Liverpool and West Ham both had last weekend off because of the FA Cup so they should be nice and focused heading into the final 11 league games of the season. Liverpool have a chance to move into the second place ahead of Manchester United, who play Chelsea on Sunday. Jurgen Klopp’s side are unbeaten in the league an Anfield this season but they have drawn six top flight matches at home. The Reds have shared the points with Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham, Burnley, Everton and West Brom.
Liverpool are safe in the knowledge that they have their Champions League tie against Porto sewn up already so they can really focus on the Premier League and making sure they secure a top four finish once again. The Reds have home games against West Ham and Newcastle before they head to Old Trafford on March 10th and after the game against Manchester United, Liverpool’s only other match against a fellow top six club is a trip to Chelsea.
Liverpool may have to be patient against a West Ham side that has picked up four points from their last two visits to Anfield. However that was when Slaven Bilic was in charge and his last game as Hammers boss was on November 4th when Liverpool beat his side 4-1 at the London Stadium. There’s no doubt West Ham have improved under David Moyes but they’re yet to win back to back league games under the Scot and he’s never won a league game at Anfield.
We did the Liverpool and Sunderland game on the show last season when the home side had to be patient against the Black Cats, managed by Moyes. Klopp said after the 2-0 win over Sunderland: “this was the most defensive team I ever saw in my life." West Ham are likely to use a similar approach but they do have more threats in attack and they’ve already beaten Chelsea under Moyes and picked up draws against Tottenham and Arsenal. A lot will depend on how the Hammers deal with Liverpool's top scorer Mohamed Salah who has 30 goals in his first season at the club.
Ron Jones and Brian Kerr will be in the commentary box for us at Anfield.
Former Republic of Ireland international Keith Andrews will be this week’s guest in the Boot Room as he takes a look back on his time in the Premier League. Keith has some great stories to tell from his time as a young player trying to break into the Wolves team, as well as his spell with Blackburn which went downhill after they were taken over by Venkys.
Premier League Live with Sky Sports on Today FM from 2-6pm.
