Nikola Vlasic and Andriy Yarmolenko available for West Ham, while Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino has been ruled out for at least a month; watch West Ham vs Liverpool live on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event from 4pm on Sunday; kick-off 4.30pm
Friday 5 November 2021 16:23, UK
Team news, stats and prediction ahead of West Ham vs Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday; kick-off 4.30pm.
Nikola Vlasic and Andriy Yarmolenko will rejoin the West Ham squad ahead of their Premier League clash against Liverpool.
Both players were left at home for the Europa League game in Belgium on Thursday due to minor injury concerns but it was only a precautionary measure with a hectic fixture schedule ahead.
Hammers boss David Moyes made seven changes against Genk. Lukasz Fabianski will resume in goal while Angelo Ogbonna, Kurt Zouma, Tomas Soucek, Said Benrahma, Jarrod Bowen and Pablo Fornals could all also return to the starting line-up.
Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino has been ruled out for at least a month with a hamstring injury.
The Brazil international joins midfielders Naby Keita and James Milner (both hamstring) and Curtis Jones (eye) and centre-back Joe Gomez (calf) on the sidelines.
Midfielder Fabinho will start his first Premier League match in a month after making his comeback from a knee problem against Atletico Madrid in midweek.
West Ham vs Liverpool is live on Sky Sports Premier League from 4pm on Sunday; kick-off 4.30pm. Sky Sports customers can watch in-game clips in the live match blog on the Sky Sports website and app. Highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel shortly after the final whistle.
Watch all the post-match analysis and interviews on Sky Sports Premier League, plus read the latest features, pundit and manager reaction on the Sky Sports website and app.
This will be a must-watch. West Ham are on the cusp of becoming a Premier League force to be properly reckoned with.
There is a major hurdle to overcome though: beating a top-four rival.
Since returning for a second spell at the Hammers, David Moyes has taken on Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United 14 times in the Premier League but has won just once - a 3-2 win over Chelsea in July 2020. More worryingly, 11 of those games ended in defeat.
That probably explains why the Hammers are wildly unfancied in the market for this one, being priced up at 7/2 with Sky Bet for the home win despite taking 20 points from their opening 10 games. Confidence is flowing though and this is without question their best chance of toppling one of the big boys.
The main problem about taking that 7/2 is the opposition - Liverpool are quite simply relentless. It's now 25 games unbeaten for Jurgen Klopp's men, who have scored the most goals (29), had the most shots (199), shots on target (72) and created the most chances (151) in the Premier League. However, Brighton did expose some vulnerability in their backline last weekend and West Ham, who carry a greater threat than the Seagulls, have scored in nine of their 10 Premier League fixtures this season. They possess an attack capable of exploiting gaps in behind which Liverpool will offer up throughout the match.
When you throw all that together, this has all the credentials of being an absolute stonking football match with goals and shots galore.
SCORE PREDICTION: 2-2
BETTING ANGLE: Back over 3.5 goals (6/5 with Sky Bet)
Peter Smith is joined by Sky Sports football journalists Richard Morgan and Ben Grounds to discuss the huge Saturday lunchtime showdown between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford.
PART 1 | How are the two rivals shaping up for the big clash? We weigh up how Man Utd's injury concerns in defence could affect their approach, while we ask whether Jack Grealish is living up to his big price tag and the reasons behind some inconsistent form from the defending champions. Is this match now a must-win for them with Chelsea pulling clear at the top of the Premier League?
PART 2 | Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has a winning record against Pep Guardiola so what's the secret to his success in this rivalry? And how will the clash go on Saturday? We make our big match predictions!
