English League Cup Preview: Liverpool Begins Title Defense, Can West Ham United Shake Off Heavy Defeat?

On September 26th at 3:00, in the third round of the 2024/25 English League Cup, Liverpool will host West Ham United at home. This marks the second consecutive year that these two teams meet in the League Cup.

The League Cup is the last trophy legendary coach Klopp left for Liverpool fans. Last season’s victory also made Liverpool the only team in League Cup history to win double-digit titles with 10 championships. Now, under new manager Slot, Liverpool is striving to create new history.

The Dutchman Slot’s new life on Merseyside looks perfect except for the surprising 0-1 home defeat to Nottingham Forest two weeks ago. Liverpool has won all other five games across competitions since the start of the season, including notable victories over Manchester United and AC Milan. Luis Diaz has become the new spearhead for the Reds, scoring five goals this season and becoming the top scorer within the team; veteran core player Salah has also maintained good form with three goals and four assists so far; even the much-criticized Nunez opened his goal account in the game against Bournemouth. Currently, everyone in the team is vying for the lead, and they sit second in the Premier League, just one point behind Manchester City.

The situation for West Ham United is not as optimistic. The weakness and timidity shown by Lopetegui’s players in their 0-3 loss to Chelsea has angered fans. After five rounds of league matches, West Ham United have only managed a win against the struggling Crystal Palace, currently sitting 14th in the league table.

Hammers fans hope their team can use their good luck in the League Cup to wake up, having secured a 1-0 win over Bournemouth at the end of August, thus earning the chance to challenge Liverpool. In last season’s League Cup, West Ham United impressively defeated Arsenal in the fourth round before falling to eventual champions Liverpool.

Although West Ham United have suffered an embarrassing eight consecutive away losses at Anfield in all competitions, the visiting Hammers players still hope to replicate the 2-2 draw at home against Liverpool in April. It was in that game that Klopp and Salah’s sideline argument stole the spotlight from the match itself.

Liverpool will be without the long-term absent Elliott, and first-choice goalkeeper Alisson has missed the league game against Bournemouth, with Kelleher expected to start for the second consecutive game. Home fans will be eagerly awaiting whether key summer signing Chiesa can make his first start for the Reds. West Ham United are hopeful of welcoming back Flickrug, who has been out with a calf injury; the German striker has only played three league games for the Hammers since joining in the summer transfer window, averaging around 20 minutes per game.

Both Liverpool and West Ham United will be playing away in the league over the weekend, so rotation is likely in this game. Compared to West Ham United, Liverpool’s form is far better, allowing them to approach the game with more composure at home.

>>”>More predictions and schemes for this game can be found here>>>