The title race in the Premier League takes the next step on Saturday, when Liverpool welcome West Ham United to Anfield in the 28th round of the 2021-22 campaign, though for the hosts it’ll actually be match 27 after they missed the previous round due to playing in the Carabao Cup final.
Liverpool
And what a final it was. Many have referred to it as the best contest to have ended without goals ever. Whether you agree or not, Liverpool beat Chelsea on penalties and they’ve opened their trophy account for the season.
In fact, it was the only match in their last six that they didn’t win within 90 minutes. Before that, they beat Burnley away 0-1, Inter in Milan by 0-2, Norwich City at home by 3-1 and Leeds United at home by 6-0. This week, they beat Norwich again at home, by 2-1, this time in the fifth round of the FA Cup.
Now their attention returns to the Premier League. If they intend to stay in the title race, they simply must continue winning. At the moment, they are six points behind Manchester City, though with a game in hand on the defending champions who face Manchester United in the city derby on Sunday.
Klopp won’t be able to count on defender Joel Matip (illness), midfielder Thiago Alcantara (hamstring) and forward Roberto Firmino (ankle). Midfielders Curtis Jones (thigh) and Naby Keita (minor knock) face late fitness tests ahead of the match.
Alisson Becker will start in goal, and Matip’s absence makes Klopp’s choice of starting centre-backs pretty straightforward – it’ll almost certainly be Ibrahima Konate alongside Virgil van Dijk. Given the issues in midfield, Jordan Henderson is a strong favourite to start with Fabinho as the anchor, and either Harvey Elliott or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain further up. In attack, the trio of Luis Diaz, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah has proven rather dangerous, but with Diogo Jota fully fit, one of them could drop to the bench.
West Ham
This is the second season in a row with West Ham seriously involved in the battle for Champions League places, and at the moment, their chances don’t look too bad. Manchester United holds that fourth place with 47 points, which is two more than David Moyes’s team have. But Arsenal in sixth with the same tally as the Hammers and no less than three games in hand are obviously the biggest threat.
Unlike Liverpool, West Ham have been eliminated from the FA Cup after losing 3-1 to Southampton this week. Before that, they beat Kidderminster away 1-2 in the fourth round, Watford at home by 1-0, drew 2-2 away to Leicester City and 1-1 at home against Newcastle, and eventually beat Wolves at home by 1-0.
West Ham face a great challenge in the round of 16 of the Europa League, where they will face six-time winners Sevilla twice in the next two weeks.
Forward Andriy Yarmolenko is currently on compassionate leave due to the horrible events unfolding in his homeland of Ukraine.
“He’s not in a really good place at the moment, so we’ve given him a few days off,” Moyes said last week. “We’ll certainly help him. It’s a really difficult time for him and his family and we respect that.”
Right-back Vladimir Coufal has undergone hernia surgery and is expected to be out of action at least for another month. Arthur Masuaku has suffered a knee injury and is out at the moment, but while the left-back could be back in the near future, centre-back Angelo Ogbonna (ACL) won’t be playing again this season. Right-back Ryan Fredericks is also out with a groin problem.
LIVE: Liverpool vs West Ham | Premier League
