Winston Reid is one of a rare breed – a West Ham United defender who has both won and kept a clean sheet at Anfield!
The New Zealand captain was part of the Hammers side which famously scored a 3-0 Premier League victory over Liverpool in August 2015, ending a 52-year run without a win at the Reds’ historic stadium.
And Reid, who also scored in a 3-1 home win over the same opposition in September 2014, has enjoyed his battles with the Merseysiders down the years, and is relishing the challenge of shackling Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and the in-form Mohamad Salah when West Ham return to Anfield on Saturday afternoon.
When you go to somewhere like Anfield, you have got to be on your game, 100 per cent, and have to hope they are not completely on their game
Winston Reid
“Liverpool have always been good attacking teams with really good attacking players,” observed the No2. “In the time I’ve been here, they’ve had Luis Suarez, Philippe Coutinho, Raheem Sterling, Daniel Sturridge, Mario Balotelli, Christian Benteke, and now Salah, Firmino and Mane, so they’ve always been very good going forward.
“Especially that season under Brendan Rodgers, when they finished second in 2014, they were frightening going forward. They had Suarez and Sturridge and that was one of the best strike partnerships I’ve seen.
“This season, they’ve got a front three and when you go to somewhere like Anfield, you have got to be on your game, 100 per cent, and have to hope they are not completely on their game. It’s a game I think we’re looking forward to, especially because of our performances lately.”
West Ham may have won at Anfield just once since 1963, but the present-day Hammers travel to the North West in good spirits and on a run of just one defeat in their last eight Premier League matches.
That resurgence has taken the Hammers up to 30 points and 12th in the table, but Reid says the Hammers still have plenty of work to do in their final eleven games.
“Ideally, we want to get closer to 40 points as soon as possible as I think that will free the team up because the pressure will be taken off us. We’ve been under pressure from day one this year, as we lost the first three games and we knew it would be uphill from there.
“We’ve been building momentum lately, but the league is so tight this year, it’s going to go down to literally the last game and it could be anyone. No-one is dead and buried. Everyone is within a game or two of going up a few places or dropping back.
“You know when you go to Liverpool that it’s going to be tough, but you have to go there believing you can get something out of the game. We’ve done it in the past, so we should go there and have some confidence, approach the game and just try to do our best.”
Reid himself is hoping for some game-time at Anfield after missing West Ham’s last five Premier League matches through a combination of injury and illness.
In his absence, James Collins, Angelo Ogbonna, Aaron Cresswell and Declan Rice have all impressed at centre-half, while a fit-again Jose Fonte is also eager for a first-team return.
Competition for places is therefore fierce, but Reid is experienced enough to know that everybody will be required between now and the end of the season.
“It’s part of football and you know you need more players than can start each game because there are always going to be injuries.
“As players, the only thing we can do is prepare ourselves in the best possible way. We have three games and then a break from the Premier League because of the international break and the FA Cup, so we have to look to prepare ourselves correctly to collect as many points as possible, whether we are playing five minutes or 90 minutes. All the boys have been working hard.”