Pre-Match: Liverpool vs. West Ham; English Premier League (Sat. 31 Oct. 5:30 pm)

Liverpool resume their Premier League title attack with a home match against West Ham this Saturday. The team have been dealing with more than their share of injuries so far and questions remain about just who Jürgen Klopp can call upon for this gamae.

West Ham have 2 wins, 2 losses and 2 draws from the young season, with the most result fixture being a 1-1 draw with Man City. This https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/oct/23/tomas-soucek-we-went-to-hackney-marshes-it-was-incredible is a bit about Tomas Soucek, a new player for the Hammers who has been called "the new Fellaini" (obviously by someone who doesn't like him, but he seems a decent sort). He is a (very) tall midfielder. Leading scorers in the league thus far are Antonio and Jarod Bowen with 3 goals each. Antonio is a doubt for Saturday.

Who they'll face is anybody's guess. So please, offer your guesses.

Good man Bobby.

Antonio out for them would be a welcomed bonus. Either way I think with whats available to us Id like to see less of a high line.

They are in really good form so this will be tough. We arent playing well lately.

Id revert to 4 3 3. Id play Williams alongside Joe with Hendo Gini and Shaq my 3 middle men. I think Shaqs ability to see the pass will be vital

                           Alisson
Trent      Williams     Joe   Robbo

        Hendo    Shaq   Gini

Mane             Mo            Jota

Have no idea on who is available in midfield or not, but for the most part the lineup makes itself

Alisson
Trent Rhys Gomez Robbo
           Hendo
   Gini              Keita
Salah    Bobby   Mane


The starting 3 have gotten a match's worth of rest the past week (came off with 30m left against Ajax and came on with 30m left against Midty) so they will be ready to go.

I guess Klopp would put Hendo into the CB position, instead of Rhys, in league games.

Trent Hendo Gomez Robbo

                      ALI
TAA          MATIP    JOE       ROBBO


             THIAGO   HENDO   GINI/NABY

MO                      MANE                JOTA

Even if Antonio is out they still have some bloke in midfield that Mourinho a few weeks back labelled the new Fellaini. Thomas Soucek the blokes name.

An aerial bombardment is on it's way.

Would love to do another one over "The Chosen One". But they drew a world class opponent in City on their last match. We need to be alert. No pissing about.

Even if Antonio is out they still have some bloke in midfield that Mourinho a few weeks back labelled the new Fellaini. Thomas Soucek the blokes name.

An aerial bombardment is on it's way.

Fellani doesn't just offer aerial bombardment, but a lot more rubbish that is relatable to Sergio Ramos. Thinking about anything blue makes me blood pressure rocket.

Even if Antonio is out they still have some bloke in midfield that Mourinho a few weeks back labelled the new Fellaini. Thomas Soucek the blokes name.

An aerial bombardment is on it's way.

Haller as well defending set pieces crucial

When is Thiago due back?  Whenever he's fit, he's straight back into the starting 11.  Hopefully its this weekend. 

Agree with Brian that Jota needs to be in the 11 as well.  Jürgen tends to stick with who he knows and trusts, so I expect Bobby to continue to lead the line meaning Shaq will find himself back on the bench.

It will be interesting to see if Jürgen moves one of Gini or Hendo (or both) to CB, or if he does anything to tweak the formation.  I've always been a fan of the 3-4-3 formation.  It would be interesting to see something like this:

Ali
Hendo - Gomez - Gini
Thiago
Trent                                Robbo
Jota
Mo - Bobby - Mane

Without VVD teams like WH, with big lads, am sure they will look to get crosses in and win challenges in the air, collect knockdowns and put us under pressure. I would.
VVD was such a collossus you'd never get the better of him over 90 mins.
We just have to try an deal with this and be more clinical up front.
Who starts at the back with Joe? I'd go with Hendo it we can have 3 from Gini/Thiago/Keita/Milner across the middle.
Think the front 3 plus someone like Jones, or Jota, might leave us not winning enough of the challenges in midfield.
Maybe Jota might be pushing for a place in the front 3 with Bobs form a bit off.
Not expecting an easy game, but hopefully we can grind another win out...

West Ham have had a decent start to their season. They will not be taken likely, despite our injury woes, I expect  the Reds to beat the hammers in what could be quite an exciting clash.

This will be a tough one no doubt.

They are in good form but we are due a good game again, I fancy us to win 3-1.

Even if Antonio is out they still have some bloke in midfield that Mourinho a few weeks back labelled the new Fellaini. Thomas Soucek the blokes name.

An aerial bombardment is on it's way.

I’ve been impressed with him, a good player

Fellani doesn't just offer aerial bombardment, but a lot more rubbish that is relatable to Sergio Ramos. Thinking about anything blue makes me blood pressure rocket.

As I mentioned in the OP, this fellow Soucek seems like a good person - good story anyway about his upbringing in a small town, etc. So I despite his being tall, he's probably nothing like Fellaini, who is just dirty.

When is Thiago due back?  Whenever he's fit, he's straight back into the starting 11.  Hopefully its this weekend. 

Agree with Brian that Jota needs to be in the 11 as well.  Jürgen tends to stick with who he knows and trusts, so I expect Bobby to continue to lead the line meaning Shaq will find himself back on the bench.

It will be interesting to see if Jürgen moves one of Gini or Hendo (or both) to CB, or if he does anything to tweak the formation.  I've always been a fan of the 3-4-3 formation.  It would be interesting to see something like this:

Ali
Hendo - Gomez - Gini
Thiago
Trent                                Robbo
Jota
Mo - Bobby - Mane

Just looked at video and pics from today's training:

No Thiago. No Matip.

Nat Phillips was there and I suspect he will start alongside Gomez - just a hunch. I also expect Curtis Jones to start in midfield rather than Shaq.

So....
Alisson
Trent, Phillips, Gomez, Robbo
Hendo, Gini, Curtis Jones
Sadio, Bobby, Mo
Subs: Adrian, Neco Williams, Rhys Williams, Milner, Shaqiri, Jota, Minamino.

Bubble blowers don’t scare us, even on our worst days we are more than capable of doing these, yes they have upped their game recently but old bog eyes has never beaten us as a manager and I expect that trend to continue,
The odds will have course shortened since we have a make shift central defence, however, we do have players who can ‘fill in’ temporarily and have enough nous to hamper attacks from the east enders, meanwhile at the other end there is no question that their defence will be under severe scrutiny from our trophy laden trio and I’d hazard a guess that we’d most definitely come out on top for goals scored,


So how do we set up ?  If we go three at the back(unlikely) I’d have Hendo in between young Rhys & Gomez, with Thiago if fit, & Gini as two 6’s, Trent & Robbo flanking them with the three amigos up top, but instead of Bobby, I’d slot Jota in instead......


                                                                    Alisson

                                                    Williams     Hendo    Gomez
                                           Trent                                          Robbo
                                                          Gini        Thiago

                                                   Jota          Salah      Mane

      Something like that, maybe, Hendo being Virgil  commanding the back line,


But more likely we’ll see this.....


                                                              Allison
                                        Trent     Williams    Gomez   Robbo
                                                 Milner    Hendo     Gini
                                               Salah     Bobby      Mane

If Thiago is fit he’s in & Jimmy out....


What’s important here is getting the three points no matter what, sh*t, I’d even advocate parking a f***in bus and hitting them on the counter, like what some do to us, but I’d like to believe we are better than that, and we are, but when the chips are down you do what you can to win, temporarily of course !



2-1 Champions



                                                                              Y  N  W  A

Well if Jotta is in, someone has to be dropped. We can’t try and include him at the expense of our tried and tested 4-3-3. Playing 4-2-3-1 just doesn’t cut it, and our midfield get over run
We will play that at our peril v hammers.
We will be too good for them if we play to our strengths.
3:1 to the Red Men

Hard to figure out if Klopp will play Henderson at CB or will he go with young Williams. I’m going for the former. I think you have to go with experience. That would bring Jones into midfield to play alongside Gini and Milner. Am hoping we play three genuine midfielders, Jürgen has tinkered with the shape a couple of times and it’s not really worked.

Nat Phillips to start.

I don't want Klopp to risk guys like Matip, Thiago or Keita. We are better than West Ham, no matter what team we feature.

Nat Phillips to start.

What actual game time has he had since start of season ?

If we are facing an aerial threat then I think young Rhys should play, from what I've seen so far he is good in the air (probably helped by the fact he's massive). Jordan doesn't cut in aerial challenges, Gini is much better and lets be honest even Joe seems to struggle with positioning at times under high looped balls.

I get that Phillips had more experience but surely of he was a more serious option we wouldn't have seen Rhys Williams get game time?

For me I would go with Williams and Gomez with Hendo as the DM to help look after the young lad of needed.

Play Nat and Joe at CB with Hendo in front of them, then have Gini and Shaq/Jones in midfield or we could try Bobby as AM and play Jota, Sadio and Mo at our forwards.

I think we need to be careful not to go to defensive in this game, we need to have a quick attack, certainly much much quicker than on Tuesday.

Antonio out for West Ham. I wonder does that change Klopp's thinking now.

I think the way to beat West Ham is to simply outscore them. There is a fair chance there could be quite a few goals tomorrow, especially with our attack !

Antonio out for West Ham. I wonder does that change Klopp's thinking now.

That's the first bit of luck we've had in a while, still plenty of danger in that West Ham team though so we need to be sharp.

                        Alisson
     Trent      Phillips Gomez      Robbo
             Henderson Wijnaldum                         (as both no. 6 to protection our defense)
                       Firmino
Jota                                     Mane
                      Salah


Jd, please add the youngsters in the team builder.

We need this match so much to build a good foundation for the City game. I'm off to weekend break so I won't be able to watch the match or create the live thread. It's up to you now, Damzel.

                        Alisson
     Trent      Phillips Gomez      Robbo
             Henderson Wijnaldum                         (as both no. 6 to protection our defense)
                       Firmino
Jota                                     Mane
                      Salah


Jd, please add the youngsters in the team builder.

We need this match so much to build a good foundation for the City game. I'm off to weekend break so I won't be able to watch the match or create the live thread. It's up to you now, Damzel.

I don't like Jota out on the left he is far better on the right or central.

Would be tempted to play Jota up top and rest Bobby.

Thiago surely plays in midfield if he's fit.

That's the first bit of luck we've had in a while, still plenty of danger in that West Ham team though so we need to be sharp.

They have another direct long ball outlet in Haller, don’t think Moyes will do anything other than park the bus and send it long.

Back to 4-3-3 whatever happens.

Moyes has never won at Anfield and he won't win tomorrow.
He'll do what he normally does at Anfield and put his 11 men behind the ball and wait for those scraps of opportunities which will inevitably come his way.. I just hope whoever Jürgen plays across the back four stay tight and communicate with each other.

We'll need Thiago back in midfield to unlock their defence.. even if it's only for an hour or so.

We need to be more direct than what we were on Tuesday that's for sure..

Antonio out for West Ham. I wonder does that change Klopp's thinking now.

It eases my mind anyway that’s for sure !

Back to 4-3-3 whatever happens.

I seen some suggestions that Tuesday was 4231 and I don’t agree with it at all. Tuesday was definitely 433.

Last Saturday though was not our usual 433.

I get that Phillips had more experience but surely of he was a more serious option we wouldn't have seen Rhys Williams get game time?

For me I would go with Williams and Gomez with Hendo as the DM to help look after the young lad of needed.

They didn't put him in the CL squad because he was going to be sold, but the deal fell through.

People calling for Philipps to play do realize he hasn't played a competitive  game since last season dont they ?

People calling for Philipps to play do realize he hasn't played a competitive  game since last season dont they ?

Didn't he play in the League cup? In any case we don't have many options.

Didn't he play in the League cup?

No, wasnt even in either squad for the league cup

What actual game time has he had since start of season ?

Ask me after tomorrow's game. 

Rhys Williams is good enough for me, I just worry he doesn't have the upper body strength he needs against some of the more bullying PL strikers..
Henderson can play centre half couldn't he? at a push... with Thiago in front of him and Gomez

Didn't he play in the League cup? In any case we don't have many options.

Not played since June far as I can see

Not played since June far as I can see

Just against Stuttgart in preseason.

Rhys probably is more likely, you are right. But Jürgen keeps mentioning Nat and the fallen-through transfer as the reason he's not registered for Europe.

Just against Stuttgart in preseason.

Rhys probably is more likely, you are right. But Jürgen keeps mentioning Nat and the fallen-through transfer as the reason he's not registered for Europe.

Agree he is more experienced and possibly at this stage in both careers better I am not saying it will be Rhys either strange he has not been playing for U23s though unless because of the transfer and stopping someone else playing

Agree he is more experienced and possibly at this stage in both careers better I am not saying it will be Rhys either strange he has not been playing for U23s though unless because of the transfer and stopping someone else playing

yeah i think it's clear that because of all the current events, this most recent transfer window was a different animal for the club - didn't go entirely as anticipated.

Klopp confirms no Thiago, no Naby and no Fab for tomorrow. He interestingly didn't mention Matip so.....maybe.

EDIT: My bad - Klopp did add "we will see" about Naby and Thiago.

Klopp confirms no Thiago, no Naby and no Fab for tomorrow. He interestingly didn't mention Matip so.....maybe.

Don't think he confirmed out said will see so I am clinging on to that small hope

Klopp confirms no Thiago, no Naby and no Fab for tomorrow. He interestingly didn't mention Matip so.....maybe.

I thought hed already ruled him out before the WIFI code team the other night

Could be wrong like

Don't think he confirmed out said will see so I am clinging on to that small hope

For Thiago and Naby obviously  Fab no chance

For Thiago and Naby obviously  Fab no chance

I see what you mean about we will see. The article to me makes it seem unlikely either will play, but as he and you say "we will see." 

Here's the article from the official site:

Liverpool will continue to monitor the fitness of Thiago Alcantara and Naby Keita as they close in on a return to action.

Jürgen Klopp reported on Friday the duo are making good progress in their respective rehabilitation programmes; however, he confirmed the Reds will err on the side of caution with the midfielders.

The manager told his pre-West Ham United press conference: “Both are on a good way, that’s how it is with rehab or recovery.

“You saw the incident, how it happened, with Thiago so that obviously needs now a little bit of time to settle.

“Nobody can say exactly how long because nothing is ruptured and nothing is broken or stuff like this. He’s desperate to make the next steps.

“If he will be ready for tomorrow, we will see. Same with Naby, just a different kind of injury, I would say.

“The thing is then, when the boys train normally, in an ideal world you give them enough time to prepare for not only one game but for the next 10, 15 or 20 games – or 30 or 40 games.

“If somebody is in training again that doesn’t mean you can use them immediately. Sometimes we have to, but as much as we can avoid it we should try to do that.

“I don’t feel in a rush with the boys. We have a meeting with the medical department every day and they tell me how it looks in a specific case and that’s the information I work with.

“I cannot rush it and I’m not in the mood to do it, so I just make sure with the available boys we make the best of the situation.”

At 6’ 4” Soucek will be a huge threat to our VVD less defence.

At 6’ 4” Soucek will be a huge threat to our VVD less defence.

Biggest danger will be from set pieces

I see what you mean about we will see. The article to me makes it seem unlikely either will play, but as he and you say "we will see." 

Here's the article from the official site:

Liverpool will continue to monitor the fitness of Thiago Alcantara and Naby Keita as they close in on a return to action.

Jürgen Klopp reported on Friday the duo are making good progress in their respective rehabilitation programmes; however, he confirmed the Reds will err on the side of caution with the midfielders.

The manager told his pre-West Ham United press conference: “Both are on a good way, that’s how it is with rehab or recovery.

“You saw the incident, how it happened, with Thiago so that obviously needs now a little bit of time to settle.

“Nobody can say exactly how long because nothing is ruptured and nothing is broken or stuff like this. He’s desperate to make the next steps.

“If he will be ready for tomorrow, we will see. Same with Naby, just a different kind of injury, I would say.

“The thing is then, when the boys train normally, in an ideal world you give them enough time to prepare for not only one game but for the next 10, 15 or 20 games – or 30 or 40 games.

“If somebody is in training again that doesn’t mean you can use them immediately. Sometimes we have to, but as much as we can avoid it we should try to do that.

“I don’t feel in a rush with the boys. We have a meeting with the medical department every day and they tell me how it looks in a specific case and that’s the information I work with.

“I cannot rush it and I’m not in the mood to do it, so I just make sure with the available boys we make the best of the situation.”

Think Thiago will play some part

Biggest danger will be from set pieces

That’s why I think it’s important that Williams plays because he’s bloody tall

At 6’ 4” Soucek will be a huge threat to our VVD less defence.

He attacks crosses and corners like no other, human battering ramp

I guess Klopp would put Hendo into the CB position, instead of Rhys, in league games.

Trent Hendo Gomez Robbo

Or not!! Give young Rhys the chance to prove he can play tgere instead of constantly trying to find square pegs for round holes. Give the kid his chance.

At 6’ 4” Soucek will be a huge threat to our VVD less defence.

Think he's still less of a threat than Antonio

I do hope we show a bit of faith in either Rhys Williams or Nat Phillips tonight.

I do hope we show a bit of faith in either Rhys Williams or Nat Phillips tonight.

We'll have to mate if Matip isn't starting.

I'd guess young Rhys will play.

Short of Matip being available (yea right), Rhys should be starting. No need to put Hendo or Gini in cb when you have him ready to go. It’s his time to shine and show he belongs and show the boss he was right in giving him a chance instead of bringing in someone else.

We'll have to mate if Matip isn't starting.

I'd guess young Rhys will play.

Meant that I'd rather give one of them a go than move Hendo or Gini back there.

I do hope we show a bit of faith in either Rhys Williams or Nat Phillips tonight.

But it would take at least 6-8 games for these younger players to get a grip of it. And that could cost us points. I think he will go with Hendo at the back if Thiago makes it. Could even go with Milner in the back 4.

I would go Allisson,Trent, Milner,Gomez,Robbo,Hendo,Shaqiri,Gini,Mo,Jota,Mane. If Thiago doesn't make it.

I'd like to see Shaq given that central midfield position. He does see stuff and has a bit of imagination.

If a youngster does start at the back, I hope Antonio is not playing or is having a off day, and I really hope they have a good game, the bloodbath afterwards from the dreaded social media keyboard warriors will be immense if it’s their mistake...

If a youngster does start at the back, I hope Antonio is not playing or is having a off day, and I really hope they have a good game, the bloodbath afterwards from the dreaded social media keyboard warriors will be immense if it’s their mistake...

Antonio not playing will most probably be Haller and Bowen

He attacks crosses and corners like no other, human battering ramp

Even better than Calvert Lewin? If so then we are in deep sh*t potentially.

Tough match this today, we'll need to be aware of the dangers from them, but I still think we've got enough in the tank to get the win.
Come on you mighty redmen, let's do this !

I have a feeling there will be goals today. I can't see us keeping a clean sheet even if they are without Antonio. 3:2 win here I'd say.

Phillips starts