Fifth placed West Ham welcome fourth placed Liverpool to the London Stadium on Sunday afternoon in an enticing Premier League clash.

David Moyes‘ Hammers come into the game off the back of an impressive 3-2 away win at Crystal Palace, and are looking for their seventh successive win in all competitions for just the third time in their history.

But they face a Liverpool side who looked to be back to somewhere near their best as they ran out 3-1 winners at Tottenham on Thursday night. It was the Reds‘ first league win in six attempts and a performance full of swagger and confidence.

Here’s 90min’s preview of the game.

When is kick off? Sunday 31 January
What time is kick off? 16:30 (GMT)
Where is it being played? London Stadium
TV channel? Sky Sports Main Event (UK), Peacock Premium (US)
Referee? Jon Moss (VAR? Craig Pawson)

JLingz is a Hammer ? #WelcomeJesse pic.twitter.com/NXEk9xirbz

— West Ham United (@WestHam) January 29, 2021

It was announced late on Friday that Jesse Lingard had completed his loan move to West Ham from Manchester United.

However, Hammers fans will have to wait to see their new man in action as he was not signed before the 12:00 registration deadline, meaning he is ineligible to play at the weekend. Therefore, Said Benrahma, whose deal at the London Stadium was made permanent to pave the way for Lingard’s loan signing, will likely keep his starting place.

Other than Lingard, David Moyes will have to make do without Arthur Masuaku, who is out with a knee injury. In his absence, the Scot is expected to stick with a back four that has worked so well in recent weeks.

Liverpool continued to be without Diogo Jota and Naby Keita, while Joel Matip has joined fellow central defenders Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk on the sidelines.

Fabinho is also unavailable for the Reds, meaning Jurgen Klopp will likely field Nat Phillips or Rhys Williams in a makeshift centre-back partnership with Jordan Henderson.

West Ham (4-2-3-1): Fabianski; Coufal, Dawson, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Rice, Soucek; Bowen, Benrahma, Fornals; Antonio

Liverpool (4-3-3): Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Phillips, Henderson, Robertson; Jones, Thiago, Wijnaldum; Salah, Firmino, Mane

West Ham

Crystal Palace 2-3 West Ham – Premier League (26/01)
West Ham 4-0 Doncaster – FA Cup (23/01)
West Ham 2-1 West Brom – Premier League (19/01)
West Ham 1-0 Burnley – Premier League (16/01)
Stockport 0-1 West Ham – FA Cup (11/01)

Liverpool

Tottenham 1-3 Liverpool – Premier League (28/01)
Manchester United 3-2 Liverpool – FA Cup (24/01)
Liverpool 0-1 Burnley – Premier League (21/01)
Liverpool 0-0 Manchester United – Premier League (17/01)
Aston Villa 1-4 Liverpool – FA Cup ( 08/01)

This game is a tough one to call, even though they finished 60 points apart during the 2019/20 season.

The hosts are in the form of their lives and look full of confidence in every facet of the game. The Hammers are huge threats in the air, largely thanks to Tomas Soucek, but also have the pace and willingness to run in behind a makeshift defence from Michail Antonio.

Liverpool’s confidence had been low, but the midweek win over Jose Mourinho’s Spurs will have lifted spirits. Their famed front three looked dangerous again, while Trent Alexander-Arnold put in a man of the match display, seemingly putting his previous poor form to one side.

When it’s all said and done, their should be goals for both sides – and the spoils could be shared in an entertaining end to end clash.

Prediction: West Ham 2-2 Liverpool