Carabao Cup: Liverpool vs West Ham Live
Preview
The last quarter-final match of the Carabao Cup will be held at Liverpool’s Anfield stadium on Wednesday night, featuring a Premier League clash between Liverpool and West Ham United. Jurgen Klopp’s team has defeated Bournemouth and Leicester City to reach this stage, while West Ham caused an upset by beating Arsenal in the previous round following a close win against Lincoln City.
In Liverpool’s highly anticipated Premier League match against Manchester United, Anfield saw its largest-ever crowd in the Premier League era. Despite this, Liverpool’s team, led by Klopp, made an unwanted mark in history as they failed to score despite taking 34 shots on goal. This was the first time since data became available in 2003-04 that Liverpool had failed to score with so many attempts in a Premier League game.
Klopp expressed his disbelief, claiming that his team’s performance was more dominant than their 7-0 victory over Man United last season. However, the final score did not reflect this, and Liverpool’s 11-game winning home streak in the 2023-24 season came to an end. Currently second in the standings behind Arsenal, Liverpool will focus on their upcoming match against the Gunners and their pursuit of a record-extending 10th EFL Cup title, having last won the trophy in 2022.
David Moyes’s team is now just 270 minutes away from potentially winning another title. Despite facing a hostile reception due to his previous association with Everton, Moyes guided West Ham to the last 16 of the Europa League with a 2-0 win over Freiburg. Their victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday completed their redemption from a previous 5-0 defeat to Fulham.
Lucas Paqueta, who set up three goals in a single Premier League game, joined Roberto Firmino as the second Brazilian to achieve this feat. He provided two assists for Mohammed Kudus and set up Jarrod Bowen for another goal. West Ham also impressed in the EFL Cup, defeating Arsenal and advancing to the quarter-finals for the second time in three seasons. However, they will need to overcome their quarter-final struggles if they are to progress further towards Wembley.
Head-to-head
Liverpool has not lost in their last three encounters with West Ham, winning all three, including their most recent league match with a 3-1 victory.
Prediction
The two managers have more important matters to focus on for 2024, but a few lesser-known players on both teams will give their all on the Anfield field to impress Klopp and Moyes. This will lead to a closely contested match. Despite Liverpool’s disappointing performance on Sunday, they have already scored many goals at home this season, so it was likely just a one-time occurrence. If they can demonstrate this, they should secure a spot in the EFL Cup semi-finals. However, an in-form West Ham team will provide strong competition.
