Liverpool vs West Ham United
Liverpool and West Ham United are set to battle it out for a place in the League Cup semi-finals as their handsomely-looking quarter-final tie takes place at Anfield.
After becoming the first Premier League side in five years to draw a blank despite attempting 35+ shots in a single game, Liverpool are keen to leave a gut-wrenching scoreless home draw against Manchester United behind them. United’s defensive resilience knocked the ‘Reds’ down from a flawless 11-game winning home start in all competitions, marking their first scoring blank at Anfield in competitive action since a 0-0 League Cup draw against lower-tier Derby County in November 2022. However, Jurgen Klopp’s men remain well-positioned to get back on track as they trade tackles with a West Ham side they’ve defeated across their last four H2Hs, including a thrashing 3-1 triumph in the Premier League earlier this season. That result formed part of Liverpool’s formidable run of 11 straight home league matches in which they’ve bagged over 1.5 goals.
Inflicting revenge for four consecutive H2H defeats will be a driving force behind West Ham’s bid to advance into the League Cup semi-finals after leaving Premier League table-toppers Arsenal in their wake en route to setting up this tie courtesy of a 3-1 home win in the previous round. David Moyes’ charges have peaked at the most opportune moment, going from two consecutive games without winning (D1, L1) to back-to-back triumphs by 2+ goals ‘to nil,’ including a 3-0 humbling of Wolverhampton at the weekend. Trips out of London have been kind to West Ham lately, considering they’ve won their last two matches outside the capital. Yet both those victories came by a narrow one-goal margin and were ultimately overshadowed by an embarrassing 5-0 loss at cross-city rivals Fulham on their last travel.