Preview: Liverpool vs. West Ham
After excellent starts to both their Premier League and Champions league campaigns, Liverpool kick off their third competition of the year.
Liverpool vs West Ham
| Wednesday, September 25th |
Carabao Cup | Anfield
8PM BST / 3PM EST
Liverpool sit second in the Premier League, with the best defensive record and goal differential in the competition, and kicked off their Champions League campaign with a dominant win at one of Europe’s historic giants, so while stakes of the Carabao Cup might not get fans up like the other two potential trophies do, expectations will nonetheless be high, as they host West Ham at Anfield.
The Hammers haven’t been doing great so far this year, with a measly four points ensuring they sit 14th in the table after five games, but they did make it to the third round of the Carabao Cup after scraping a 1-0 win over Bournemouth courtesy of a late Jarrod Bowen strike.
Having ended their five-year David Moyes project, under which the Scot oversaw West Ham’s drop from top six contenders to perennial mid-table dwellers, the London club have gone continental, appointing former Spain and Real Madrid manager Julen Lopetegui to the chair in the summer.
The Spaniard is potentially looking at a fully fit squad tomorrow, as Niclas Füllkrug appears to have recovered from a calf injury just in time to contribute in the competition that likely serves as the club’s most plausible avenue for success this season.
Projected Liverpool Lineup (4-3-3)
Kelleher; Bradley, Quansah, Gomez, Tsimikas; Endo, Jones, Nyoni; Gakpo, Jota, Chiesa
With no insight into how Arne Slot views the merits of the Carabao Cup, it is difficult to predict how many changes we will see from the side that dispatched Bournemouth on Saturday, although one would expect a few.
Given the depth in quality at the manager’s disposal, though, even a fully changed starting XI would constitute a upper-echelon Premier League side, and thus, significant rotation seems likely.
Caoimhin Kelleher will remain in goal as Alisson continue to recover from a minor injury, while a start for Conor Bradley as replacement for Trent Alexander-Arnold feels sensible. A centre-back pairing of Joe Gomez and Jarell Quansah, and another start for Kostas Tsimikas should round out the back four.
In midfield, Curtis Jones looked back to his press resistant best in a cameo on Saturday and should get the nod, while Wataru Endo could be in line for his first start of the season. Harvey Elliott’s injury absence means the third midfield slot will either be filled by a youngster, or one of Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai or Ryan Gravenberch will be called upon to feature for the seventh time this season.
Up top, Diogo Jota could be in line for a return to the XI alongside Cody Gakpo, while Federico Chiesa could make his full debut for the club.
What the Managers Said
Arne Slot: “I think every player is hungry to get playing time. There’s so much comp in this team. We’ve got so many good players. They play for a great club in front of great supporters. Who would not want to play in a game like this.”
Julen Lopetegui: “Liverpool is a big team and a big team around the world. I think they are managing this year with a good coach. He is showing that he can continue the work of the last [few] years with his style.”
The Officials
Referee: Andrew Madley
Assistant referees: James Mainwaring, Paul Hodskinson
Fourth official: Leigh Doughty
Kickoff is set for 8PM GMT/3PM EST tomorrow, and television listings for the match can be found on LiveSoccerTV.
In the meantime, and as always, we’ll be keeping you updated with all the buildup to the game, including team news as it’s released, our live matchday thread, and post-match recaps from The Liverpool Offside staff. If you want to join the discussion, sign up for an SB Nation account to have your say on the action as it happens.
Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com
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