Premier League: Liverpool to Show Hammers Who’s Boss!

Premier League: Liverpool to Show Hammers Who’s Boss!

West Ham United vs Liverpool

Liverpool’s title challenge got back on track with a victory over Spurs on Thursday and they’re hoping for more capital fun at the weekend when they head to East London where they’ll face West Ham.

Jurgen Klopp’s champions have had a difficult few weeks but they looked back to their old selves at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last night, breaking a goalless streak of four games in style.

Meanwhile, West Ham are on a run of six consecutive victories in all competitions, breaking into the top four of the Premier League with a midweek win over Crystal Palace, only to see Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool take the place back by beating Spurs.

Head coach David Moyes was helicoptered into the London Stadium midway through last season to save the Hammers from relegation, but this time he has his sights set higher.

Talking Points

Soucek and Rice are a top class double act

The Hammers’ Premier League 2021 results have been nothing short of outstanding from the moment they won away at Everton on New Years Day.

Three 1-0 victories over the Toffees, Stockport County, and Burnley gave Moyes’ team some momentum and they have scored more freely since as they beat West Brom 2-1, Doncaster Rovers 4-0, and then they dispatched the Eagles 3-2 on Wednesday.

That last win was more comfortable than the score suggests. After going down to an early goal, the Hammers coasted into a 3-1 lead before conceding a 97^th minute consolation.

Midfielder Tomas Soucek has become West Ham’s star man, controlling the pace of midfield and weighing in with seven goals and two of them came against the Eagles.

Alongside Declan Rice, the Czech star is part of one of the most accomplished midfield pairings in the league.

Still only 22 years of age, Rice has made over 100 appearances for the Hammers and 13 for England and he’s only going to get better.

With the experienced Michail Antonio leading the line up front, the West Ham team has a nice, balanced feel about it now.

On the flanks, Pablo Fornals and Jarred Bowen are adding pace and guile to the attacking threat, while wingback Aaron Cresswell has made five assists and the addition of Craig Dawson at centre-back has organised the West Ham defence.

Moyes is still looking to strengthen and the Hammers have just agreed a loan, at a cost of 1.5m to bring Manchester United midfielder Jesse Lingard to the London Stadium.

If registered today, he could be in line for a debut against Liverpool.

The deal was delayed as the two clubs haggled over the fee, but Lingard was determined to join his former boss in Moyes after turning down Newcastle United and West Brom.

Liverpool are back

There were heavy sighs of relief breathed throughout the red half of Merseyside when Liverpool beat Spurs as they scored for the first time in eight hours of Premier League football, but it had been coming.

The Reds were outstanding throughout the 2019/20 campaign and ran Manchester City mightily close in 2018/19, and a four-match winless streak doesn’t make you a poor side overnight.

Confidence may have been dwindling though, after the normally ruthless Red attack had unleashed over 70 shots in the four previously fruitless games.

Captain Jordan Henderson made a comeback in Thursday night’s clash with Spurs and his leadership was evident as the Reds poured forward with more purpose.

The Premier League 2021 betting odds are heavily stacked in favour of Manchester City. But with the Sky Blues heading to Anfield next week, Klopp wants his team hitting form.

And to see strikers Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane both hit the target at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, that will have pleased him to no end.

He still has a worry over the absence of centre-back pairing Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez, but he can sleep easy knowing that his forwards are firing again.

History

Liverpool have had much the better of the head-to-head meetings between these two sides. They’ve won 31 to West Ham’s 10, while there have been 11 draws.

The Reds have won the last three – with the most recent a 2-1 victory at Anfield in October when Mo Salah and Diogo Jota scored for Liverpool after Fornals had given the Hammers an early lead.

Liverpool’s Sadio Mane in action with Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Winks [/caption]ify;”>In fact, Klopp’s side has won five of the last six clashes against West Ham and the other being a draw.

And after Thursday night’s victory, their away record looks a little better at three wins, five draws, and two defeats.

Betting Tip

1X2 Liverpool @ 1.80

The SBOTOP odds of 3.88 on a Hammers victory or the draw at 3.50 doesn’t look too shabby when you consider their recent run of form.

And they almost seem to be happier in an empty London Stadium where they can play without a small, but vociferous group of their fans getting on their backs.

But I saw something in Liverpool’s victory over Spurs which makes me lean towards a Liverpool win over a side they love to dominate.

If you disagree, you can get odds of 1.86 on the double chance of West Ham or a draw.

Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.

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