Liverpool travel to West Ham low on confidence this weekend, but the Hammers aren’t exactly brimming with self-belief themselves currently.
The Reds lost 2-0 at Everton on Wednesday, effectively ending their Premier League title hopes with their 2023/24 season petering out depressingly.
Next up is the Saturday lunchtime trip to West Ham, with victory badly needed to stop the rot that has set in recently.
Ahead of the match, we spoke to West Ham podcaster and fan James Jones (@ByJames Jones) to get the lowdown on his team, David Moyes, the title race and much more.
How positive has this season been?
It started positively and with so much hope after winning the Europa Conference League, but since the turn of the year, it has gone backwards and has become very toxic.
West Ham have gone from being sixth in the Premier League and front-runners to secure a top-six finish, to slipping down to eighth and European qualification no longer in our hands.
That’s thanks to winning just four games in 2024 to this point.
We’ve failed to beat Sheffield United, Burnley, Bournemouth, Fulham and Crystal Palace in the league, and it’s cost us massively.
Is it the right time for Moyes to go?
Yes, I think it is, but the levels he’s taken us to over the last four years were beyond our wildest dreams.
We were deep in a relegation battle when he came back and, since then, we have reached three consecutive European quarter-finals, a Europa League semi-final and won silverware.
We’ve finished in the top seven of the Premier League twice. No one saw it coming.
But Moyes’ failure to build a squad capable of competing across multiple fronts, due to his preference of working with a smaller squad, is a key factor behind why it’s all gone wrong this year. The players are running out of steam.
On top of that, his tactics don’t always complement the talent we have in the squad, hence the silly dropped points against teams at the bottom of the league.
It’s often so negative, and while that had previously proved to be successful and was the foundation behind Moyes’ early success at the club, it’s no longer effective.
That’s evident in the fact we’ve conceded more goals than any one else in the Premier League outside the bottom three.
The feeling is it’s time for the club to move on with a manager who has fresh ideas, a more positive tactical approach and is willing to build a squad that can compete across an entire season, not just two-thirds of one.
Moyes will leave a legend, though. I’ll always love the man.
Who would you like to replace him?
There are so many names being thrown around already. I’ve always said someone like Graham Potter would be a good appointment.
The Chelsea job was arguably too big for him, but West Ham are the type of club and project where I think he could build on what he was doing at Brighton.
Aside from that, I quite like what Andoni Iraola is doing at Bournemouth with a relatively small budget.
They play a good brand of football and you would think with a crop of better players he could expand on that at West Ham.
Who have been West Ham’s best and worst players this season?
Jarrod Bowen has been superb and would most likely be everyone’s pick for our best player, but my man is Emerson Palmieri.
He literally doesn’t have a bad game and is so effective down the left, both defensively and going forward.
He goes under the radar a little because his goal and assist numbers are often low, but I’ve always said the sign of a good player is one you don’t notice on the pitch.
That’s Emerson.
His close friendship with Lucas Paqueta also means he and the Brazilian link-up really nicely.
Worst player? Hate to say it because I think everything’s worked against him since he arrived, but it’s Kalvin Phillips.
A loan signing we didn’t need, for starters, but also a player whose confidence needed a club where there was absolutely no pressure of expectation of hitting top levels.
West Ham was the complete opposite and he just hasn’t been able to recover what he had at Leeds and with England.
How do you assess Liverpool’s title hopes?
After that defeat to Everton, I think it’s going to be very difficult for Liverpool now.
Three points behind Arsenal and with Man City having two games in hand, it’s no longer in your hands.
It has to be four wins from four and hope Arsenal and City both drop points at least twice in their remaining games.
Who would you like to win the title?
Anyone but Arsenal. The thought of their gloating, cocky and self-entitled fans having any glory upsets me greatly.
It would also give me great pleasure in seeing Declan Rice win nothing after he spent years saying he “wanted to win it all” in his career, only to choose to sign for Arsenal.
They are a club that hasn’t and probably won’t win it all.
As for Saturday, where will the key battles take place?
I think it all depends on whether Bowen is fit or not AND if Paqueta turns up.
Paqueta is becoming very inconsistent, but on his day, he can unlock any defence in the world.
We need that on Saturday, and with Bowen’s pace in behind, we will be dangerous in attack.
My concern is in defence. We’re shipping goals for fun at the moment and Kurt Zouma can no longer run, which is a worry against a team with a fast attack like Liverpool.
Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz could have a field day up against our defence if given the time and space on the ball.
If you could only have one Liverpool player at West Ham, who would it be?
I think I’ve said it before on this site and I’ll say it again: Diogo Jota. I just love him.
He scores all sorts of goals and can play pretty much anywhere in a front-three, or even a little deeper behind the attack.
It’s a shame that he’s having injury problems at the moment, but I have to say I’m pleased he won’t be playing on Saturday.
Finally, what’s your prediction?
Given Liverpool’s form, I think we have a chance of taking something this weekend.
But I’m aware that Jurgen Klopp will not want to see any more dropped points as he attempts to take the title race to the final weekend.
As long as Liverpool are still in the race, there’s still a chance, and that’s what West Ham are up against this weekend.
I’m going to remain positive and predict a 2-1 West Ham win, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the other way round.
Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
