Liverpool will be hoping to extend their winning run in more straightforward fashion, as they visit West Ham United in the Premier League on April 26, 2023 at the London Stadium. Jurgen Klopp’s side have not won three games in a row since November and are expected to win, but this season’s inconsistency has shown that nothing is guaranteed. Ibrahima Konate is a slight doubt for the match but Klopp is “rather positive” about his fitness. Roberto Firmino won’t be involved, but there is better news on Naby Keita who could be in partial training if everything goes well. Fabinho has just one more game to avoid a yellow card to prevent him from a two-game suspension.
West Ham have had an underwhelming season, lying 13th in the Premier League just six points above the relegation zone, but they have been picking up in recent weeks with just one loss in their last 10 matches. David Moyes’ side knocked out Gent on their way to the Europa Conference League semi-finals and had an impressive 4-0 away win over Bournemouth last week.
Klopp is likely to change his team up for this match, given they have four games in 11 days. He will select based on training performances and the predicted XI is Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Fabinho, Thiago; Salah, Gakpo, Jota. Klopp has expressed his support for Moyes, saying he wanted him to stay in his post to avoid being the oldest manager in the Premier League. Chris Kavanagh will take charge of the match and Diogo Jota is finally getting back to his best after a year without a goal. Mo Salah needs just one more goal to equal John Toshack’s club record of 10 goals against West Ham in all competitions and Liverpool have beaten West Ham 33 times in the Premier League. Liverpool are currently seventh in the Premier League and their chances of qualifying for the Champions League are slim, but they still have work to do in securing a Europa League position. The match will be live on BT Sport 2 with kickoff at 7.45pm (BST) and TIA’s matchday live blog will be up and running from 7.00pm.