West Ham United travel to Anfield to take on Liverpool in the Carabao Cup third round tonight.
The Carabao Cup will represent a real chance for West Ham to win some silverware this season.
The Hammers must get through Liverpool first though, and Julen Lopetegui is expected to make a few changes for the game.
Hopefully West Ham have more luck up at Anfield than we did in the same competition nine months ago, when David Moyes named a totally bizarre starting XI.
The Hammers were thrashed 5-1, and is was a completely wasted journey up to Merseyside for the travelling 6,000 fans.
Despite the expectation that Lopetegui will make a few changes from the defeat to Chelsea, I still expect his team to be much more competitive than the one that got hammered by the Reds in December 2023.
Rarely seen West Ham player to start vs Liverpool in Carabao Cup
So tonight’s game will give Lopetegui a chance to mix things up.
I expect to see three or four changes made by the Spaniard at the very least.
The Hammers head coach has already guaranteed that one player in particular will be starting against Liverpool at Anfield.
Lukasz Fabianski will line up between the sticks for West Ham against Liverpool, as confirmed by Lopetegui when speaking to WHUFC.com.
He said, “Lukasz is going to play, for sure. He is one player that makes us feel very safe with him, and he works very hard, always, and is always ready, so tomorrow he’s going to play.”
Fabianski is a very safe pair of hands, and if we’re all being honest, Alphonse Areola has hardly been great so far this season has he!
Lukas Fabianski to start Liverpool Carabao Cup clash
The 39-year-old stopper has only played 45 minutes in the Premier League for West Ham this season.
Fabianski came on as a second-half substitute against Manchester City, and in fairness to him he only let one goal in.
However, he did play the full 90 minutes against Bournemouth in the second round of the Carabao Cup last month, and kept a clean sheet in the process.
The Pole has been a very solid operator for the Hammers over the past six years, and I’m sure he won’t let us down tomorrow night.
Lukasz Fabianski deserves to start for West Ham against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup in all fairness to him.
Let’s hope it’s a quiet and uneventful night for the 39-year-old at Anfield, but I suspect that it might not be!
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