RefereeKevin Friend
AssistantsS Child
C Hatzidakis
4th OfficialP Tierney
It isn’t a glamour fixture in any way shape or form but it is one Liverpool fans should look forward too, West Ham have never beaten Liverpool at Anfield in the Premier League era, since the turn of the millennium the Hammers have only recorded 3 wins against Liverpool and you have to go back to September 1963 to find the last time West Ham left Anfield with all 3 points courtesy of a 2-1 win with goals from future world cup final heroes, Martin Peters and Geoff Hurst, West Ham of course being the only CLUB in England to have won the world cup you know, Bobby Moore of course captained England in 1966 when West Ham won the Jules Rimet cup.
Anyway times continue to change as Liverpool will play their second home game of the season and for the first time in 2015-6 will kick off 3pm on a Saturday. Both clubs have undergone changes on and off the pitch, as work continues on Liverpool’s new Main Stand, new signings like Roberto Firmino will be pushing for a first start at Anfield and there is also the possibility that strikers Divock Origi and Danny Ings will make their home debuts whilst fellow new man Christian Benteke will look to continue as he left off against Bournemouth when he marked his home debut with a goal.
Brendan Rodgers survived the summer but in the opposite dugout Sam Allardyce did not and he was replaced by former West Ham defender Slaven Bilic, the Hammers themselves are working on their home but in a different way to us as they will move to the Olympic Stadium in London next season having played for over a century at Upton Park which will sadly be no more.
Bilic’s signings include Irish international goalkeeper Darren Randolph from Birmingham, Spanish midfielder Pedro Obiang on a free from Sampdoria, Carl Jenkinson again joins on loan from Arsenal at right back, another loan signing is Manuel Lanzini, the Argentine midfielder is on loan from Al Jazira in the United Arab Emirates.
The two most high profile signings are defender Angelo Ogbonna from Juventus and Marseille attacking midfielder Dimitri Payet, the French international cost £10m and big things are expected of him having scored a respectable 15 goals in 83 appearances, Payet also made numerous assists and the Hammers reaped early dividends on the opening day when Payet impressed in a 2-0 win at Arsenal courtesy of goals from Cheikou Kouyate and Mauro Zarate.
After the dramatic win at Arsenal, Slaven Bilic’s side came back down to earth in their first home game of the season when Payet and co couldn’t prevent a 2-1 defeat to Leicester City, in injury time goalkeeper Adrian was also sent off. It was a harsh reality check for not only Bilic but also young defender Reece Oxford, the 16 year old stunned everybody with a brilliant opening day performance at Arsenal but he was well and truly brought back down to earth against Leicester and found himself taken off at half time.
If it was any consolation to the youngster, the defence went from bad to downright shit at home to Bournemouth next time out. New £7.5m defender Ogbonna was hooked before half time and he wasn’t even the worst, left back Aaron Cresswell was at fault for two goals and although the Hammers would fight back from 2-0 down to level things up at 2-2 the defence continued to implode, case in point when Carl Jenkinson took an hour to try clear a ball and was skinned by Max Gradel who he then pulled to the ground resulting in the Hammers 5th red card of the season. Bournemouth’s pace and movement caused problems all afternoon and Callum Wilson in particular exemplified this with a hat-trick to make it 4-2 (from the the resulting penalty) although West Ham did pull a goal back through Maiga they were beaten for the second home game in a row.
Liverpool meanwhile go into the game after a positive start to the season which has seen their much criticized backline concede no goals in 3 games and pick up a respectable 7 points.
In the premier league games that Liverpool have hosted against West Ham, we have won 14 of the 19 fixtures and are of course unbeaten. In that time the most memorable fixture between the two was not in the league but in the 2006 FA Cup final when Liverpool recovered from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits to drag the game to penalties before recording a 3-1 shootout victory. The game is one of the finest FA Cup finals in recent history and was a fitting end to the years the cup final was played in Cardiff.
It is of course remembered for 3 shootout penalty saves by Reds Keeper Pepe Reina and of course the stunning performance by Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard who having already scored a cracking goal (early in the second half) he then blasted a 35 yard volley through a sea of bodies into the bottom corner in the final minute of normal time to make it 3-3. The final will forever be remembered as the Gerrard final.
Last season saw Liverpool win this fixture 2-0 with goals from Raheem Sterling and the returning Daniel Sturridge who was making his comeback from injury number 9 of 21 he has suffered since joining the club. Sturridge is back in training for Liverpool but don’t expect to see him line up here.
West Ham also have a very worrying selection problem with goalkeeper Adrian suspended, Carl Jenkinson will also be suspended while upfront Enner Valencia, Mauro Zarate and former Liverpool striker Andy Carroll are all injured. The crisis upfront has lead to talk they are trying to push through a loan deal for Spurs striker Emmanuel Adebayor and Juventus striker Simone Zaza (was he in the Lion King? oh sorry that was Zazu).
Liverpool are without Daniel Sturridge and Joe Allen whilst Adam Lallana is unlikely to recover in time from the knock which ruled him out of the Arsenal game, Jordan Henderson is also a major doubt.
10 points from 4 games would be the ideal start to the season for Liverpool and at least for now remove any lingering doubt about the future of manager Brendan Rodgers, the West Ham defence will either come out fighting with a point to prove or hopefully crumble again. Let’s give it to them!
