Liverpool vs West Ham: Preview and Prediction

Sunday 12th August 2018

England Premier League
Sunday 12th August 2018
Kick off at 1.30pm BST
Venue: Anfield

Match Preview:

The frustration of another failed league campaign after some brilliant individual performances and a Champions League final loss has meant Liverpool spending almost £200m in the transfer market to bring in the added quality that manager Jurgen Klopp believes his team will need.

Goal keeper Alisson has been brought in from Roma for almost £60m plus add ons, this was a record until recently when Chelsea broke that with the signing of Kepa. Naby Keita has been brought in for £52m from RB Leipzig. Fabinho looks a steal for £39m from Monaco and Xherdan Shaqiri is good value for £13.5m from Stoke although i'm not convinced he'll get much game time.

The money spent means that Klopp has put himself under pressure to win his first trophy with the club, but Liverpool should be able to mount a title challenge. They are scoring goals as evidenced in pre season when they netted 27 times in 9 games. Including wins over Manchester United 4-1 and Napoli 5-0.

West Ham are looking on paper at least to have their most exciting season in years with the appointment of former Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini. And they have been active in the transfer market too capturing the exciting winger Felipe Anderson for £40m from Lazio, which has raised eyebrows. They have also bought Andriy Yarmolenko from Dortmund for £17.5m and shored up defence with splashing out £22m on Toulouse’s Issa Diop. Arsenal’s Jack Wilshire came on a free, which could be a great signing if he can stay fit.

The Hammers lost 1 pre season game and went undefeated in their last six including a draw against Mainz and a win against Angers.

Liverpool vs West Ham Team News:

Liverpool: James Milner is a doubt with a head injury. Oxlade Chamberlain will miss most if not all of the season due to a knee injury.

West Ham: Andy Carroll will miss 3 months of the season.

Liverpool vs West Ham Head to Head:

The last time the teams played here Liverpool won 4-1.

Liverpool have scored 12 goals against West Ham in their last 3 meetings.

West Ham have won once at Anfield this century.

Liverpool vs West Ham Prediction:

Let’s make no mistake these are exciting times for West Ham but they are unlucky to have to play Liverpool at Anfield in the first game of the season. The Reds look hungry and up for challenging for the league title and they have quality all over the field. Mohamed Salah may have had a quiet World Cup but he won’t have a quiet Premier League campaign. West Ham should play well but still be outclassed in this game.

Liverpool vs West Ham Betting Tips:

Liverpool to score 3+ goals at 1.91

First goalscorer: Mohamed Salah for Liverpool at 3.25