On Thursday, 25th April, as part of the 35th Premier League tour, West Ham will host Liverpool at its home ground. Liverpool have suffered two consecutive defeats against Fulham and Crystal Palace, respectively, which has significantly derailed their opportunity to claim the championship. As for the home team, West Ham, they too are undergoing a crisis and it's highly doubtful they'll make it into the European cups.
West Ham: Areola; Coufal, Zouma, Aguerd, Emerson; Alvarez, Soucek; Kudus, Ward-Prowse, Paqueta; Antonio.
Liverpool: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Quansa, Van Dijk, Robertson; Szoboszlai, Endo, MacAllister; Salah, Nunez, Dias.
Currently placing eighth in the Premier League table and trailing sixth place Manchester United by five points, West Ham's chances of qualifying for the European cups are slim. In recent weeks, the Hammers have been markedly struggling: over the last 7 tours, they have secured only one victory, played to a draw thrice, and endured three losses. After triumphing over Wolverhampton (2:1), the Londoners fell to Fulham (0:2) at home, and Crystal Palace the past weekend (5:2). West Ham conceded three goals in the first 20 minutes, after which Jean-Philippe Mateta scored a brace, completely nullifying any hopes of a comeback for the opponents. It's noteworthy that the hosts have only won one of their last eight home matches in the championship, beating Brentford 4:2 in February.
In addition to this, David Moyes's charges were eliminated at the quarter-final stage of the Europa League by Bayer Leverkusen. Jarrod Bowen (15 goals and 5 assists in UCL) and key defenders Aguero and Mavropanos are all out due to injury. Michail Antonio (5 goals and 2 assists), who has scored in the last two matches, might return to the attacking frontline; whereas Ward-Prowse (6 goals and 7 assists), Kudus (7 goals and 4 assists) and Paqueta (4 goals and 6 assists) are to take their usual midfield positions. Ben Johnson and Aaron Cresswell will be expected to join the defensive flanks, while the midfield's reliability falls to Kalvin Phillips, Thomas Soucek, and Edson Alvarez. Alphonse Areola, after recently recovering from an injury, will likely replace veteran Lukasz Fabianski as the goalkeeper.
Liverpool sits only at the second position in the Premier League table, three points behind leading Arsenal. The gap could widen if Manchester City wins its match Thursday evening. Therefore, the Merseyside club has practically lost its chances at the champions title, all due to a dismal performance in April. The Reds have accumulated only one win in their last four matches, with two losses. After conceding at Anfield to Crystal Palace (0:1), Jurgen Klopp's charges overcame Fulham (3:1) last weekend. Unfortunately for the team's supporters, the Merseysiders stumbled once again this week – this time against Everton (2:0) in a derby where Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin were the scorers. It's interesting to note that Liverpool, under the German coach, has won more Premier League matches against Crystal Palace (13), than against West Ham (12).
Liverpool was also pinned as a favourite to win the Europa League, but they were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Atalanta (3:1 on aggregate). Worthy to mention that Diogo Jota (10 goals and 3 assists), experienced players Matip and Thiago Alcantara, as well as promising right-back Bradley, are all sidelined due to injuries. Adding to the uncertainty is Dutch player Gakpo (6 goals and 4 assists), who missed the previous round for personal reasons. The attacking trio might stay the same: Salah (17 goals and 9 assists), Luis Dias (8 goals and 4 assists), and Darwin Nunez (11 goals and 8 assists) are responsible for creativity upfront, while Szoboszlai, Endo and MacAllister will fill the midfield roles.
West Ham has suffered 12 losses in their last 14 Premier League encounters against the Reds. The first leg of the match was a landslide victory for Liverpool: 5:1.
Victory is crucial for both clubs as they are not in their best form and will strive to regain their supporters' trust. West Ham still has chances to qualify for the European cups, whereas the Reds will comprehensively fall out from the championship title battle in case of a mishap. Nevertheless, even accounting for their mediocre condition, the visitors outclass their opponents – I place my bet on a win for the Merseysiders.
# | Team | P | W | D | L | GD | G | PTS | |
1 | Manchester City | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 9:2 | 9 | |
2 | Liverpool | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7:0 | 9 | |
3 | Brighton | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 6:2 | 7 | |
4 | Arsenal | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 5:1 | 7 | |
5 | Newcastle | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4:2 | 7 | |
6 | Brentford | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5:4 | 6 | |
7 | Aston Villa | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4:4 | 6 | |
8 | Bournemouth | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5:4 | 5 | |
9 | Nottingham | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3:2 | 5 | |
10 | Tottenham | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6:3 | 4 | |
11 | Chelsea | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7:5 | 4 | |
12 | Fulham | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3:3 | 4 | |
13 | West Ham | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -1 | 4:5 | 3 | |
14 | Manchester Utd | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -3 | 2:5 | 3 | |
15 | Leicester | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -2 | 3:5 | 1 | |
16 | Crystal Palace | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -3 | 2:5 | 1 | |
17 | Ipswich | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -5 | 2:7 | 1 | |
18 | Wolves | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -6 | 3:9 | 1 | |
19 | Southampton | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -4 | 1:5 | 0 | |
20 | Everton | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -8 | 2:10 | 0 | |
1 | Newcastle | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3:1 | 6 | |
2 | Brentford | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5:2 | 6 | |
3 | Arsenal | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3:1 | 4 | |
4 | Manchester City | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4:1 | 3 | |
5 | Liverpool | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2:0 | 3 | |
6 | Brighton | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2:1 | 3 | |
7 | Tottenham | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4:0 | 3 | |
8 | Fulham | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2:1 | 3 | |
9 | Manchester Utd | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:3 | 3 | |
10 | Nottingham | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2:2 | 2 | |
11 | Bournemouth | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1:1 | 1 | |
12 | Chelsea | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1:3 | 1 | |
13 | Leicester | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2:3 | 1 | |
14 | Ipswich | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1:3 | 1 | |
15 | Aston Villa | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:2 | 0 | |
16 | West Ham | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2:5 | 0 | |
17 | Crystal Palace | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:2 | 0 | |
18 | Wolves | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2:6 | 0 | |
19 | Southampton | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:1 | 0 | |
20 | Everton | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2:6 | 0 | |
1 | Manchester City | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5:1 | 6 | |
2 | Liverpool | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5:0 | 6 | |
3 | Aston Villa | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4:2 | 6 | |
4 | Brighton | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4:1 | 4 | |
5 | Bournemouth | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4:3 | 4 | |
6 | Arsenal | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2:0 | 3 | |
7 | Nottingham | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1:0 | 3 | |
8 | Chelsea | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6:2 | 3 | |
9 | West Ham | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2:0 | 3 | |
10 | Newcastle | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1:1 | 1 | |
11 | Tottenham | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2:3 | 1 | |
12 | Fulham | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1:2 | 1 | |
13 | Crystal Palace | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2:3 | 1 | |
14 | Wolves | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1:3 | 1 | |
15 | Brentford | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:2 | 0 | |
16 | Manchester Utd | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:2 | 0 | |
17 | Leicester | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:2 | 0 | |
18 | Ipswich | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:4 | 0 | |
19 | Southampton | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1:4 | 0 | |
20 | Everton | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:4 | 0 |
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