Football – England – Premier League
Saturday 31st January 2015 – Kickoff: 1500hrs
Liverpool head into this afternoon’s clash with West Ham on the back of four wins from their last five matches in the Premier League as Brendan Rodgers’ side look to leapfrog today’s opponents and Tottenham.
Recent wins over Burnley, Swansea City, Sunderland and Aston Villa (three of these victories being achieved away from home), along with a point against Leicester City in a 2-2 draw have kept The reds in the hunt for a Europa League spot, being just four points adrift of Arsenal. However, Arsenal host struggling Aston Villa at The Emirates, so Liverpool will be keen to take all three points today to keep the pressure on.
Liverpool are unbeaten at Anfield in their last five, but three of these have ended in draws, and in particular, the stalemates with Sunderland and Leicester City will be viewed as four points dropped. Their overall home record stands at 4-5-2 15/11.
Visitors West Ham currently sit one league position and one point ahead of their hosts as they’ve enjoyed a much better season this time around under Sam Allardyce amidst flowing and attacking football that their fans craved.
The Hammers secured a relatively easy three points in the end against an injury-hit Hull City at Upton Park last time out, but they face a tough trip up to Liverpool this weekend particularly having won just once on the road in their last six away matches.
In addition, West Ham have played top half opposition away from home four times already this season and have walked away with just two points thanks to draws at Stoke City and Swansea City along with defeats at Manchester United and Chelsea.
West Ham’s away record stands at an okay 3-4-3 16/15 but they do have the second worst away record of teams situated in the top half of the division, behind only to Swansea City.
A trip to Anfield may be too much for West Ham this afternoon, particularly with Liverpool looking to reduce the points deficit on Arsenal – could be a 2-1 win for the hosts.
Pick: Liverpool straight win @ 1.67 Bwin
