Liverpool v West Ham: Premier League – live! | Football

Liverpool are almost at full strength, with that fearsome front three out in force tonight. Jordan Henderson is the big absence, the midfielder out for a few weeks with a hamstring strain he suffered last week against Atlético. James Milner had been earmarked for a start, but Liverpool have admitted that he also misses out tonight “due to a slight muscle strain.” Naby Keïta comes in.

Re the team news, it is pretty damning of West Ham’s transfer policy that Jarrod Bowen, Pablo Fornals and Sebastian Haller are all on the bench. That’s £91m of attacking talent, which has been deemed not suited to be fit/good enough, or well enough suited to the defensive system which Moyes intends to play tonight.

I hope they have relegation wage clauses, because the club is in real trouble if they don’t and they go down. West Ham are currently 18th, in the relegation zone, remember.

Do you know who else has got an abysmal record at Anfield? David Moyes. The Scotsman has not won there in 15 attempts with Everton, Manchester United, Sunderland and West Ham.

Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, van Dijk, Robertson, Keita, Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Salah, Firmino, Mané.
Subs: Lovren, Adrian, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Minamino, Lallana, Origi, Matip.

West Ham: Fabianski, Ngakia, Diop, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Rice, Snodgrass, Soucek, Noble, Felipe Anderson, Antonio.
Subs: Balbuena, Zabaleta, Lanzini, Bowen, Fornals, Haller, Randolph.

Referee: Jonathan Moss (County Durham)

“Who do we think is going to beat Liverpool in the league this year? Nobody.”

Not my words, reader, but the words of Sam Allardyce, who was talking into a microphone this very morning. The former West Ham manager, who has an abysmal record at Anfield with the various teams he has managed there, also said he didn’t “think there is any doubt” that he could see some of himself in Diego Simeone, after the Argentinian masterminded Atlético Madrid’s backs-to-the-wall victory over Liverpool last week in the Champions League.

That might spell trouble for West Ham tonight, as Liverpool look to put the record straight. What do we reckon, then? 4-0? 5-0? Six? On paper, this looks like as big a home banker as it could possibly get for Liverpool. The Reds sit top of the Premier League form table, West Ham bottom of it, having taken just two points from the past six games. The London side haven’t won away in the league since November, so you have to praise the Hammers fans that have made the long Monday night trip up to Anfield tonight.

Team news with you imminently. And we should have the first goal of the evening before too long.

Kick-off: 8pm GMT.