Liverpool are desperately searching for respite in the Premier League this Sunday at West Ham United as they seek to recover from three straight defeats.
The Reds suffered complete and utter humiliation once again on Wednesday night as they were beaten 4–1 by PSV Eindhoven on home soil, exacerbating their woes after three-goal defeats to Nottingham Forest and Manchester City previously. They now find themselves languishing in 12th and 13th in the Premier League and Champions League respectively.
A staggering nine defeats from 12 matches has heaped enormous pressure on Arne Slot, who has been completely unable to remedy Liverpool’s defensive disorganisation and attacking profligacy. The Dutchman has led the Reds into crisis.
Things could get even worse this weekend as Liverpool visit the resurgent Hammers. They have won their last two matches at the London Stadium and are unbeaten in three league games as Nuno Espírito Santo leaves his mark. They exited the relegation zone last weekend with their draw at Bournemouth, although they will be ruing the surrender of a two-goal advantage.
The silver lining for Liverpool is their impeccable record against West Ham. They have scored five goals against them on three separate occasions over the past two years, losing just one of the previous 20 meetings between the sides.
West Ham look likely to be without three players for Liverpool’s visit. Third-choice goalkeeper Łukasz Fabiański is battling a back issue, Konstantinos Mavropanos is struggling with a muscle injury and Oliver Scarles is still missing after surgery on a fractured collarbone.
Espírito Santo could move away from the 3-4-3 system that was in operation at Bournemouth last weekend and return to the 4-1-4-1 he used against Newcastle United, with a few changes to personnel expected. Lucas Paquetá returns from his one-match suspension for picking up five yellow cards and will re-enter the team, while Crysencio Summerville could replace Luis Guilherme on the left wing.
Callum Wilson will be aiming to continue his purple patch having scored three across his last two matches.
Hugo Ekitiké was withdrawn during Liverpool’s defeat to PSV as he struggled with a back complaint, but is not expected to be out for any significant period of time, according to Slot. However, he’s touch-and-go for the weekend trip to the capital.
Alisson will return to the lineup having missed midweek through illness, while Florian Wirtz could be restored to the matchday squad after a brief setback suffered on international duty.
Slot has confirmed that Joe Gomez is “close” to being involved having been snubbed in recent matches due to a lingering fitness issue, but the Reds will continue without right backs Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong.
Young trio Stefan Bajcetic, Giovanni Leoni and Jayden Danns are all sidelined.
