It’s back! Liverpool begin their Premier League campaign with a home fixture, for the first time since 2014. The Reds enter the season as second favourites to win the Premier League title, following an impressive transfer window which has seen four new recruits join Jurgen Klopp’s revolution.
Source: liverpoolfc.com
Klopp’s men kick off their season against West Ham, now under the leadership of the man who denied Liverpool the Premier League title in 2014 for Manchester City, Manuel Pellegrini. West Ham are another team who have raised eyebrows through the transfer window, making several additions which bring quality and experience to the side that finished 13th last time out.
This has been an opening day fixture once before, in 2001/02 when Liverpool won 2-1, with Michael Owen getting both goals, and Paolo Di Canio registering a strike for West Ham. Liverpool have only lost once on opening day since 2009, which came in 2012 when Brendan Rodgers lost his first league game 3-0 to West Brom. Since then, the Merseysiders have began the season with narrow wins four times (Stoke 1-0, Southampton 2-1, Stoke 0-1 and Arsenal 3-4) and were on course to make it five in a row last season at Vicarage Road, before Watford equalised deep into injury time to make it 3-3. Klopp will be looking to ensure that his side don’t concede three goals for the third year running. Another interesting strand to the opening day record is Liverpool’s tendency to win by the odd goal, something which has been the order of the day five times in the last ten years. Maybe this will be the year that a win by more than one goal is recorded, something that remarkably hasn’t occurred since 1994, when Roy Evans’ team demolished Crystal Palace 6-1 at Selhurst Park – let’s hope we start that way this weekend!
Our record against the Hammers is mixed. This fixture last season resulted in a 4-1 Liverpool win (the score in both fixtures last campaign) – a game which included Emre Can’s last Liverpool goal, while the Reds’ fearsome front three all netted in a superb Liverpool performance. Prior to this though, Liverpool hadn’t defeated the Hammers at Anfield in three meetings – two draws and a defeat. Liverpool suffered defeats in their last three visits to Upton Park, but have achieved heavy wins in their first two clashes at the London Stadium, since West Ham’s move. Last season was the first time Liverpool have done the double over West Ham since 2013/14, and Sunday’s game is a chance to begin on the road to achieving that feat again.
Source: liverpoolfc.com
The Reds have a few selection headaches ahead of this curtain-raiser, some of which are surrounding injuries, illness and unavailability. Despite Loris Karius retaining the number 1 shirt, it seems pretty certain that Alisson will be the first-choice goalkeeper and will make his competitive debut this weekend. A week ago it appeared that Nathaniel Clyne would start at right back due to Trent Alexander-Arnold’s lack of game time, but with the latter starting the last two pre-season friendlies, it now looks like he will start this match. Virgil Van Dijk played every game of Liverpool’s pre-season and will be at the heart of the defence, but it is his partner where there are major question marks. Dejan Lovren and Ragnar Klavan are both unavailable, while Joe Gomez and Joel Matip have major question marks over their fitness too. This injury crisis at centre back has resulted in academy graduate Nathaniel Phillips, who was heavily involved in pre-season, being the most likely candidate to feature alongside Van Dijk. Marko Grujic and Fabinho both spent time there on Tuesday, and so could be options. At left back, Andy Robertson will be favourite to start, though Alberto Moreno’s strong pre-season form – culminating in him starting as captain against Torino – means that Klopp does have a decision to make. Brazilian signing Fabinho could recover from illness to be involved, but almost certainly won’t start. This opens the door for someone else to play the 6 role, most likely to be Jordan Henderson. While the captain has had hardly any pre-season time, his high amount of game time in Russia, coupled with his natural fitness, should see him through the game. James Milner is likely to be available but may have to settle for a place on the bench. Naby Keita is almost guaranteed to play in the box-to-box role, which leaves one space in the midfield, the most advanced role of the three. Xherdan Shaqiri has looked superb in this position, but the man of the match performance on Tuesday from Gini Wijnaldum makes him favourite to start there. The front three probably picks itself, though it would be harsh for Daniel Sturridge to miss out after six goals in pre-season.
West Ham will start with former Swansea goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski in goal, one of their early summer signings. Manuel Pellegrini is likely to have a decision to make at right back, with his former player Pablo Zabaleta an option. While Zabaleta brings experience, summer signing Ryan Fredericks is maybe the preferred choice, possessing more pace and width than the Argentine. At centre back, Angelo Ogbonna will be partnered with one of two new signings – Issa Diop or Fabian Balbuena. Two strong and imposing young centre backs, Pellegrini has a tough decision to make between the two of them. A similar decision is to be made at left back, where Aaron Cresswell and Arthur Masuaku are the options. Cresswell is the more defensively solid of the two, and Pellegrini may opt for the Englishman to attempt to mark out Mohamed Salah, while Masuaku would be a better choice from an attacking point of view. Moving into midfield, West Ham have a few choices of system available to them. Pellegrini has expressed a desire to play two strikers this season but will perhaps be more inclined to play a conservative 4-3-3 on Sunday. Declan Rice could feature in front of the back four, with West Ham legend Mark Noble ahead of him, with the focus on Jack Wilshere, amazingly captured on a free transfer, to provide creativity from midfield. On the wings, new signings Felipe Anderson and Andriy Yarmolenko will start and are the pick of the Hammers’ new additions. These two will flank West Ham’s star man from last year, Marko Arnautovic, with Javier Hernandez, Michail Antonio and Lucas Perez all options for the front three spots, depending on the system Manuel Pellegrini chooses to employ.
Liverpool were unbeaten at home all last season and will be looking to repeat that success by starting positively this weekend. This will be a difficult game for Liverpool to begin the season with. West Ham will be confident and could try to attack Liverpool, which may suit Jurgen Klopp’s counter attacking style. Overall Liverpool should have too much firepower for an inexperienced West Ham defence, and while we won’t be able to name quite our strongest XI, the fact that the front three are all available for selection, plus some good attacking options on the bench, means that Liverpool will have enough to record an opening day victory. West Ham are a dangerous side though, especially with their array of new faces, and under Manuel Pellegrini will pose a very real threat to Liverpool. A lot will depend on how makeshift Jurgen Klopp’s centre backs are, and how well they deal with what West Ham can muster. Liverpool’s full backs are important, as a lot of West Ham’s play will come from wide areas, if Pellegrini’s time at Man City is anything to go by.
Predicted XIs
Liverpool: (4-3-3) Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Keita, Wijnaldum; Salah, Firmino, Mane.
Subs: Karius, Clyne, Phillips, Milner, Lallana, Shaqiri, Sturridge.
West Ham: Fabianski; Fredericks, Diop, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Rice, Noble, Wilshere; Anderson, Arnautovic, Yarmolenko.
Subs: Adrian, Balbuena, Masuaku, Obiang, Antonio, Perez, Hernandez.
Score Prediction
Liverpool 2-1 West Ham.
Daniel Daykin
Latest posts by Daniel Daykin (see all)
- Liverpool Loan Watch: March 2021 - April 6, 2021
- Liverpool Loan Watch: February 2021 - March 8, 2021
- Liverpool Loan Watch: January 2021 - February 6, 2021
Interesting article; rightly highlighting a headache for Klopp in relation to injury and illness. I hope Sturridge and Shaqiri will get some game time.