West Ham United make the 227-mile trip to Anfield to take on a resurgent Liverpool side, who seem as though they have turned a corner under Jurgen Klopp after hammering Rangers 7-1 a week ago and emerging victorious against Premier League champions Manchester City last Sunday.
The Hammers will know all about turning corners, having had to revive their fortunes after their own poor start to the league campaign. Like tonight’s opponents, this temporary demise owes somewhat to an injury crisis, so it’s been a similar start to 2022/23 for both teams in that regard.
Coming into this game, Liverpool are unbeaten in seven home matches this season and rank third in the Premier League for goals scored per match with an average of 2.3. Meanwhile, West Ham are unbeaten in five matches in all competitions but rank only 15th for goals scored per match, averaging 0.9 goals per game.
Injury news
Speaking to the media, as per West Ham’s official website, Moyes issued an update on the fitness of his team.
The 59-year-old is doubtful as to whether Kurt Zouma and Craig Dawson will be fit to feature. Meanwhile, Maxwel Cornet is definitely out, although the manager hinted that the Ivorian is getting close to a return as he is due to resume training this week.
Predicted XI
That brings us onto the predicted West Ham line-up for tonight’s game against Liverpool.
3-4-3
Fabianski
Johnson, Kehrer, Cresswell
Coufal, Soucek, Rice, Emerson
Bowen, Antonio, Benrahma
Our predicted XI features just two changes from the 1-1 draw against Southampton on Sunday.
Injuries to centre-backs Dawson and Zouma forced Moyes into a makeshift three-at-the-back system, but it worked against the Saints and saw the Hammers generate 25 shots whilst dictating possession. With the pair still unlikely to be fit, we can expect a 3-4-3 in a very similar approach to the last game.
Gianluca Scamacca could revert to the bench, having played his fair share of minutes over the last few games, with Michail Antonio – a stylistically perfect fit in a game where the Hammers will likely need to counterattack with pace – resuming his place as the starting centre-forward on this occasion.
Our other anticipated change sees Lucas Paqueta drop to the bench in what makes for a similar situation to Scamacca’s. The Brazilian impressed last time out but may be due a rest, having essentially played the full match against the Saints just three days ago.
As such, Said Benrahma is expected to take his place on the left wing, having also registered an assist after coming off the bench on Sunday.
