Liverpool vs West Ham match preview: team news, lineups, referee, TV, kick-off time
By
Dan Vassie
Dan Vassie
Just three days after their first European outing of the season, Jurgen Klopp and co face a tough clash with West Ham at Anfield this Sunday.
For the first time this season, the Reds face a midweek-weekend playing schedule, as the Europa League and Premier League balancing act gets into full swing.
Both clubs have had a strong start to the 2023/24 campaign. Liverpool are getting back to their best and sit in third place with 13 points, while West Ham have seemingly spent the Declan Rice money well, reinvigorated the squad and are just three points behind in in sixth.
While the Reds have already beaten Newcastle and Aston Villa, a win against a strong Hammers side after European obligations would be a statement to the rest of the league that Liverpool will be contenders this season.
READ MORE: Liverpool have nothing to fear as they face defining set of fixtures
It is expected that the team will be rotated heavily from the away trip to Austria against LASK on Thursday, but the squad is full of stars capable of big moments, as we have seen already this season.
Here is everything you need to know about the game.
DATE, KICK-OFF AND STADIUM
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Date: Sunday, 24th September 2023
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Kick-off time: 14:00 BST / 09:00 ET / 06:00 PT
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Stadium: Anfield
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD
Liverpool and West Ham have faced one another on 147 occasions in history, with the Reds coming out on top in 81 games, drawing 37, and losing just 29.
Over the past ten fixtures between the clubs, Liverpool have performed incredibly, winning eight, drawing one and losing one, with the Reds most recent defeat to the Hammers coming in November 2021.
The past three results between the two sides have all been won by just one goal in Liverpool's favour (1-0, 1-0, and 2-1).
WHERE TO WATCH LIVERPOOL VS WEST HAM ON TV
For UK viewers, the game unfortunately won't be televised.
In Europe, the game is available on DAZN.
Viewers in the US can watch on Peacock.
WHO WILL REFEREE THE CLASH
Chris Kavanagh will referee the match, with Mat Wilkes and Mark Scholes as his assistants and Craig Pawson acting as the fourth official.
Meanwhile, David Coote will be in charge of the VAR and Nick Greenhalgh will act as his assistant.
LIVERPOOL TEAM NEWS
Liverpool will be going into a Premier League with their captain Virgil van Dijk for the first time since facing Newcastle on 27 August. The Dutchman was originally banned for the game against Aston Villa, but after his reaction to his sending off at St. James' Park, he was given a £100,000 fine and the ban was extended to rule him out of the Wolves game.
Ibrahima Konate was on the bench against Wolves and impressed in his brief cameo towards the end of the game. With the Frenchman's injury record, Klopp may err on the side of caution and gradually return him to action against LASK, but it is expected that he will start in the league against West Ham at the weekend.
Trent Alexander-Arnold is expected to recover from his own injury in time to face the Hammers, having missed the win over Wolves as a result of a hamstring issue sustained against Aston Villa prior to the international break.
If the Reds' vice-captain does indeed miss the fixture, Joe Gomez will will almost definitely be starting at right-back again to cover, with Conor Bradley likely to miss most of the rest of the calendar year.
In the midfield, Thiago Alcantara is still not ready to play for Liverpool, as he continues his recovery from his latest injury setback.
While it is likely that his fellow Spaniard, Stefan Bajcetic will see at least some minutes against LASK, after appearing on several Liverpool benches, and playing for Spain's Under-21s.
If he does play against the Austrian side in mid-week, it is unlikely he will feature much against West Ham, with Klopp likely to gradually increase the youngster's playing time.
WEST HAM TEAM NEWS
Ahead of Sunday's game, there doesn't seem to be any fresh injury concerns from a West Ham perspective, with Moyes' squad fit and ready to travel to Anfield on Sunday (barring any late injuries that could be sustained in their own mid-week Europa League fixture).
Liverpool-linked Jarrod Bowen has been one of the performers of the season so far, with three goals and an assist to his name. Meanwhile, James Ward-Prowse, Lucas Paqueta and Michail Antonio have all impressed, with the veteran striker even predicting that the Hammers will upset Liverpool this weekend.
The one glaring hole for West Ham is Declan Rice, who left the club for Arsenal in the summer in a move worth over £100m. However, the club have seemingly spent the money well and reinforced their midfield.
PREDICTED LINEUP
With Klopp having to field two starting lineup's in four days for the first time this season, expect to see a lot of squad rotation. However, this game against West Ham will likely take priority and require the stronger team.
(4-3-3): Alisson Becker; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson; Alexis Mac Allister, Curtis Jones, Dominik Szoboszlai; Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo, Luis Diaz
PREDICTION
This could be one of Liverpool's hardest games so far this season. Not only are West Ham in good form, but the game comes just days after the Europa League clash – though the Hammers are in the same boat.
In recent history, games between the two sides have been close, and Liverpool should have enough to edge it once again.
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