Premier League preview: West Ham v Liverpool

8 December 2012 04:12

West Ham will be eyeing off their second big scalp in a week when they host Liverpool in the English Premier League on Sunday.

Sam Allardyce's men are flying high after their magnificent 3-1 victory over Chelsea last week and will be looking to continue their fine form at Upton Park.

West Ham have only been beaten once at their home ground this season – a 3-1 loss to Arsenal in October – while they held defending champions Manchester City to a draw before last week's win over Chelsea.

After being outplayed for much of the first half, West Ham dominated after the break with Carlton Cole and Mohamed Diame both impressing in the victory.

Diame, who was introduced after the interval, set up Cole for the equaliser before smashing home the go-ahead goal to seal a valuable three points.

The Hammers are now up to eighth place on the table and are challenging for Europe – just four points behind third-placed Chelsea.

While Allardyce's men are flying, the same cannot be said of Liverpool, who are struggling in 11th place on 19 points.

While the Anfield giants have only lost once in their past 10 Premier League matches, they have hardly set the world on fire with a series of draws.

Luis Suarez has been the focal point of attack for Brendan Rodgers and has already scored 10 times this season, but he will miss the clash through suspension.

Without the inspirational Uruguayan, Liverpool may struggle to find the back of the net with Steven Gerrard the only other player to have scored more than once this season.

However, they will head into the match full of confidence after their 1-0 win at Udinese on Thursday that ensured their progression into the final 32 of the Europa League.

Gerrard, Daniel Agger and Lucas were all rested for the trip to Italy, but should all be back to feature against West Ham.

Raheem Sterling came on as a substitute against Udinese, but is likely to start up front in the absence of Suarez.

Liverpool also hold a great record against their opponents with 13 wins and just two losses from the past 18 Premier League clashes between the two sides.