Mark Lawrenson predicts result of Liverpool v West Ham
Mark Lawrenson has predicted that West Ham will see their unbeaten run come to an end at the hands of Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday.
David Moyes’ side have beaten Wolves and Leicester and drawn with Tottenham and Manchester City in their last four Premier League fixtures.
However, ex-Liverpool player Lawrenson cannot see past his former side winning this weekend and has tipped Jurgen Klopp’s men to earn a 2-0 at the expensive of the Hammers.
“Without the injured Virgil van Dijk, Liverpool are playing a little bit like they know their back door is slightly ajar,” Lawrenson said on the BBC Sport website.
“Fabinho’s hamstring injury in midweek clearly does not help in that department. He is extremely unlikely to play in this game, but at least it doesn’t look like he is going to be another long-term absentee.
“Having Alisson back in goal is a big boost, but he doesn’t come for crosses so the Reds will need to find a way to deal with that.
“West Ham have got their own injury problems too, though. Michail Antonio is their best striker but he is a big doubt after he was injured against Manchester City following his superb goal in that game.
“Without him, West Ham will still be competitive but it is hard to see them getting anything out of this one.”
Since Lawrenson wrote that, Antonio has been officially ruled out of the trip to Merseyside so Moyes has a bit of a selection headache when it comes to deciding who starts up front.
It’s interesting that Lawrenson has pointed out Alisson’s weakness is coming out of his goal and dealing with crosses.
Antonio is good in the air so West Ham will miss that from him but Sebastien Haller, who could replace the injured Hammer, is also strong at winning aerial duels.
Stats by WhoScored show that only Troy Deeney [7.3] won more aerial duels per Premier League appearance than Haller did last season [6.8].
As Liverpool play with a high-press which sees their full-backs bomb forward, it will be interesting if the Hammers try to play really wide at Anfield and attempt to overload the penalty area with crosses to Haller.
It’s something Moyes is likely to be considering now that Antonio has been ruled out.
In other West Ham news, the Irons are keen on signing John Lundstram from Sheffield United.