Preview: Liverpool vs. West Ham United: lineups, team news and prediction

On Wednesday night, Liverpool’s Anfield headquarters will host the fourth and final EFL Cup quarterfinal match, which pits the Reds against West Ham United in an all-Premier League match.

To reach this round, Jurgen Klopp’s team overcame Leicester City and Bournemouth, while the Irons surprised Arsenal in the fourth round following a close victory against Lincoln City in the first round.

Match Preview

In Liverpool’s premier league match against Manchester United, which saw Anfield host its largest-ever attendance in the competition’s history, one desired record was broken, but Klopp’s team also earned a piece of unwanted history as the Red Devils managed to escape with a point.

Because to the Red Devils’ tenacious defence and their own lack of killer instinct in the final third, Liverpool had 34 shots on goal and failed to beat Andre Onana once, the most attempts in a Premier League game since records became available in 2003–04.

The top left-hand corner scoreline did not support Liverpool’s 11-game winning home run in the 2023–24 season, despite the manager, a bewildered Klopp, going so far as to say that his team’s overall performance was more dominant than their 7–0 annihilation of Man United last season.

Liverpool, who are currently second in the standings behind Arsenal going into this Saturday’s tantalising top-of-the-table match against the Gunners, will put an immediate stop to any talk of a title fight as they look to advance towards an unprecedented tenth EFL Cup victory. They won their ninth and most recent title in 2022.

The Reds have only lost once in their last six quarterfinal matches, and that was on a historic day in the 2019–20 campaign when an XI made up entirely of academy players—Liverpool’s youngest starting lineup ever—was destroyed 5-0 by Aston Villa at this stage while Klopp’s senior team was playing in the Club World Cup.

Although West Ham’s victory in the Europa Conference League did not secure the Irons a position in the current Club World Cup—that honour went to Manchester City, the winners of the Champions League—David Moyes’s team might be just 270 minutes away from adding yet another trophy to the collection.

Due to his Everton affiliation, Moyes was certain to face hostility upon arriving. However, in midweek, he helped West Ham advance to the round of 16 of the Europa League with a 2-0 victory over Freiburg. On Sunday, the Hammers completed their quest for redemption following their horrific 5-0 loss to Fulham when Wolverhampton Wanderers visited.

As the second Brazilian to set up three goals in one Premier League match, Lucas Paqueta, a prolific playmaker, joined former Liverpool fan favourite Roberto Firmino. He assisted Mohammed Kudus twice in the first half and then set up Jarrod Bowen for a bike goal to cap off a comprehensive capital crushing.

The fourth-round EFL Cup match between West Ham and Arsenal had the London Stadium bouncing as well. Moyes’s team had shocked Arsenal with a close victory over Lincoln City and were making their second straight trip to the quarterfinals. However, if they are to go farther than the eighth round, they will need to break their last-eight curse and get to Wembley.

In fact, West Ham has dropped all three of their quarterfinal matches since making it to the 2013–14 edition’s semifinals, where they were destroyed 9–0 on aggregate by Manchester City. In September, they lost 3–1 at Anfield to Liverpool, their fourth straight loss to the Reds.

Team news

After Thiago Alcantara (hip), Stefan Bajcetic (calf), and Alexis Mac Allister (knee) suffered injuries, Klopp was obliged to substitute Ryan Gravenberch from the game just after the hour mark against Man United due to the Dutchman’s apparent hamstring problem.

when Mac Allister may be able to make a comeback, assistant Pep Lijnders has disclosed that Gravenberch was only fatigued and might play on Wednesday. Ben Doak, on the other hand, sustained a significant knee injury when playing for the Under-21s over the weekend and will now require surgery.

The Reds’ injury list continues to expand with the addition of Andrew Robertson (shoulder), Joel Matip (ACL), and Diogo Jota (muscle). Despite this, Klopp will continue to make plenty of changes, giving Joe Gomez, Harvey Elliott, and Cody Gakpo chances to shine.

In the meantime, not much has happened in the empty West Ham treatment bay. Michail Antonio, who suffered a knee injury, is the only patient there, and it will likely take him a few weeks to return to first team action.

After suffering a blow to the hip, Edson Alvarez was able to play the entire ninety minutes against Wolves, where Lukasz Fabianski was selected to start in goal again instead of Alphonse Areola, even though the latter had just recovered from a wrist injury.

It’s possible that Moyes may stick with Fabianski on Wednesday before adding Areola back into his Premier League starting lineup. Given the busy schedule, any adjustments that need to be made could help Danny Ings’s chances of getting started against his former team.

Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Kelleher; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Quansah, Tsimikas; Elliott, Endo, Jones; Salah, Gakpo, Diaz

West Ham United possible starting lineup:
Fabianski; Kehrer, Mavropanos, Aguerd, Cresswell; Soucek, Ward-Prowse; Kudus, Fornals, Benrahma; Ings

We Predict: Liverpool 2-1 West Ham United

The two managers will have more pressing issues to deal with in 2024, but a few marginal players from each team should give it their all on the Anfield pitch in an effort to win over Klopp and Moyes, setting up a thrilling match.

Liverpool’s lacklustre performance on Sunday was undoubtedly an exception given their prolific goal total at home this season. Should they continue to do this, they should be guaranteed a spot in the EFL Cup last four, although an impressive West Ham team will undoubtedly put up a fight.