Liverpool and West Ham will meet on Sunday in the Premier League, and the hosts are expected to be missing a number of key players for the fixture.
Both clubs delivered belated Christmas presents to their fans on Boxing Day, with the Reds securing a 3-1 win over Leicester while the Hammers left Southampton with a 1-0 victory.
It was a costly three points for Julen Lopetegui, however, as he witnessed three players succumb to injury on the south coast and another two reach the suspension threshold.
While Arne Slot is to be without only Dominik Szoboszlai (suspension), Ibrahima Konate (knee) and Conor Bradley (hamstring), West Ham could be missing the following against the Reds:
- Max Kilman (shoulder) – questionable
- Carlos Soler (knee) – questionable
- Guido Rodriguez (suspension) – unavailable
- Tomas Soucek (suspension) – unavailable
- Lukasz Fabianski (concussion) – unavailable
- Michail Antonio (leg) – unavailable
Lukasz Fabianski was stretchered off on Thursday after a nasty-looking head injury in a collision with Southampton‘s Nathan Wood, which delayed the game for several minutes.
He did not need to go to the hospital and was conscious and alert in the dressing room, but concussion protocols will keep him out of Liverpool’s visit.
Alphonse Areola is expected to take his place and return to the XI after seeing out the final 54 minutes on Thursday.
Carlos Soler and Max Kilman, meanwhile, were forced off before the second half could get underway, and they are doubts against the Reds with just a three-day turnaround.
To add insult to injury, Guido Rodriguez and Tomas Soucek both picked up their fifth yellow card of the season to trigger a one-match ban, leaving the Hammers with big holes to fill in midfield.
Lucas Paqueta will return from a one-match ban, but Lopetegui is set to be without five key players who started on Thursday.
Speaking of the upcoming test against the league leaders, Lopetegui said: “We are not afraid of them, but we do respect them, like all of the teams.
“They have top players, a very good coach, and they are doing very well at the top of the league right now.
“But we have to believe in our own strengths and look at what is possible for us to do in the match. We are happy to have these kind of matches at home because we know the difficulties, but we have great belief in our players.”
Likely West Ham XI: Areola; Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Todibo, Emerson; Alvarez; Bowen, Paqueta, Kudus, Summerville; Fullkrug
