West Ham v Liverpool preview: Sadio Mane pushing for shock recall

Slaven Bilic will be looking to guide West Ham away from danger against Liverpool on Saturday evening.

The Hammers bounced back from a miserable 3-0 home defeat to Brighton with a 3-2 victory at Tottenham in the EFL Cup but the pressure on Bilic has intensified again after drawing 2-2 with Crystal Palace last weekend.

Despite registering a comfortable victory against Huddersfield last time out, Liverpool are seven points worse off in the league than at this stage last season.

They won 4-0 in this fixture at the London Stadium last campaign but clean sheets have been scarce, demonstrated by them possessing the worst defensive record on the road in the Premier League.

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Team news

West Ham winger Michail Antonio is out with a hamstring problem.

The Hammers are also short in defence with Pablo Zabaleta suspended and Sam Byram, Jose Fonte and James Collins injured.

But Aaron Cresswell has shaken off the dead leg which forced him off at half-time against Crystal Palace and fellow defender Winston Reid should be fit after missing out at Selhurst Park.

Liverpool forward Sadio Mane could be in line for a surprise recall. The Senegal international's return from a hamstring injury is a fortnight ahead of schedule and after joining full training on Thursday manager Jurgen Klopp said he looked like he could play 25 minutes.

Klopp will make late decisions on midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum (ankle) and defender Dejan Lovren (thigh) but playmaker Philippe Coutinho (adductor) is definitely out.

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Opta stats

None of the last 12 Premier League meetings between these sides at West Ham have ended as a draw - West Ham have won four and Liverpool eight since a 1-1 draw in December 2001.

Liverpool have lost three of their last six Premier League games against the Hammers (W2 D1) - as many as they'd lost in their previous 25.

West Ham have conceded 10 goals in their last eight home Premier League games, despite keeping five clean sheets in that run - four of those goals were scored by Liverpool in their last visit to the London Stadium.

Of the 18 sides to have played in both of the last two Premier League seasons, only Crystal Palace (24) and Swansea City (30) have won fewer points in home matches than West Ham United (31) over this period.

Liverpool's 15 goals conceded away from home this season is the most by a team in the Premier League - indeed, it's the most the Reds have shipped after five away games of a season since 1953-54 (16), when they were relegated from the top-flight.

Joe Hart has conceded 29 goals in 17 Premier League games against Liverpool during his career; five more than he's let in against any other side.

Merson's prediction

West Ham last week, seriously… Antonio should be on the verge of getting a two-week fine for what he did. I honestly cannot believe what he done, it was unbelievable.

I am going to go for Liverpool to win here. I just think they will have too much firepower for them defensively. So I am going to go 3-1, as how are Liverpool ever going to keep a clean sheet?!

Paul predicts: 3-1 (Sky Bet odds 4/1)

Betting

Liverpool are Sky Bet's 8/13 favourites for the win with West Ham priced at 4/1, while the draw is a 3/1 chance. The Reds will be looking to gain ground on the leaders but are all but written off in the title race at 100/1, while their hosts are 5/2 joint fifth favourites for relegation. Javier Hernandez is considered the Hammers' main threat at 7/1 to score first.

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