*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change
Liverpool picked up the first silverware of 2021/22 last weekend, progressed in the FA Cup in midweek and now look to apply a little pressure on Manchester City in the league ahead of their derby with United on Sunday afternoon.
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They couldn’t have asked for much better opponents here either. Not because West Ham aren’t having a decent season of their own, but because the Hammers’ record at Anfield is spectacularly poor and David Moyes’ teams always seem to struggle when travelling to face any of the Premier League big boys.
5:30pm: Liverpool v West Ham United
Sky Sports Main Event
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Handicap betting: Liverpool to win -1
West Ham did pick up a League Cup win at Old Trafford earlier this season, in fairness, but since Moyes took charge they have four draws and 15 defeats in the Premier League at the homes of the established big six clubs.
What makes this all the more frustrating is that they have earned nine points in total against those teams in 2021/22, thanks to home wins over Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham, and none of the ‘other 14’ sides has amassed as many points in such fixtures this season.
And though their results away from the London Stadium have generally been good – they go into the weekend with the sixth best away record in the division – it’s still a huge ask for them to take anything here.
It’s hard not to wonder if having a small squad is starting to take a toll on West Ham. Moyes has made an average of just 1.4 changes to his starting XI between league matches this season, the fewest for any side in the top flight.
This may be brought into sharper focus by the FA Cup games in midweek. Where Moyes made only two changes from the win over Wolves for the defeat at Southampton, Jurgen Klopp made 10 changes to his Carabao Cup final side against Norwich.
With the Reds having a close to fully fit squad and few of their top men playing on Wednesday, this should only go one way: home win. Liverpool look capable of beating the handicap to win by at least two goals too.
Both teams to score: Yes
Liverpool may not have it all their own way though. West Ham have scored in four of the five league meetings at Anfield in the Klopp era, netting two goals twice for good measure.
And to compare them to a recent opponent for the Reds, they’ve had as many shots as Chelsea away from home this season, and two more shots on target.
This goes some way to explaining why they are top of the league for matches in which both teams scored this season, with that having occurred in 17 of their 27 matches.
While Liverpool inevitably have a good defensive record on home turf, Brighton, Newcastle and Norwich (twice) – none of whom have scored that often this season – have all got on the scoresheet there in this campaign.
West Ham can join them to ensure both teams score, and Klopp’s boys will have to work a little harder for their victory.
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Over 12.5 corners
With Liverpool and West Ham first and joint-third respectively in the Premier League for set piece goals, they’ll both be hoping for plenty of corners.
This will be particularly true for the visitors, as they scored twice from them when winning the reverse fixture in November.
But they may have to think of another way to hurt the Reds, as three of the last five away teams at Anfield in league matches haven’t had a single corner.
West Ham should do better than that, and with Liverpool set to launch wave after wave of attack as they always do at home, there should be at least 13 corners in total.
Under 2.5 cards
For some reason, there’s rarely many cards when these teams face each other. Liverpool players have been booked just twice in the last six meetings, and only three times in the last five on their patch.
Even West Ham have only had eight in that quintet of Anfield clashes, so they’ve been pretty well behaved too. It’s a far cry from the Hammers’ 3-0 win in the final weeks of Brendan Rodgers’ Reds reign, when both sides went down to 10 men.
The Hammers’ league matches in 2021/22 have averaged the fewest total bookings in the division, and Liverpool are only just behind them.
As match referee Jonathan Moss tends to keep his cards in his pocket, adding ‘under 2.5 cards’ to our Bet Builder looks a sensible choice.
Liverpool v West Ham Tips
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