening 6 matches of the Premier League. The Hammers started the season with two defeats, a 2:0 loss to Newcastle and a 2:1 loss to Arsenal at the Emiratas. Many believed this will be another poor season and another relegation battle. To be even worse, the next opponents were Wolverhampton, Leicester, Tottenham and Manchester City. The fans were afraid of more bad results, however, David Moyes' men started to play much better and collected 8 points from these 4 fixtures. West Ham outplayed Wolverhampton in the third round and won 4:0. Jarrod Bowen was most deserved for the victory as he scored twice. The Hammers then beat high-flying Leicester City with 3:0. Michail Antonio, Pablo Fornals and Jarrod Bowen were the scorers on that match. The next match against Tottenham was unforgettable. The Spurs had three-goal lead until the 81st minute, but the Hammers refused to give up. They scored three goals in the finish of the match to rescue a point in an astonishing comeback. Manuel Lanzini's brilliant long-range strike in the last seconds of the match produced something unique - West Ham become the first club in the Premier League history to avoid defeat in a game having trailed by three or more goals as late as the 81st minute. Last week saw another tough challenge against another title pretenders, Manchester City. Michail Antonio scored a spectacular acrobatic overhead volley to earn his side a deserved 1:1 draw against Pep Guardiola's side. It is interesting to be mentioned that Antonio has netted 39 Premier League goals and all of them were scored from inside the penalty area. The forward will try to continue with goals, though he is rated as doubtful through a hamstring injury. Antonio was forced off seven minutes into the second half against the Citizens last weekend.
Liverpool vs West Ham Prediction:
Liverpool won the last three fixtures across all competitions, though all these victories were very hard. The Reds beat Ajax with 1:0, Sheffield United with 2:1 and Midtjylland with 2:0 thanks to injury-time penalty. I must admit Liverpool were very lucky in these three matches. Klopp has huge defensive issues, Van Dijk is sidelined, Matip and Fabinho are also struggling with injury. West Ham, meanwhile, are unbeaten in their last four Premier League games, beating Wolves and Leicester before drawing with Tottenham and Manchester City. The players confidence is high and I believe they are able to cover the handicap, meaning they won't lose high.
Liverpool vs West Ham Pick: West Ham +1.5 @ 1.85 with Unibet