Anfield
Saturday 18th August,
2001West Ham
United38Games38 ATTACKING 71Goals
scored451.87Ave goals per game1.1846%Shooting Accuracy46%14%Goals
to shots
%10% PASSING 14971Passes1369672%Pass
completion %69% DEFENDING 74%Tackle
success rate %69%39Goals conceded501.03Ave goals conceded per
game1.32 DISCIPLINE 542Fouls50949Yellow
cards695Red cards2
Liverpool v West Ham
While the Liverpool ground staff were busy polishing the newly-acquired silverware during the summer months, the back room boys at West Ham were getting used to life without good old Harry. Redknapp's departure may have marked the end of an era, but it also represents the start of a new phase and Glenn Roeder will be out to silence his premature critics.
Aside from a morale-boosting FA Cup run that included against-the-odds victories over Manchester United and Sunderland respectively, the cheers from the Upton Park faithful were fairly muted throughout the last Premiership campaign. Twelve months ago they endured a run of six games without a win and will be actively seeking to sprint out of the starting blocks this time - not stumble.
However, Roeder could not have wished for a more daunting opening fixture. Liverpool's storming end to the 2000-01 campaign has continued with the same ferocity and the trophy-leaden heroes added the Charity Shield to their envious collection a week ago.
With England's crunch game against Germany creeping ever closer, the nation's fans - with the exception of West Ham's - will be overjoyed with Michael Owen's current form. The impish hitman bagged a classy goal in the Millennium Stadium to go with his recent Champions League qualifying hat-trick in Helsinki.
A late spate of scoring action took Owen's final Premiership goals tally to 16 last season and he will pose a massive threat to the visitors if selected. The 21-year-old hit the back of the net with an unrivalled 23% of his overall efforts last season - better than any other forward at the club - and will be itching to continue where he left off.
As a team, the rampant Reds smacked home 26 more strikes than the east Londoners during the 2000-01 rat race, but just as crucially, conceded 11 fewer in return. Meanwhile, the Hammers leaked an average of 1.32 goals per game and have had to make significant strides towards fixing the leak.
New £3million signing David James misses out on the chance to go head-to-head with his old club after injuring himself playing for England in midweek, though defender Sebastien Schemmel has committed his immediate future to the club after a successful loan spell last season.
The biggest blow to Roeder's plans will be the hamstring injury sustained by Freddie Kanoute, which definitely rules the Frenchman out of this tie. The former Lyon marksman was the Hammers' top scorer last term and lashed in more shots (80) than any of his team-mates.
But in order to create opportunities in the final third, the capital side will have to greatly increase their ball-winning skills. They propped up the top-flight tackling chart last year, winning just 69% of their challenges - five percentage points fewer than Liverpool. And if the Red machine clicks into gear, the visitors will have their work cut out to prevent an onslaught of attacks, regardless of their commitment.
The odds on Owen bagging another hat-trick as he did in last season's 3-0 home win are 14/1, while the Hammers can be backed at 25/1 to pull off a 2-1 success.
Matchday Referee: Jeff Winter
No other top-flight referee offciated more games than Jeff Winter during the course of 2000-01, but this did not prevent him finishing in the lower reaches of the referees' table. He produced an average of three yellow cards per game and only reached for the red on a hat-trick of occasions.
Referee's Name FoulsPenaltiesYellow CardsRed CardsAve
Disc pointsJ Winter596570336.48
PLAYER HEAD-TO-HEAD
click below for in-depth comparisonOwen v Di Canio
TEAM NEWS
Shaka Hislop starts in goal for the Hammers after new signing David James damaged his knee ligament during England's friendly defeat in midweek. With striker Paul Kitson nursing a hamstring problem, Svetoslav Todorov could get the nod for. Pegguy Arphexad will be on hand to replace Sander Westerveld if the Dutchman's thigh injury doesn't heal in time, while the Reds also have worries over Emile Heskey and Steven Gerrard. Meanwhile, Gerard Houllier must decide whether to give Robbie Fowler a return after his vice-captain was dropped from Liverpool's Charity Shield squad for disciplinary reasons.
MATCH BETTING
click on links below to place a wager Match
Result
Liverpool1/3Draw3/1West Ham7/1 Correct
Score
Liverpool 1-07/1Liverpool 2-011/2Liverpool 2-18/1Liverpool
3-015/2Liverpool 3-19/1Liverpool 3-233/1Liverpool 4-014/1Liverpool
4-114/1Liverpool 4-240/1Liverpool 5-028/1Liverpool 5-128/1Liverpool
6-050/1Liverpool 6-150/1Liverpool 7-0100/1Liverpool 7-1100/1Draw
0-011/1Draw 1-17/1Draw 2-220/1Draw 3-366/1West Ham 1-014/1West Ham
2-033/1West Ham 2-125/1West Ham 3-0100/1West Ham 3-1100/1West Ham
3-2100/1 Double Result
Liverpool/Liverpool8/11Liverpool/Draw16/1Liverpool/West
Ham50/1Draw/Liverpool7/2Draw/Draw11/2Draw/West Ham15/1West
Ham/Liverpool28/1West Ham/Draw16/1West Ham/West
Ham15/1 First Goalscorer
M Owen7/2R Fowler9/2E Heskey9/2J Litmanen11/2N Barmby15/2D
Murphy10/1V Smicer12/1Gerrard12/1G Mcallister12/1P Berger12/1I
Biscan16/1D Hamann16/1S Hyypia25/1J A Riise25/1M Babbel33/1S
Henchoz50/1J Carragher50/1G Vignal66/1No Goalscorer11/1Kitson9/1F
Kanoute9/1P Di Canio10/1Todorov10/1Defoe10/1Sinclair16/1J
Cole20/1Carrick25/1Courtois25/1S Moncur33/1Charles50/1Minto50/1R
Song50/1S Schmemel50/1R Soma66/1C Dailly66/1N Winterburn66/1S
Potts80/1For all these bets + much more go now to
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