Liverpool and West Ham fan protest planned for Carabao Cup fixture

Liverpool kickstart their Carabao Cup defence by welcoming West Ham United to Anfield on Wednesday night.

Virgil van Dijk’s extra-time header sent the Travelling Kop into jubilation as an injury-stricken Liverpool side defeated Chelsea to lift a record 10th League Cup at Wembley in February.

Arne Slot will look to continue an impressive start to his Reds career against a struggling West Ham side.

READ MORE: Trent Alexander-Arnold closing in on impressive Liverpool all-time record

The two sides met in the quarter-final of the Carabao Cup last season with the Reds coming out 5-1 winners.

Strikes from Mohamed Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai, Cody Gakpo and a Curtis Jones brace ensured Jarrod Bowen’s second-half strike remained just a consolation.

Squad rotation is expected by Slot tonight with a first start for Federico Chiesa set to happen, according to The Times.

Conor Bradley and Wataru Endo are also likely to be handed their first starts of under their new manager.

Fans to unite in ticket price rises

Despite locking horns on Wednesday night, Liverpool and West Ham supporters are set to pull together in a solidarity protest against ticket prices ahead of the game, according to the Athletic.

Hammers United, a West Ham supporters group, have been campaigning against the removal of concessions for seniors, youth and disabled fans at the club this season, will continue to pushback before their visit to Anfield.

The group won't be campaigning on their own though. The report also claims that Liverpool's supporters' union, Spirit of Shankly have agreed to back the campaign with both groups uniting under a 'Stop Exploiting Loyalty' banner outside of the Fans Supporting Foodbanks collection point by the Kop flagpole at 7pm (BST).

This will follow the efforts of the West Ham faithful who have released black balloons at their recent home games that conveys the message: 'Save our Concessions' and 'Stop Exploiting Loyalty'.

A Spirit of Shankly statement read: "We stand in solidarity with Hammers United in the fight for fair ticket prices. There's a troubling trend in Premier League clubs - an apparent collective pushback on concessions and rising ticket prices - like the actions of a cartel, disregarding the loyalty of fans, particularly senior, youth and disabled supporters.