West Ham v Liverpool - Preview and possible lineups

TEAM NEWS

West Ham:

The Hammers will be boosted by the return of Marko Arnautovic whose foot injury is not as serious as first expected - he is likely to be in contention to feature on Monday night. Despite nursing arm and hamstring injuries respectively, Fabianski and Cresswell should also be at Pellegrini's disposal should he want them.

All things considered, West Ham still have a lengthy list of injured players such as Jack Wilshere, Manuel Lanzini and Fabian Balbuena to name a few. Samir Nasri is also ruled out of this game with a calf strain but this isn't expected to be a long-term problem.

Liverpool:

Jurgen Klopp will be happy to welcome James Milner back into the squad after serving a suspension. He is likely to slot straight back into the right-back position with Trent Alexander-Arnold sidelined. Jordan Henderson fulfilled that role in the match against Leicester but will be returning to central midfield as Naby Keita will likely make way after an underwhelming midweek performance.

Joe Gomez remains sidelined for longer than previously anticipated and there are now concerns over defender Dejan Lovren's fitness despite making an appearance on the bench during the last outing.

MANAGERS' THOUGHTS

Manuel Pellegrini

"I think we can beat Liverpool on Monday night because every team in the Premier League can beat another one."

"If we want to beat Liverpool we need to play a good game, defend well, as they have top players and we need to play with a high pace as we have done against a lot of teams at home."

"Two or three balls can change the game at any one moment so the only way to do it is to be concentrated in what we are doing."

Jurgen Klopp

On what he expects from the West Ham match - "A lot, to be honest. We started the season against West Ham with a brilliant game from us and not a very good game from West Ham."

"It was a really bad start; since then they are nearly a top-six side. And that’s what we should expect. The most experienced manager, I think, in the Premier League at the moment; a really good football team; really good signings in defence."

"We expected a very difficult game that day; it was not that difficult but for two reasons: we were really good and they were not ready that day. But now they are ready and that’s a completely different cup of tea."

FORM GUIDE

DID YOU KNOW?

Liverpool have consistently dominated this fixture in recent years, winning the last four in a row and netting four goals in each of those games.

For a team to score four or more goals in five consecutive matches against a single opponent has only ever happened twice in top-flight history. The most recent of those occasions being over 80 years ago.

POSSIBLE LINEUPS

West Ham possible starting lineup:
Fabianski; Zabaleta, Diop, Ogbonna, Masuaku; Snodgrass, Noble, Rice, Anderson; Antonio, Carroll

Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Alisson; Milner, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Wijnaldum; Shaqiri, Firmino, Mane; Salah