Liverpool v West Ham: Premier League – live!

West Ham hit straight back!

1-0! David Martin in! A simple goal, as the ball bobbles off Aaron Creswell into a wide area. Alexander-Arnold wraps his foot around the ball the way only he knows how, a wonderfully-whipped cross, and Wijnaldum ghosts in, glancing his header towards the far post. Fabianski should get there, but can only palm the ball into the inside of the side netting! That’s a shocking piece of goalkeeping! The Poland international slaps the crossbar in frustration.

A poor error from Fabianski!

8 min: Antonio latches onto a ball down the left wing, runs the ball to the byline, upon which he is given an almighty shrug by Gomez. Antonio falls on the ball with his hands on the ball, expecting the free-kick, but referee Jon Moss gives the foul the other way, for handball.

6 min: Fabanski nearly has a howler! A heavy touch means his subsequent clearance is blocked by Mané, with the ball just flying two yards wide of the open goal!

4 min: Corner to Liverpool, after a skewed clearance from Diop. Well cleared by Rice. Back come Liverpool, with Van Dijk nearly releasing Salah with a beautiful cross-field ball. Creswell heads behind for another corner. The onslaught has begun.

2 min: It’s a scrappy start. Have to say that this is the first time for me watching Tomas Soucek. West Ham fans, what has been your impression of him? David Moyes certainly likes him, not least because he runs A LOT. More than any West Ham player in six years during the defeat to Man City, if Moyes is to be believed.

Here we go then: Liverpool in their all-red kit, West Ham in their changed white away kit, with a sky blue trim. There is a minute’s applause to remember Brian Jackson, a Liverpool winger in the 1950s, who passed away aged 86.

On MNF, Jamie Carragher has suggested that Liverpool have (only) six world-class players: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk, Firmino, Salah and Mané. Would you not also have Robertson and maybe Fabinho in there? I can’t think of too many left backs or defensive midfielders that are better …

Any thoughts or predictions, do send them through. I’m on [email protected] or @michaelbutler18.

Moyes has at least spared Pablo Zabaleta the indignity of facing Sadio Mané tonight. Deptford-born Jeremy Ngakia starts tonight, just the second time he has done so in the Premier League. His only other appearance also came against Liverpool in January, a 2-0 defeat at the London Stadium.

“I am keen to give the young players the opportunity,” Moyes said of Ngakia. “Ideally it would not be in this situation and at Anfield away or in this situation where we are in the league. Ideally, you would try to bed them in but it does not always come perfectly. Zabaleta, as you know, has been incredibly reliable and has a great personality when he plays.”

If you’re here for the MBM, here’s a Liverpool-West Ham flavoured Fiver.

Our first email, from Stephen Carr (the Stephen Carr?!).

“Chomsky once said “if you’re not cynical, then you’re not paying attention” and after seeing Moyes’ selection, the cynics amongst us might presume that he effectively just wants to keep the score down tonight.”

I would agree with that. The lack of pace in midfield is staggering: Noble, Snodgrass, Rice, Soucek. Even with Antonio and Felipe Anderson as the forwards, how are they going to counter-attack with that? I just don’t understand the strategy, other than being happy with a 2-0 defeat.

Liverpool are almost at full strength, with that fearsome front three out in force tonight. Jordan Henderson is the big absence, the midfielder out for a few weeks with a hamstring strain he suffered last week against Atlético. James Milner had been earmarked for a start, but Liverpool have admitted that he also misses out tonight “due to a slight muscle strain.” Naby Keïta comes in.

Re the team news, it is pretty damning of West Ham’s transfer policy that Jarrod Bowen, Pablo Fornals and Sebastian Haller are all on the bench. That’s £91m of attacking talent, which has been deemed not suited to be fit/good enough, or well enough suited to the defensive system which Moyes intends to play tonight.

I hope they have relegation wage clauses, because the club is in real trouble if they don’t and they go down. West Ham are currently 18th, in the relegation zone, remember.

Do you know who else has got an abysmal record at Anfield? David Moyes. The Scotsman has not won there in 15 attempts with Everton, Manchester United, Sunderland and West Ham.

Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, van Dijk, Robertson, Keita, Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Salah, Firmino, Mané.
Subs: Lovren, Adrian, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Minamino, Lallana, Origi, Matip.

West Ham: Fabianski, Ngakia, Diop, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Rice, Snodgrass, Soucek, Noble, Felipe Anderson, Antonio.
Subs: Balbuena, Zabaleta, Lanzini, Bowen, Fornals, Haller, Randolph.

Referee: Jonathan Moss (County Durham)

“Who do we think is going to beat Liverpool in the league this year? Nobody.”

Not my words, reader, but the words of Sam Allardyce, who was talking into a microphone this very morning. The former West Ham manager, who has an abysmal record at Anfield with the various teams he has managed there, also said he didn’t “think there is any doubt” that he could see some of himself in Diego Simeone, after the Argentinian masterminded Atlético Madrid’s backs-to-the-wall victory over Liverpool last week in the Champions League.

That might spell trouble for West Ham tonight, as Liverpool look to put the record straight. What do we reckon, then? 4-0? 5-0? Six? On paper, this looks like as big a home banker as it could possibly get for Liverpool. The Reds sit top of the Premier League form table, West Ham bottom of it, having taken just two points from the past six games. The London side haven’t won away in the league since November, so you have to praise the Hammers fans that have made the long Monday night trip up to Anfield tonight.

Team news with you imminently. And we should have the first goal of the evening before too long.

Kick-off: 8pm GMT.