Liverpool will host West Ham United at Anfield this afternoon in the sixth fixture of their Premier League campaign and Jurgen Klopp will likely rotate his team again following the Europa League victory over LASK midweek.
The Reds secured their first win on the European stage on Thursday evening continuing their unbeaten run in all competitions so far this season and will be hoping to continue their positive start when they return to Anfield this afternoon to host David Moyes’ side.
Liverpool are currently third in the Premier League table and are five points behind Manchester City at the top of the table, so taking all three points from today’s clash will be crucial to keep the Merseyside giants just over the shoulder of Pep Guardiola’s side.
In terms of injuries, it remains unconfirmed as to whether Trent Alexander-Arnold and Thiago Alcantara will be ready to start today, however, the vice-captain was back on the grass on Wednesday and The Athletic’s James Pearce revealed earlier this week that Alexander-Arnold is targeting a return for the imminent Premier League fixture.
Other than those two ongoing fitness issues, Klopp should be able to lean on his most trusted first-team players when putting together his starting eleven today.
How could Liverpool line up vs West Ham United?
We predict that Klopp will make seven changes to the Liverpool side who won 3-1 in Austria, maintaining his classic 4-3-3 formation in the process.
The first change we expect to see is Alisson Becker reprising his role in goal to replace Caoimhin Kelleher, whilst both Andy Robertson and Joe Gomez take up the wider defensive roles alongside an otherwise unchanged defensive set up of club captain Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate.
In midfield, we predict that a complete reshuffle will occur with Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister and Curtis Jones being deployed in the centre of the pitch against David Moyes’ side this afternoon, replacing Wataru Endo, Harvey Elliott and Ryan Gravenberch.
The seventh and final change we expect is the return of Mohamed Salah in the final third after being benched for up and coming youngster Ben Doak midweek, whilst Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez will likely retain their spots in the attacking threat.
Despite being rested for the majority of the clash with LASK in the Europa League, the Egyptian winger further proved his incredible importance to the Liverpool team after delivering the goal that killed the game in the group stage clash when he was substituted onto the pitch in the dying minutes of the game.
With that being said, it would be no surprise to see the Anfield regulars reprising their roles in the team this afternoon, as taking all three points from West Ham will be crucial for maintaining the much-needed winning momentum in the squad.
