Preview: West Ham United vs. Liverpool
Yesterday at 01:00 PM
Liverpool end the year in London to take on West Ham.
WEST HAM VS. LIVERPOOL
| Sunday, December 29th |
Premier League | London Stadium
5:15PM GMT/12:15PM EST
The league-leading Reds head down south on Sunday to take on West Ham United at the London Stadium for their last game of 2024. We are really getting into the meat of this festive period, and Liverpool have continued to maintain their winning ways, despite a concerning tendency to concede first. Last week saw big wins against Tottenham and Leicester City to capitalize on their rivals losing points. They're currently seven points ahead of Chelsea on the Premier League table, with a game in hand.
Enter West Ham United. The Hammers have also had a solid festive period. They've picked up eight out of the last 12 available points, scooting them up to 13th on the table. A point in their favor is that Liverpool, while they're still mostly winning, have conceded at least two goals in their last four away matches.
Mohamed Salah continues to do Mohamed Salah things. He now leads the Premier League in both goals (16) and assists (12) and should be hungry to cap off 2024 with another tally to those lists.
Predicted Liverpool Lineup (4-2-3-1)
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; Mac Allister, Gravenberch; Salah, Jones, Diaz; Jota
Even though this is traditionally the time of the year when hamstrings start snapping like guitar strings, Liverpool have managed to stay relatively healthy. Currently unavailable is the perpetually injured Ibrahima Konaté, as well as Conor Bradley. The arguably bigger miss will be Dominik Szoboszlai. The midfielder is thankfully not injured, but suspended after picking up his fifth yellow against Leicester.
For West Ham, it's a different story. Their victory against Southampton in midweek came at the steep price of, like, half their squad. Lukasz Fabianski gotten stretchered off the pitch due to concussion concerns. Max Kilman and Carlos Soler were also taken out of commission by the time the second half started. Guido Rodriguez and Tomas Soucek will join Szoboszlai with yellow card bans. Finally, Michail Antonio remains out of the team.
What the Managers Had to Say
Arne Slot: "We are strong away from home and at home as well. So, I don't see any reason why we are stronger there than here, [it's] something we can best judge at the end of the season if we have played every team home and away, to see what fits us best. But I think we are a difficult team to beat away from home as in our home games."
Julen Lopetegui: "We're not afraid of playing Liverpool. We have big respect for all the teams and the same respect whether it is Southampton or Liverpool. Fear is only for other things. In football, there is no fear."
The Officials
Referee: Anthony Taylor. Assistants: Gary Beswick, Adam Nunn. Fourth official: Steven Martin. VAR: Darren England. Assistant VAR: Simon Bennett.
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