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Liverpool team news vs West Ham United: Thiago to start in midfield?

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Thiago Alcantara Liverpool

Liverpool beat a 10-man Atletico Madrid in midweek so they are back on track after the draw against Brighton. And next up, they will face a buoyant West Ham United at the London Stadium.

The Reds need to pick up a win so they can maintain the pressure on league leaders Chelsea but they will have to really sweat it out since the Hammers are in the form of their lives under David Moyes.

Liverpool are undefeated in their last 20 matches in the Premier League so they do go into this weekend’s game as the favourites but it will not be a major shock if West Ham manage to pick up something from this game.

Jurgen Klopp have a series of injury absentees going into this encounter and since they played an intense UCL game in midweek, fitness could be a key factor in Sunday’s game. The manager has very few options from the bench so if he needs to change anything then the German could struggle.

Liverpool team news vs West Ham United:

Liverpool have confirmed that Joe Gomez is out with a calf injury but he’s not starting anyways so it will not be a problem for Klopp. Konate has moved up the pecking order meaning he will start ahead of Joel Matip.

The Reds manager will be missing several midfielders for Sunday’s game as Naby Keita, Curtis Jones and James Milner are all out with various injuries.

All of them are ruled out for Sunday’s game and will only be back after the international break.

The manager told the press: “Curtis is a completely different story [to Firmino], he was very unlucky in training – he got a finger that scratched the eye. I had a lot of injuries to players in my career, that was not involved. He is on the way back but we have to see how long exactly.

“He will be back after the international break, for sure, but in the international break we have to see when he can start doing proper stuff again.

“We will see[for Keita and Milner]. For them, I have hope for after the international break but I don’t know exactly.

“We have to wait. That’s two weeks and a few days from now on, so that’s what I would really wish for but I cannot promise that. But that’s what we are working on.”

Thankfully, Fabinho and Thiago have both returned to full fitness and one, if not both, are going to start vs the Hammers. Having said that, whenever Thiago starts Liverpool lose a lot of pace in the middle of the pitch so it will not be a surprise if Oxlade-Chamberlain is selected ahead of him just so that they can get around the pressing of Soucek and Declan Rice.

Firmino is the latest player who has joined the injury list after picking up a hamstring injury meaning Diogo Jota is a straightforward choice for the centre-forward’s role.

The manager added: “Bobby is not good news with a serious hamstring injury, really unfortunate. We don’t know exactly how long he will be out but it will be not now after the international break directly. We have to work on that.”

Read: Arsenal and Liverpool eyeing a move for this 25 Y/O La Liga winger.

Read: Arsenal join West Ham United in the race to sign this 27 Y/O midfielder.

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