Our live stream ahead of Sunday’s Premier League match, Liverpool vs WBA is now up and running, kicking off at 16.30 GMT
You can keep an eye on the commentary as it happens below, but first, we take a preview into the fixture, lineups, predictions and much more…
Liverpool will be looking to maintain their lead at the top of the Premier League table following last weekend’s 7-0 hammering of Crystal Palace.
The win was Liverpool’s biggest ever top-flight victory away from home and saw seven different players assist a goal for a team in a single match for the first time in Premier League history.
It also saw Jurgen Klopp pick up his 127th Premier League win as Liverpool boss – surpassing Rafael Benitez for most in the club’s history – and he will be confident of quickly chalking up number 128 on Sunday.
The champions are unbeaten in their last 10 games since their scarcely-believable defeat at Aston Villa and, despite a crippling injury crisis, now sit four points clear at the top of the table with the best attacking record and goal difference in the division.
West Brom come into the game off the back of a home 3-0 defeat at the hands of local rivals Aston Villa.
The defeat to Villa leaves the Baggies 19th in the standings and now five points from safety, with only one win to their name from their opening 14 games – only the third time they have ever recorded one win or fewer at this stage of a season.
West Brom also hold the second-worst goal difference of any club in England’s top four tiers – ahead of only Southend United, who occupy spot number 92 of 92 in the pyramid – having only scored 10 goals so far this season while shipping 29.
However, Allardyce is unbeaten on his last three Premier League visits to Anfield, and Liverpool have surprisingly only won four of their last 13 Premier League meetings with the Baggies.
The two clubs last met in April 2018, battling out a 2-2 draw in front of an Anfield crowd…
PRESS CONFERENCE:
Jurgen Klopp
Injury update…
“Thiago made first steps back towards team training. Not full yet. After a long time, we cannot rush it. Other guys are closer, Shaq trained well. Milly, y’day full session. We have still two more training days before we make a decision.”
On West Brom…
“Of course, it’s tricky one. We analysed it this morning and it’s a mix of Everton when Sam was there and what I expect is a tough opponent.”
“Always tough vs his teams. West Brom will go for a proper fight. Sam is a specialist for this type of fight. A tough game.”
On Salah future…
“We never speak [about contracts]. Mo is in a good mood and moment, shape and that is the most important.”
“You would have seen him laughing a lot [today]. The rest is nice for you to write but internally, nothing really [to say].”
More on West Brom…
“They have more info about us than we do them. Sam only had a few days before Villa, not a lot of changes. They replace Livermore but when we prepare we use the games they play then they play a different way vs us because of our football. Always tricky.”
Being top at Christmas…
“Obviously means you’re not automatically champion in May if you lead at Xmas otherwise we would have been champions before.”
“It’s the best position you can be in at the moment but that is it. We know how tough it is. It’s nice, nothing else.”
“Two years ago when we didn’t win after being top at Xmas it was about the quality of the opponents and that quality is still out there. If we want to do something special we focus until the end of the season.”
On Oxlade-Chamberlain…
“The boys are connected, you are always as connected as you want. This group is strong if you’re in or out [with injury]. It’s about finding the right moments. We played with 3 mids we had but now we have a few back. You cannot make changes because they are there.”
“Rhythm is very important. The boys are connected and important and we will use them but it will not always be the case. We didn’t make a sub v Spurs as they were all without rhythm and the game intense. Ox trained today, really good session.”
On Palace win…
“7-0 is a number you don’t see often. After the [Palace] game my thought was we cancelled out [Villa]. We didn’t mention that game much to keep the lads going. It is not a benchmark. A good day, clinical finishing. The game was tough and the boys realised it.”
On Mane goal drought…
“We didn’t even know [10-game drought]! I would have lost everything if I had to bet on how many games he hadn’t scored for. One of our best players in the world hasn’t scored for a while, who cares?
“Difficult to defend, if Sadio has the ball you need 2/3 on him”
On Salah…
“Always things to talk about, he came on, scored 2. He didn’t score v Stoke in 1st season, scored 2. Yes, he’s in a good moment and I hope it stays like this. Much more important we keep going. Everyone knows this is toughest period of season.”
On team spirit
“Tougher it gets, in a good family, working environment, more you stick together, so that is how we respond. It’s tough and it will stay tough.”
“Head up or down? Fight or accept it? Our boys always find a way to fight against it and that’s what we will keep doing.”
Sam Allardyce
On getting the upset…
“Let’s try as best as we can.”
“I’m not saying we’re likely to win with the record they have got at home in the Premier League, but we have to try and get a result.”
“If we go there and get a win, which can happen at any time and any place in this league, it would be a wonderful achievement by the players.”
“When you play against the top teams in this division like Liverpool, any points gained are seen as bonus points.”
“Our points need to be gained against the sides in the bottom eight.”
“If we can beat the teams in the bottom eight of the Premier League, then I think we’ll have a chance of staying up.”
“I want us to be a lot more defensively sound. If you can start getting clean sheets, then it means you only need one goal to win a game. At the moment we’d need two or three to win a game.”
“If you open up yourself too much against Liverpool they will just play through you.”
“They have players who can score all types of goals. We need to try and be as solid as possible.”
“If we stick together in possession and out of possession, then we may just be able to frustrate Liverpool.”
FORM:
Liverpool Premier League form: WDWDWW
Liverpool form (all competitions): WWDDWW
West Bromwich Albion Premier League form: LWLLDL
LINEUPS:
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Fabinho, Robertson; Keita, Henderson, Wijnaldum; Salah, Firmino, Mane
West Bromwich Albion possible starting lineup:
Johnstone; Furlong, Ajayi, O’Shea, Gibbs; Sawyers; Phillips, Pereira, Gallagher, Diangana; Grant
THATSAGOAL TIP:
Over 3.5 Liverpool Goals – 6/4 with FanTeam
Liverpool scored seven in their last league game as they blitzed past Crystal Palace. The fact that the first-half was fairly evenly matched despite Liverpool’s three-goal lead speaks volumes about the quality of this side going forwards.
The Sam Allardyce era got off to a bad start with a 3-0 loss against Midlands rivals’ Aston Villa. West Brom were thoroughly outplayed and surely haven’t had enough time to adapt to the change in approach. Liverpool do not need many opportunities to make them count and this could be another thrashing dished out by Klopp’s side.
Time to take a look at our Liverpool vs West Bromwich Albion live match stream as it happens…
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