West Ham United would be travelling to Anfield to face Liverpool on Sunday 11th December 2016. Liverpool were flying high in the league until their unexpected loss at the hands of Bournemouth at Dean Court last week, which left them in the 3rd place of the table.
Jürgen Klopp’s side have been the most entertaining team in the league scoring the highest number of goals in the division while the Hammers have been very disappointing losing 8 of their 14 games. Slaven Bilić’s side are loitering towards the wrong end of the table and this game is crucial to the side as a win would bring back a lot of confidence into the squad.
After their wonderful last season, the London club needed to build on their past performances, which didn’t happen but the squad still has the players who can make a difference. Let’s take a look at how West Ham can hurt Liverpool in the game.
Liverpool’s Defence
While Liverpool’s attack has been the strongest in the league, the same can’t be said about their defence. The Reds have looked vulnerable defensively and their last match against Bournemouth was a perfect example of that.
West Ham have struggled themselves to make much impact in the opposition’s penalty box but against Liverpool, they could get plenty of chances to strengthen their grip on the game. The visitors would have to take them when they arrive. Bilić should be pointing out to his strikers that they have more chances of getting on to the scoresheet on this Sunday than usual.
Set Pieces
Despite the poor form of the team, the Hammers have a player of the name of Dimitri Payet in their team who can produce something out of nothing. His moments of pure brilliance have provided the fans of the club with some rare moments of joy this season.
The Frenchman’s dead ball ability is known to everybody and Liverpool’s shot stopper Karius has not looked convincing so far. The best chance of Bilić to get something out of the game would be the set piece situations delivered by Payet. We could easily witness another stupendous free kick or a ball in from the corner spot or the outfield by Payet which will have a goal written all over it during the match.
Underdog Tag
Last season, West Ham were a team who convinced everybody of their quality as they got the results they needed from the crucial fixtures. They did the double over Liverpool in the league scoring three goals at Anfield while keeping a clean sheet.
If they had continued their form of last season this game would have been very difficult to call but with the current form, the visitors are huge underdogs, which might exactly be the thing that helps them produce their best performance. The pressure would be on Liverpool to win the match.
