The final Carabao Cup quarter-final takes place at Anfield on Wednesday night as Liverpool welcome a buoyant West Ham to Merseyside.
Jurgen Klopp’s title hopefuls were frustrated by bitter rivals Manchester United at the weekend and forced to settle for a stalemate which saw them relinquish their place at the top of the Premier League table.
West Ham, meanwhile, have secured back-to-back wins after being thumped by Fulham and were superb in their 3-0 win over Wolves on Sunday. The Hammers are hoping to reach their first League Cup semi-final since the 2013/14 campaign, while Liverpool are record nine-time winners of the competition.
Here’s 90min’s preview of Wednesday’s Carabao Cup quarter-final.
Liverpool vs West Ham H2H Record (Last Five Games)
Current form (all competitions)
|
Country |
TV channel/live stream |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Football, Sky Ultra HD, SKY GO Extra |
|
United States |
ESPN+ |
|
Canada |
DAZN |
Ryan Gravenberch joined the injury list at the weekend as he was forced off against Man Utd with a hamstring issue. He won’t feature on Wednesday.
Alexis Mac Allister should return soon but won’t be fit enough for this cup tie. Diogo Jota is also expected to be in contention over the festive period. Joel Matip and Andy Robertson are long-term absentees, while the statuses of Thiago Alcantara and Stefan Bajcetic remain up in the air.
Liverpool predicted lineup vs West Ham (4-3-3): Kelleher; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Quansah, Gomez; Endo, Elliott, Szoboszlai; Salah, Gakpo, Diaz.
The visitors have few concerns on the injury front but are still without Michail Antonio due to a knee problem. The forward is expected to return by the end of the year.
Despite the congested fixture list that awaits all Premier League clubs over the festive period, the significance of this game for the Hammers means Moyes could name an unchanged XI from Sunday’s win over Wolves.
West Ham predicted lineup vs Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Areola; Coufal, Zouma, Aguerd, Emerson; Soucek, Alvarez; Kudus, Ward-Prowse, Paqueta; Bowen.
Moyes certainly has more leeway regarding team selection, so we could see a full-strength West Ham side line up at Anfield on Wednesday.
Given Saturday’s crucial Premier League bout with Arsenal, Klopp has to rotate his team somewhat in midweek. Liverpool’s second string struggled in Belgium last week, although several core starters will remain in the side.
There’s real scope for the Hammers to pull off the upset on Wednesday and advance into the semi-finals, but sheer Anfield magic could thrust the Reds into the last four.
