Liverpool vs West Ham. Prediction and Preview. Probable Lineups, Team News, Stats, and more

Liverpool FC will host West Ham United FC in the English Football League Cup quarter final match at the Anfield Stadium. The fixture will take place on Thursday, December 21, beginning at 01:30 IST.

Parimatch News will tell you everything you need to know ahead of the upcoming match.

Liverpool News & Current Form: 

In the English Premier League, Liverpool continue to fight for 1st place, trailing the leader by only one point. The team continues its unbeaten streak in the top division, which counts 10 matches in a row. They drew with Brighton & Hove Albion FC (2:2), Luton Town FC (1:1), Manchester City (1:1) . In three of the four cases wards of Jurgen Klopp lost points away.

In the last round, the team shared points with Manchester United FC (0:0), having almost three goals on xG (2.66) against 0.52 for the opponent. Klopp’s charges had a lot of chances, but somewhere they were let down by the realization, and somewhere the opponents’ goalkeeper Andre Onana was good, he made eight saves. In general, the Devils defended very compactly and did their best not to concede.

The Reds literally crushed the charges of Erik ten Hag, but failed to capitalize on their advantage. By the way, Liverpool had 34 shots on goal, breaking the EPL record for the number of shots without scoring at least since the 2003/04 season.

This game was attended by 57,158 fans, the most attended game at Anfield in 60 years, since the 20th February of 1963. Back then, 57,906 fans saw Liverpool defeat Burnley FC 2:1 in extra time in a replay of an Emirates FA Cup fourth round.

Most prolific player at Liverpool FC – Mohamed Salah with 11 goals scored so far

Although Liverpool are not in first place in the table, trailing the leading Arsenal FC by just 1 point, there is reason to rejoice. In their UEFA Europa League group Jurgen Klopp’s wards easily took 1st place and secured a direct ticket to the 1/8 finals, despite the loss in the away match against Belgian Royale Union Saint-Gilloise with a score of 1:2, but it should be noted that the reserve team was on the field in that game.

As for the League Cup, in the 1/16 finals Liverpool confidently beat Leicester City FC, which at the end of last season flew to the Championship. The guests opened the scoring in the first half, but in the second half the Reds scored three times through the efforts of Gakpo, Dominik Szoboszlai and Diogo Jota, and got a willful victory 3:1.

Already in the 1/8 finals Merseysideiders defeated AFC Bournemouth away at the Vitality Stadium (2:1). Klopp’s team almost missed the victory, but Darwin Nunez scored the winning goal in the 70th minute.

From the sad news, the hosts are still without defender Andrew Robertson, experienced Joel Matip and Jota, as well as midfielders Thiago Alcantara and Stefan Bajcetic – all of them are in the infirmary. Important Argentine midfielder Alexis MacAllister, who has missed the Reds’ last 3 matches, remains questionable.

Dutchman Cody Gakpo, who came on as a substitute last weekend, could make the most of the squad rotation in the League Cup to regain Klopp’s trust. Mohamed Salah – Liverpool’s most prolific player this season (11 goals and 7 assists) – will appear on the attacking flank alongside Luis Diaz. Curtis Jones will replace Ryan Gravenberch, who was injured in the game against United.

West Ham News & Current Form: 

The Hammers have improved a lot lately and in the last 9 matches lost only to Fulham FC (0:5), won 7 times, first Nottingham Forest FC (3:2), Burnley (2:1) and Tottenham (2:1), and once drew with Crystal Palace FC (1:1). In the last round of the EPL West Ham defeated Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (3:0), providing themselves a comfortable advantage by the 32nd minute.

Following Roberto Firmino, Lucas Paqueta became the second Brazilian in EPL history to make three assists in one match: twice for Mohammed Kudus in the first half and then for Jarrod Bowen. The latter made a special contribution to the successes, in 21 matches in all official tournaments in the London club he scored 11 goals and gave three assists.

Thus, the wards of David Moyes rose to eighth place in the standings. The gap from sixth-placed Newcastle United FC is two points. It is possible that this season West Ham will finish in the zone of European Cup tournaments. By the way, the Hammers entered the Europa League playoffs from first place, in six rounds of the group stage they lost only to Olympiacos FC (1:2).

Player responsible for 11 scored goals for West Ham United FC – Jarrod Bowen

The Hammers had secured in advance only a playoff spot and on Thursday in a face-to-face confrontation with SC Freiburg determined who would take first place and get straight into the 1/8 finals, bypassing the stage 1/16. West Ham could settle for a draw, but the team achieved a 2:0 home win and won the group with 15 points.

Things are very good with the performance at West Ham. In 25 matches in all tournaments, they scored 43 goals, but also missed a lot – 35 goals. Therefore, there is every reason to believe that the upcoming meeting will be marked by a lot of goals, and most likely from both sides.

As for the path of the team in the Carabao Cup, David Moyes’ team, as well as Liverpool, began their journey in the Football League Cup with 1/16 finals. At this stage, the lot brought the Londoners together with a modest Lincoln City FC from League One. Nevertheless, West Ham was able to overcome the opponent only with a minimum score of 1:0. The draw lasted until the 70th minute, and then Tomasz Soucek scored the winning goal.

In the next round, Moyes’ team had to fight with almost the strongest of possible opponents – at London Stadium the Hammers hosted Arsenal in the derby. And they played above all praise – at the end of an hour of play the score was 3:0 in their favor (Kudus and Bowen scored, as well as an auto-goal on the account of White). The Gunners managed to distinguish themselves only with a prestigious goal in the penalty time, and the game ended 3:1 in favor of West Ham.

Last season, the team crashed out of the championship right away. But in the English League Cup-2021/22 Londoners reached the 1/4 finals, but were weaker than Tottenham Hotspur FC (1:2). 

As for injuries, the Londoners have only Jamaican striker Michail Antonio (last season’s top scorer) missing this week due to injury. David Moyes can count on an almost optimal lineup this week, and there is no doubt that the hero of the last match Paqueta will appear in the starting lineup – Kudus (5 goals) and Bowen (10 goals) will help him in attack.

Edson Alvarez managed to recover from a thigh injury and played all 90 minutes of the match against the Wolves, so the Mexican will also be expected to start. Lukasz Fabianski will once again be allowed to replace Alphonse Areola in goal, despite the fact that the latter has recently recovered from a wrist problem. Moyes may well deploy the experienced Danny Ings at the heart of the attack against his former team.

Liverpool form guide: W-W-W-W-L-D

West Ham form guide: W-D-W-L-W-W

Liverpool vs West Ham Head-To-Head Record:

• March 5, 2022: Liverpool 1 – 0 West Ham (Premier League);
• October 19, 2022: Liverpool 1 – 0 West Ham (Premier League);
• April 26, 2023: West Ham 1 – 2 Liverpool (Premier League);
• September 24, 2023: Liverpool 3 – 1 West Ham (Premier League).

Liverpool vs West Ham Predicted XI:

Liverpool’s possible starting lineup (4-3-3): Kelleher; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Quansah, Tsimikas; Elliott, Endo, Jones; Salah, Gakpo, Diaz.

West Ham’s possible starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Fabianski; Kehrer, Mavropanos, Aguerd, Cresswell; Soucek, Ward-Prowse; Kudus, Fornals, Benrahma; Ings.

Statistical preview of the match Liverpool vs West Ham:

• Liverpool’s First XI average age is 26.4 years, West Ham’s First XI average age is 28.5 years.
• Tim Robinson has been appointed as the center referee. The referee has already served six games this season, showing an average of 4.1 Yellow Cards and also whistles 23 fouls per game. 
• The total value of Liverpool’s squad is 866 mln euros, while the total of West Ham is 462 mln euros.
• In the current season, Liverpool’s home games average 12.08 corner kicks per match, while West Ham’s away games average 11.62 standards per game. 
• Liverpool are not getting as many yellow cards at home, averaging just 0.75 per game. West Ham infringes quite a lot away, averaging 2.38 cards per match.
• Liverpool have just one defeat in 90 minutes in their last 12 matches in the English League Cup (6 wins and 5 draws).
• In West Ham’s last 21 matches in this tournament there were only two draws in regulation time (13 wins and 6 defeats).
• Liverpool have lost only 3 of 25 matches in all competitions this season and have failed to score only once in the 2023/24 season.
• Liverpool have won 11 of their past 12 home games in various tournaments this season.
• Jurgen Klopp’s side have scored at least three times in nine of their 12 home games this season.
• West Ham have not lost by more than one goal in 17 out of 20 away matches played this season. 

What has been said before the match:

Assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders of Liverpool ahead of the Carabao Cup ¼ final and the upcoming opponent:

“West Ham are a team who beat Arsenal, who are already in the knockout stages of the Europa League – the same as us. I feel they are more collective.”

“I feel really happy about these last weeks because you see that you need the full squad to win football games if the calendar becomes something like this – and that’s something we did, so I am really proud of that.”

“Kudus, Bowen and Paqueta up top. They have a lot of techniques there, really class. They can create from deep, they can create high, individual qualities are good and they still can mix it up, long balls to Soucek and then really compete from there. The right side has real combinations with Kudus coming inside – they are good at that.”

“They are more aggressive than they were before, so big compliment to the coach, of course, because he’s doing a really good job I think, because they are more aggressive as well in their pressing. When they feel good in games, they go higher and with more aggression.”

Head coach Jurgen Klopp commented on the draw with Manchester United:

“I saw a lot of good chances. The only thing is, we should have scored. We were very rushed, but I liked the intensity of the game and the start. Everyone saw what we wanted, our team counter-pressing was good, we didn’t let them out of our half.”

“I can’t remember such a dominant performance against Manchester United – even in the 7:0 match they were more active. Now the score is 0:0 and they probably feel a bit better than us. It was exactly the kind of game I expected. If we play like this, it will be difficult for the opposing team to leave their half of the pitch.”

Billy McKinlay, assistant manager of West Ham, about the recent results of his team:

“In the last two games in particular we’ve put in good performances. We followed up Freiburg with obviously a good performance in the win against Wolves, which was always a tough game, so we’re in a good place in a busy period.”

“You’ve just gotta keep going as the football is relentless. The level of success brings that, the amount of games, the level of games, the quality of the opposition, so we’re enjoying that. We’re rising to the challenge, hopefully, so we need to keep working hard, keep our feet on the ground and keep going, and that’s what we’ll do.”

“Going to Anfield is going to be difficult, as it always is, but it’s the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup and a big game for everybody associated with the Club, so hopefully we can go and put in a good performance and the right result.”

“I think that’s been the case for our good run in the Europa League and we’ve done the business there. We’re in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup so we’re in a good place at the moment, we’re hungry and looking to improve on that.”

Liverpool vs West Ham Prediction:

Liverpool are one of the main contenders for the EPL title right now and are rightly regarded as one of the strongest clubs not only in England, but also in Europe. But we shouldn’t discount West Ham either. David Moyes has created a very capable team, which managed to win the UEFA Conference League last season.

In this meeting, the hosts have an edge, but a slight one. Both teams are eager to claim the silverware, as the final is not so far away, and the remaining opponents are difficult to attribute to being impassable. Liverpool and West Ham have built up a great momentum. Combined, they have scored 65 goals in 17 rounds in the English Premier League. In the previous round of the English League Cup, David Moyes’ team left no chance to the Gunners, and yet they played in front of their home stands. Now the Londoners will have to play at Anfield, where the fans will surely provide additional pressure on the guests. Jurgen Klopp’s lads are certainly frustrated about the weekend’s outing against Manchester United where they have been unable to capitalize on the total domination. As a result, the Merseydiers lost the lead in the standings. Motivation to smooth the situation by advancing in this tournament will be palpable, the team with such a character and performers will certainly not approach the game with their sleeves down, a victory is needed. At the same time, Liverpool have injured players in the defensive line, and in three days will have a key match with Arsenal in the championship.

In the last 17 head-to-head meetings in the Premier League and other competitions, West Ham have beaten Liverpool only once (4 draws and 12 defeats). At the same time, both teams have scored in 6 out of 8 previous meetings. It is most likely that the hosts will still go further, but because of the emphasis Liverpool put on the EPL, the Londoners have a chance not only to convert one of the set pieces or counters, but also not to lose in regular time.

Parimatch News staff prediction:

We say: Liverpool will not lose and both teams will score – Yes.

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