England Premier League
Saturday 31st October 2020
Kick off at 5:30pm GMT
Venue: Anfield
Match Preview:
Liverpool have not been firing on all cylinders following one win in their last 3 games but they are still 2nd and the only reason they are not in 1st position is because of goal difference over great rivals Everton. Indeed a quick glance at the league table and also noticing that Aston Villa are 3rd you could be fooled for thinking that it is the 1980s.
The champions were not brilliant last weekend as they weathered to a victory over Sheffield United at Anfield but they did get the job done and were 1-0 down in that game before coming back and winning 2-1. They put in the same sort of display in midweek in the Champions League when they beat Midtjylland 2-0. Jurgen Klopp’s team were expected to get a big win and an easy game but the half time score was 0-0 and it took a Diogo Jota effort to break the deadlock after the hour mark and a Mohamed Salah penalty in the 90th minute to seal the win.
Still if one could criticise Liverpool and say they are not playing good, that could be dangerous given how they are 2nd in their domesic league and well on course to qualify from their Champions League group. The Reds will be the favourites to be have at West Ham who traditionally do not travel well to Anfield and the clear motivation would be that if they win they would go top of the league at least until Everton play on Sunday.
West Ham have gone through a very tough fixture list and it would have been easy to predict that the Londoners would not have picked up any points against the likes of Wolves, Tottenham, Leicester and Manchester City, but in each game they did just that and they have played very good football along the way, so good in fact that they are already a totally different team to the one that started the campaign with a loss to Newcastle at home.
They do have bad news in the fact that they have lost Michail Antonio for at least a month with his hamstring. He was on top form and has scored 3 goals so far. The Hammers come into this game in 12th place and have gone their last four games unbeaten.
Team News:
Liverpool: Fabinho has a muscle injury and was due to miss this game, whilst he still may the news has been encouraging and he is now 50/50 to make this match. Naby Keita could be back after recovering from Coronavirus. Joel Matip has been pencilled in to return for this match after a knock. Thiago Alcantara is touch and go after his heavy knock v Everton has ruled him out of the last two games but he could face a late test.
West Ham: Michail Antonio has a hamstring and could miss the next four weeks although an update from his manager has said it may now be shorter, he is ruled out of this match. He is the only injury concern for the Hammers ahead of this tie.
Liverpool vs West Ham Head to Head:
Last season Liverpool won this fixture 3-2.
West Ham have not beaten Liverpool in the last 8 league meetings going back to 2016.
There is a 70% chance to see over 2.5 goals.
Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane have scored 9 goals past Liverpool in the last five league meetings.
Liverpool vs West Ham Prediction:
The obvious choice here is a home win and yet Liverpool have not yet looked like the Liverpool from last season and West Ham have looked very good. The Hammers will rightly be the outsiders to get anything here but they have been playing such good football that they can come here without the fans and really give Liverpool a game - what do West Ham have to lose? And David Moyes will be under no pressure at all, this will be an expected loss away from home. However Moyes will understand that losing 1-0 or 2-0 is going to be better than a 5 of 6 goal whitewash and we think the club will prepare well in defence and have plenty of chances themselves.
We are tempted to back the Hammers on the handicap given their current form, however the loss of Antonio is a big blow for them, so the sensible money have to be on Liverpool even at pretty short odds. Salah likes scoring against West Ham and he is on form so backing him to score anytime also looks like a solid choice. Liverpool should have enough to win the game but at short odds we will use the -1 asian handicap to increase the odds at no extra risk.
Liverpool vs West Ham Betting Tips:
Asian handicap (-1 Liverpool) at 1.56
Anytime goalscorer: Mohamed Salah at 1.73
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