Arne Slott has warned Liverpool to be wary of quality depth in the Premier League ahead of their side’s home clash with West Ham United this afternoon.
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The Reds are widely expected to maintain their recent winless streak today as they welcome Nuno Espirio Santo’s side to Anfield, with the 18th-placed side having lost in all of their last 10 visits to Anfield.
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However, with three of the teams currently in the bottom six having taken points away from us in the fourth tier this season, there are enough case studies for Liverpool to be wary of complacency when playing at home against teams at the bottom of the table.
Slott warns Liverpool not to underestimate West Ham
Sloter mentioned Wolves’ unexpected 2-0 victory over Aston Villa last night, pointing out that the results of this level of competition may go against the league standings, and he very much hopes that Liverpool will not fall into such a game again today.
The Red Army head coach said in an interview with Sky Sports before the start of the game: “All these teams that are not in the top five are doing well everywhere in the Premier League. Even last night we saw Wolves play a very, very good team at Villa. This is the Premier League.
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“It’s not just the teams around West Ham that are doing well here. All the teams we’ve faced all season long, home and away, have been tough games. I’m not expecting anything else today.”
(Photo by Alex Pantlin/Getty Images)
Liverpool won’t have an easy day today, but victory is non-negotiable
As Roberto Martinez explains when predicting the Iron Man surprise this afternoon, the possibility of Nuno employing a deep defense could make life quite difficult for Liverpool, as other visiting teams have done when defending low at Anfield.
Villa’s defeat on Friday means the Reds could close the gap on Emery’s third-placed side to three points if they maintain their winning streak against West Ham United this afternoon, while also putting more pressure on Manchester United and Chelsea ahead of tomorrow’s games.
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This is exactly the game Liverpool FC must win if they are to salvage their Champions League qualification, but as we’ve seen against the likes of Forest and Burnley this season, it’s also a big banana peel for the Merseysiders.
The absence of Florian Wirtz through injury will make Liverpool’s task more difficult, but the starting XI should still have enough quality to secure all three points this afternoon.
Beating West Ham may require patience, as it did three months ago, but as long as the Reds have the right attitude and attack hard in both penalty areas, they should be able to withstand the severe test and maintain their winning streak.
