Liverpool vs West Ham United

A place in the League Cup round four is on the line as Liverpool and West Ham United lock horns in a mouth-watering tie at Anfield.

Liverpool return to the competition they won last season under Jurgen Klopp in high spirits after a 3-0 demolition of Bournemouth at the weekend. That result has strengthened Arne Slot’s impressive record at the start of his Anfield reign (W5, L1), setting the Reds up nicely for this fixture. Liverpool thrashed West Ham 5-1 en route to their League Cup success last season and will seek another emphatic victory after their five competitive wins this season yielded multi-goal margins. Moreover, barring a 3-1 triumph against AC Milan in the Champions League, the Merseyside giants kept a clean sheet in their remaining four victories under Slot, a feat they last achieved against West Ham in a narrow 1-0 win on this ground in October 2022.

Unfortunately for West Ham, that defeat forms part of their abysmal six-game winless H2H run against Liverpool (D1, L5), though the only draw in this sequence came in the last meeting between these two teams in April (2-2). However, that stalemate took place in London. The Hammers don’t have fond memories of their recent visits to Anfield, losing their last eight matches on this turf by an aggregate score of 23-6. That’s an ominous sign for under-pressure manager Julen Lopetegui, even though he hasn’t lost on his first two road trips in charge of West Ham (W1, D1). But that’s a changeable scenario, especially after a morale-crippling 3-0 home defeat to crosstown rivals Chelsea at the weekend extended the Irons’ winless run to three matches (D1, L2).