Match Preview: Liverpool vs West Ham - Key Battles, Team News, Prediction

Liverpool will welcome West Ham United to Anfield on Saturday. The Premier League clash will kick-off at 17:30 local time.

Liverpool will head into the game full of confidence. The Reds defeated Chelsea 11-10 on penalties at Wembley to secure the 2022 League Cup last weekend.

Liverpool also defeated Norwich City 2-1 at Anfield to progress to the FA Cup quarter-finals earlier this week.

West Ham United on the other hand lost 3-1 to Southampton in the fifth round of the FA Cup mid-week.

Previous PL Meeting/Key Battle

West Ham United defeated Liverpool 3-2 at the Olympic Stadium earlier this season (November 2021).

An own goal from Reds goalkeeper Alisson gave the Hammers the lead early on in the match. Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold got the Reds level just before half-time.

However, West Ham United duo Pablo Fornals and Kurt Zouma found the back of the net halfway through the second half.

Liverpool forward Divock Origi scored in the final 10 minutes of the match, but the damage was already done.

Going by the previous meeting between the two clubs, Liverpool simply need to be sharper in defence if they want to secure the three points this time round. As we saw last time, the Hammers are quite capable of scoring.

Team News:

Roberto Firmino [muscle], Thiago Alcantara [hamstring] and Curtis Jones [thigh] could miss Liverpool's clash against West Ham United due to respective injuries.

Jurgen Klopp and Pep Lijnders have made it clear that the aforementioned players are on the mend.

But, there is enough doubt in their comments to suggest that Firmino, Thiago and Jones could be unavailable for the match against the Hammers.

"We hope he [Firmino] will be back really soon because you all see and know and feel how important he is for our way of playing, so I am happy that he is pushing himself. Hopefully he is soon back," Lijnders told the club's official website on the 25th of February.

In regards to Thiago and Jones, Klopp told LiverpoolFC.com the following at the beginning of March: "He's [Thiago] fine again but not fit again. Like always, you don't know [how long he will be out] exactly. Weekend not sure, maybe [feature against Inter] Milan [on the 8th of March], after that definitely.”

The German further added: "We had to take him [Jones] off [against Norwich City at Anfield mid-week] because he felt his thigh slightly. I don’t think it’s a real injury, but there was no need to take a risk and that’s why we brought Harvey on, who was good.”

As for West Ham United, midfielder Tomas Soucek has declared himself fit for the match against Liverpool after a bad injury against Southampton.

The 27-year-old suffered an injury to his face. But, Soucek has made it clear that he is ready to play again.

Prediction:

Liverpool should be looking to win comfortably against West Ham United. The reality is, the Reds are a better side.

Liverpool sit in second-place on the Premier League table. The Hammers are sitting in fifth-place on the table.

Liverpool are 15 points clear of West Ham United. If Jurgen Klopp's defence can stand tall against David Moyes' attack, we do expect his side to win quite comfortable.

Liverpool showed at the Olympic Stadium that they could expose the Hammers. The Reds scored two goals and were nowhere near their best on the night. But, the Reds simply need to defend better this time round.

Liverpool have to win to keep in touch with league leaders Manchester City. The Citizens are six points ahead of the Reds having played an extra game.

Liverpool 3 West Ham United 1