Nuno Espirito Santo admits he felt no reason to change his West Ham United XI for the trip to Arne Slot’s Premier League champions Liverpool.
Ahead of Saturday’s 3pm kick off on Merseyside, Nuno picked the same Hammers team as the Bournemouth stalemate seven days prior.
This means that Jean-Clair Todibo and Callum Wilson remain on the bench, while Crysencio Summerville will hope to maintain his flying form up against Joe Gomez; the latest player to fill in on the right-hand side of Liverpool’s ever-changing defensive set-up.
Unchanged Hammers!
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Speaking to Sky Sports pre-match, Nuno Espirito Santo believes his West Ham United side are starting to understand their roles and their teammates at last. Better late than never.
Nuno Espirito Santo backs West Ham United to perform at Liverpool
A victory today, meanwhile, would be West Ham’s first at Anfield since Diafra Sakho put the finishing touches on a 3-0 Anfield shellacking eleven years ago.
“[My players] have knowledge of themselves and they played a good game [against Bournemouth], so it makes sense to keep the line-up,” Nuno says.
“It’s a new game. We know we are going to face a tough opponent. We need to compete well, be really organised, stay close to each other, and take our chances.
“We’ve prepared for the game well. It’s been a good week. The boys have worked hard, and now it’s time to challenge ourselves against a good team.”
Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones have started in a troublesome right-back spot for Liverpool at times this season. And though Jeremie Frimpong is back from injury, fit enough to start on the bench, the versatile Joe Gomez is the man tasked with stopping Summerville.
Arne Slot hails improved Liverpool and revived Hammers
This is Gomez’s first Premier League start since he was subbed off injured during the 3-2 defeat by AFC Bournemouth in January.
Only two Liverpool stars have a HIGHER FotMob rating than Matty! 🤯
Surely you wouldn't swap him for Gravenberch?
“In other games, other players had to play there and they have done a good job. Curtis Jones did a good job there last week. For today, it’s Joe Gomez because he’s back to the fitness levels we want him to be at,” says Arne Slot. He had a good 10 to 15 minutes the other week.”
Two months after Liverpool sauntered to a 2-0 win at the London Stadium, both clubs head into Saturday’s kick-off in much better form. Since matchday 22, West Ham and Liverpool are sixth and seventh in the form table respectively.
“At that moment [in early December], we were both struggling,” Slot adds. “Since then, we have picked up a lot more points. Both teams are in a much better place now than when we last played each other.
“It’s an interesting, interesting game.”
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