A Liverpool star has cranked up the tension ahead of the showdown with West Ham by demanding that his teammates “smash into” the Hammers and it will be music to Nuno Espirito Santo’s ears.
Liverpool supporters may be at their lowest ebb for years but West Ham fans have seen this script too many times before.
The Hammers are the perennial gift horse.
Team on an unprecedented losing streak? Striker hasn’t scored for months? Enter West Ham, all your problems solved.
No matter the manager or the era, that has been part of the West Ham way as much as the Hammers playing the role of party poopers.
West Ham are the perennial gift horse to give Liverpool hope
It’s why Liverpool should be hugely encouraged ahead of their trip to the London Stadium.
This time around, though, there is something different about West Ham under Nuno Espirito Santo.
The Hammers look like they have started to turn a corner with seven points from their last three games and a new-found togetherness and team spirit which will be vital to any hopes of Premier League survival.
It looked like things could not get any worse for Liverpool ahead of their visit to the London Stadium after a 3-0 defeat to Forest at Anfield at the weekend.
Arne Slot’s Reds have lost nine of their last 12 games and each of their last three in all competitions.
But there were more shocking scenes at Anfield overnight as Liverpool lost 4-1 to PSV.
Rumours have started circulating that Slot could face the sack if Liverpool lose to West Ham.
It says everything about West Ham’s reputation as a gift horse when another team is desperate for a win that Liverpool’s defeat to PSV has only reinforced belief among some Hammers fans that a home defeat is inevitable on Sunday.
A glimpse at the mentality of Liverpool ahead of the game suggests the Hammers may be able to rid themselves of that tag, though.
After the hiding at the hands of PSV, Curtis Jones launched into a passionate rant.
The Liverpool star has demanded his teammates smash into West Ham players and it’s perfect for Nuno’s Holy Trinity.
Jones tells Liverpool stars to smash into West Ham players
His words were a clearly meant to get a response from the Reds dressing room and perhaps even intimidate the Hammers — but ironically, it will play right into the hands of Nuno and his three key players.
If Liverpool want to make this a physical contest and a scrap then Nuno’s side will gladly accept it as he has been rebuilding them to do just that.
“You just want them to be a man out there and you just want them to tackle someone and just be a dog out there!” Jones told CBS.
“It’s not always the fact that we’ve got these lads who are nice on the ball and we just play and play like go and smash someone – and it’s coming from me as well I’m not saying that the other lads have to go and do it because (it’s the) same (for me).
“I’m in the exact same boat that the lads are looking at me saying ‘Go on then, go and smash someone’. So it’s got to be on me and the rest of the lads to not be so nice.”
Liverpool mindset perfect for Nuno’s Holy Trinity
One of the biggest improvements at West Ham since Nuno’s arrival has been their competitiveness, fight and aggression.
Just take one look at someone like Jean-Clair Todibo for evidence of that – a player who now suddenly looks like a completely different animal.
Not only will West Ham, who are a physically robust side anyway, be more than up for the fight, knowing Liverpool’s players are revved up to ‘smash’ into them is ideal for captain Jarrod Bowen, rapid winger Crysencio Summerville and the supremely talented Lucas Paqueta.
The evasive trio will be able to play on that to win free-kicks and fouls in key areas.
With Liverpool looking as vulnerable from set-pieces as the Hammers had been, that could be the deciding factor in this huge clash.
It will suit West Ham that Liverpool are more focused on smashing them than playing their football.
Bowen usually finds it tough against Virgil van Dijk. But on the evidence of the Reds captain’s lethargic performances of late, that will be nowhere near as daunting a task.
As Liverpool focus on getting stuck in, Paqueta, Bowen and Summerville can focus on making them come unstuck on the break.
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