Liverpool will make an intriguing visit to Upton Park on Sunday to take on an in-from West Ham.
The Merseyside outfit have done a lot of reparation over the last couple of weeks, gaining ground on their top-four rivals. They suffered just a single defeat in their previous 10 fixtures. Last week, they came up with a commanding show to edge Southampton
1-0 at Anfield, pushing them up to the eleventh place.
However, Brendan Rodgers would want his side to carry on with their reinvigoration process, and for the first time this campaign, record back to back wins in the competition by getting the better of the Hammers.
Sam Allardyce though will have plans of his own. The London-based outfit will be booming with confidence following their 3-1 win over http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786 in the prevenient week and will look to replicate that display on Sunday. West Ham have gone through a successful
5 month period since their return to the Premier League and are in better half of the table.
West Ham United
Allardyce won’t be interested in making too many changes to the side which stunned the Blues last week.
The manager is likely to assign the defensive duties to James Collins, Joey O’Brien and Winston Reid in his starting eleven, while sticking with the Matthew Jarvis, James Tomkins and Mark Noble combination at the heart of the field.
However, Andy Carroll, who suffered a knee injury in a 1-0 defeat at Manchester United, will play no part at the weekend, as his medics have ruled him out for almost two months.
In the English International’s absence, Carlton Cole and Kevin Nolan will lead the frontline.
Expected Starting line-up:
Kevin Nolan (Captain), Jussi Jaaskelainen (Goalkeeper), http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Guy-Demel-c15459, James Tomkins, Mathew Jarvis, Mark Noble, Gary O’Neil, Carlton Cole.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809
Rodgers will have to deal with the absence of his ace striker, Luis Suarez, who will sit out the match due to suspension. The Uruguayan sensation picked up his fifth yellow card of the campaign against Southampton.
Joe Cole could get a nod for a starting spot in place of Suarez, and could team up with Raheem Sterling and Jose Enrique in the offence.
Lucas Leiva is set to make another appearance after making a return to professional circuitry last week.
The manager will once again vest his trust in Martin Skrtel, Daniel Agger and Glen Johnson to guard the backline, while Reina will be allotted the goalkeeping duties ahead of Brad Jones.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Martin-Kelly-c24395 remain to be long-term absentees.
Expected Starting Line-up:
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Joe-Cole-c18694.
Prediction
West Ham United 1 : 1 Liverpool
Based on the recent form of the two teams, it is very difficult to predict the outcome of the fixture. A low scoring draw is the writer’s prediction.
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