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2023/24 English Premier League
Matchday 35
West Ham United v Liverpool
London Stadium
London, England
Saturday, 27 April 2024
Kick-off is at 13h30
Liverpool need to pick themselves up quickly from their Merseyside derby disappointment when they take on West Ham at the London Stadium on Saturday, April 27 in the lunchtime kick-off.
The Reds crucially slipped up in the
Premier League title race after suffering a surprise 2-0 defeat to neighbours Everton at Goodison Park on April 24.
A second loss in three games left Jurgen Klopp's side three points adrift of league leaders Arsenal in second place, although they could go into the weekend's action two behind Manchester City, who travel to the Amex for a clash with Brighton on April 25.
The Gunners dispatched Chelsea 5-0 at the Emirates Stadium on April 23 to pull ahead in their quest for a first championship in 20 years. However, the Citizens will reclaim top spot if they pick up maximum points from their two games in hand.
The Hammers are in danger of missing out on European football after their poor run of form continued with a 5-2 thrashing at the hands of Crystal Palace on April 21.
It was a third defeat in five matches for David Moyes' side, who find themselves just one point above Chelsea in eighth position, having played two games more than their London rivals.
Manchester United (6th) opened up a five-point gap to the East Londoners courtesy of a 4-2 win over Sheffield United at Old Trafford on April 24, while Newcastle (7th) are a further three behind them after going down 2-0 to Palace at Selhurst Park.
In team news, George Earthy (head) is the only confirmed absentee for the hosts, who could welcome back Konstantinos Mavropanos, Nayef Aguerd (ankle) and Jarrod Bowen (back). The visitors remain without Joel Matip (knee), Thiago Alcantara (thigh) and Conor Bradley (ankle), while Diogo Jota (groin) and Cody Gakpo face late fitness tests.
Moyes labelled the first-half performance against the Eagles as "unacceptable" and has demanded a response from his players when Liverpool come to town.
"The first half was as bad as I've seen us play. We've had three or four of these incidents this season that I couldn't believe," the Scot said.
"In three seasons here, I don't think the players had gone to the depths that we've gone to in two or three games. The first half was unacceptable, mainly our defending and how we started the game. Lots of things were not correct today. We didn't compete. It was hard to explain.
"I'm giving no excuses whatsoever. The players got praise for their performance on Thursday but today was so bad. I can hardly put it into words. We need a response from the players. We've lost a bit of the tough culture that we had - pride, making sure we didn't concede and were hard to play against. Today we were none of them."
Image copyright: Getty Images
Klopp admitted they just weren't good enough on the night against the Toffees and apologised to the fans for a poor derby performance which could have ended their title ambitions.
"I'm very disappointed. We let it become the game Everton wanted. Two goals from set-pieces. They are really strong. But we created a lot and didn't score," the German told Sky Sports.
"Then in the second half we were emotional and in a rush, not really clear enough. Then we concede a second goal with a routine they do the whole season - we knew the ball was going there we just didn't defend it well enough.
"It was free-kick after free-kick. That was part of the story. But we weren't good enough. I didn't expect that performance but it happened. It's not the greatest moment we're in but you have to fight through it, use your moments to get your momentum.
"I can only apologise to everyone who is with us - it's hard for us but I know for our people it is especially hard. We should've done better but we didn't and that's why we lost."
Head-to-Head (Last Five Premier League Meetings)
Matches - 5
West Ham wins - 1
Liverpool wins - 4
Draws - 0
Premier League Matchday 35 fixtures:
Saturday, April 27
13h30: West Ham United v Liverpool
16h00: Fulham v Crystal Palace
16h00: Manchester United v Burnley
16h00: Newcastle United v Sheffield United
16h00: Wolverhampton Wanderers v Luton Town
18h30: Everton v Brentford
21h00: Aston Villa v Chelsea
Sunday, April 28
15h00: Bournemouth v Brighton & Hove Albion
15h00: Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal
17h30: Nottingham Forest v Manchester City
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