MatchThe opposition lowdown: West Ham United

The view from West Ham

Roshane Thomas, West Ham reporter at The Athletic

On West Ham's start to the season...

It has been an encouraging start to the campaign with wins over Chelsea, Brighton & Hove Albion and Luton Town. The team produced a spirited performance in the 3-1 loss against Manchester City. Edson Alvarez suffering a knock was the turning point in the game, but it showed West Ham are capable of going toe-to-toe with the big boys this campaign. Following Declan Rice's switch to Arsenal in July, West Ham have a better balance in midfield with the additions of Alvarez, James Ward-Prowse and Mohammed Kudus. David Moyes' side are no longer reliant on one player. The east London side have the depth and quality to improve on last season's 16th-placed finish in the Premier League.

On the Hammers' key players...

Since joining from Southampton, James Ward-Prowse has adapted seamlessly to life at West Ham. The midfielder has scored two goals and registered five assists in five appearances across all competitions and his penchant for providing assists on set-pieces should be a worry for Liverpool's defence. Lucas Paqueta is often the difference-maker for West Ham and he will be key should West Ham secure a win at Anfield. Jarrod Bowen is also a key player but he is a doubt as he aims to recover from a virus. Defensively, Kurt Zouma has elevated his game since being appointed captain. He scored in the victory against Luton and will intend on nullifying Mohamed Salah's impact this Sunday.

On West Ham's style of play and predicted line-up...

Moyes' side tend to sit deep, soak up the pressure then break on the counter and that worked to aplomb in wins over Chelsea and Brighton. Moyes has altered from 4-1-4-1 to 4-2-3-1 and I reckon the latter will be the formation used at Anfield with the line-up being: Areola, Coufal, Aguerd, Zouma, Emerson, Soucek, Alvarez, Ward-Prowse, Paqueta, Kudus, Antonio.

Recent form

West Ham have recorded three wins, one draw and one loss from their opening five Premier League matches this season.

The Hammers fell to a 3-1 defeat by Manchester City in domestic action last time out, though ran out 3-1 winners over TSC Backa Topola in the Europa League on Thursday night at London Stadium.

Previous meetings

Liverpool recorded a Premier League double over the Hammers in 2022-23.

Darwin Nunez's solitary strike at Anfield last October was enough to settle the meeting in L4, while at London Stadium the visitors came from behind to win 2-1.

Goals from Cody Gakpo and Joel Matip saw the Reds overcome Paqueta's earlier effort in the capital.

Stats

• Liverpool are targeting a 50th win over West Ham at Anfield in all competitions. This will be the 72nd meeting between the clubs at the ground.
• The Reds have kept 27 clean sheets in the last 38 Anfield matches against West Ham in the league.
• In the Premier League era, Liverpool have won 34 of the 54 encounters, drawing 10 and losing 10.
• Moyes will be managing against the Reds for the 40th time in his career, with only seven men in history managing versus Liverpool on more than 40 occasions.

What they said

David Moyes, West Ham manager

"Some teams have got ahead of Liverpool this season but Liverpool have pegged them back. Liverpool is always an incredibly difficult game. The crowd and the stadium always play a big part in trying to get a result at Anfield but I think, over recent seasons, we've tended to give them a good game.

"We've tried to make it tough for them to get points from us, and we'll try to give them another good game on Sunday. We know we're playing against a really good side and we have to go and show what we can do."