West Ham have reason for optimism going into 2025 but hopes of Liverpool upset hit by key absences | OneFootball

Hammers appear to have turned a corner under Julen Lopetegui but visit of Premier League leaders will be tough

As West Ham prepare for their final match of December and 2024, it is worth remembering how dire things had got at the beginning of the month.

The visit to the King Power Stadium on December 3 delivered a bruising 3-1 defeat to Leicester City.

It seemed as though Ruud van Nistelrooy’s first game in charge of the Foxes could prove to have been Julen Lopetegui’s last as West Ham manager. The Hammers’ board met to discuss his sacking - only to give him more time.

The long-term future of no manager is ever certain and Lopetegui is no different, but he has unquestionably steadied the ship.

It is just as well, because the arrival of Liverpool to the London Stadium on Sunday has the potential to a bleak event West Ham fans if the Hammers allow themselves to be thrown around by the Premier League leaders and far-and-away the slickest outfit in the country.

Though this is the first Premier League meeting between the two sides this season, it is not their first encounter.

West Ham must draw on their experience of September’s Carabao Cup visit to Anfield and learn how not to play into the hands of Arne Slot’s team.

The Hammers were level at half-time that night but by then were a man down and beaten 5-1.

For Liverpool, this is an eighth and final match in December, and in only one of the games have they scored fewer than two goals.

In that time, they have put six past Tottenham, three past Newcastle and Leicester, and cruised past the imploding Manchester City.

The challenge to keep those rampant Reds at bay is made all the more difficult by a host of changes Lopetegui is likely to need to make to his line-up from the win over Saints.

Lukasz Fabianski has been so dependable in goal, but is out after his head injury against Southampton.

Indiscipline has cost West Ham throughout Lopetegui’s still-young reign, and while Lucas Paqueta returns from suspension, there will be no Tomas Soucek or Guido Rodriguez after both midfielders picked up their fifth yellow cards of the season.

Lopetegui has said he is “not optimistic” about the chances of Max Kilman playing either. The centre-back was replaced by Jean-Clair Todibo after only 19 minutes with a shoulder injury. Todibo, whose start to life in England has been a mixed bag, may have to start. Midfielder Carlos Soler, meanwhile, has a knee injury.

West Ham’s uptick in form has been impressive, ultimately keeping Lopetegui in a job.

It will take a resolute display from what is likely to be a makeshift line-up if that form is to continue beyond the visit of the league leaders.