West Ham United vs. Liverpool – EPL, January 31, 2021

If Liverpool hadn’t beaten Spurs in the week, Jurgen Klopp’s side would have gone into this game behind West Ham in the table and out of the Champions League places.

That is a testament to David Moyes and the way he has got this Hammers team playing – and the players he has introduced this season. Now it could really shake things up with a win against the champions on Sunday.

Given Liverpool’s recent results, it must be very tempting to look at the home win here. But I’m not sure that the Merseyside club is in the middle of a dip in form. The odds offered for the draw by BetOnline are more interesting to me – and may be better value than the Liverpool win.

There was a time earlier in the season when the only positive for West Ham was the goals and form of Michail Antonio. So when he was ruled out through injury, the team was in big trouble. But David Moyes has transformed the squad, and Antonio is now only a part of its current success.

Czech midfielder Tomas Soucek has been a particular highlight – even adding goals to his regular positive contributions. But the truth is that West Ham – as a team – has vastly improved as the season has gone on and will now be thinking that European qualification is perhaps not such a pipe dream.

Liverpool has a league title to defend, of course and will be looking to use the 3-1 win at Spurs in the week as a platform for making a renewed assault on the top of the table. Liverpool had incredibly not won in five EPL games before that fixture and had not even scored a goal in the league in 2021.

The ever-expanding injury list has been a big problem for Jurgen Klopp this season – and he will have been exasperated by the news that Joel Matip could add his name to it after the game against Tottenham. The changing defensive line-ups have not helped this season. But the players might even be quite used to that now.

West Ham fans might feel that this fixture is the best chance to take three points from Liverpool in recent memory, but that result is far from guaranteed. Liverpool will still be able to put out a very good side – and if Klopp can make sure that his team is strong enough defensively, I think that it could come away with what might be considered by some as a surprise victory.