WEST HAM UNITED v LIVERPOOL
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
SUNDAY 9 DECEMBER 2012
KICK-OFF: 4PM
REFEREE: CHRIS FOY
FULL AUDIO AND TEXT COMMENTARY - WEST HAM TV
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Welcome to our Sponsors
West Ham United would like to welcome today's Match Sponsors SBOBET. One of the world's leading online gaming brands, SBOBET have enjoyed a successful partnership with the Hammers since the pair joined forces in December 2008.
Working together, the duo has enjoyed great success, on and off the pitch.
SBOBET Executive Director Bill Mummery said: "It's amazing that it's four years since we started working with West Ham United as their Principal Sponsor - one of the longest and mutually successful sponsorships in the Premier League.
"It's been a very busy time with all of the joint activities both directly with West Ham United, the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research and the West Ham Supporters' Team. I am very grateful to all at the Boleyn Ground for the support they have provided for us, for being such a committed partner and for always making SBOBET welcome."
To mark SBOBET's fourth birthday, the company will today be donating £5,000 to the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research UK.
It is far from the first time that SBOBET have made a significant financial donation to the charity set up in memory of the West Ham and England legend, who died from bowel cancer in February 1993.
Whether it be by sponsoring the SBOBET Cup pre-season fixture or backing young fundraiser Jonjo Heuerman, the company has handed more than £20,000 to the Fund over the last four years.
SBOBET have also donated thousands to West Ham's other partner charity - Richard House Children's Hospice in Beckton.
Each month since the start of the 2009/10 season, SBOBET has sponsored the club's popular Player of the Month competition, allowing supporters to vote for their favourite Hammers. Fans have also been given opportunities to win a range of exciting prizes courtesy of SBOBET-backed competitions, while the company donated a kit to the West Ham IFC supporters' team in September 2009.
In December 2009, to mark the first anniversary of the partnership, SBOBET gave a commemorative scarf to every fan who attended the home Premier League fixture with Manchester United.
The successful 2011/12 season saw the partnership of West Ham United and SBOBET move to another level, with tens of millions of television viewers seeing our Principal Partners' logo on the staff and players' kit, the Boleyn Ground Stands and perimeter boards, as well as in the Official Programme and website and adverts online and in the local, regional and national press.
Introduction
• West Ham United host Liverpool on Sunday in their ninth home Barclays Premier League fixture of the season.
• Newly-promoted West Ham United started the weekend in ninth position in the table, having picked up 15 points from eight home Barclays Premier League games so far, beating Aston Villa (1-0), Fulham (3-0), Southampton (4-1) and Chelsea (3-1), drawing with Sunderland (1-1), Manchester City (0-0) and Stoke City (1-1) and losing out to Arsenal (1-3).
• Away from home, Liverpool have won just once in seven Barclays Premier League fixtures - a 5-2 success at Norwich City on 29 September. The Reds have picked up seven points from their seven away league games.
• Both clubs will go into the game on the back of important victories. West Ham United beat Chelsea 3-1 in the Barclays Premier League last Saturday, while Liverpool secured their progress to the last-32 of the UEFA Europa League by winning 1-0 at Italian side Udinese on Thursday evening.
• West Ham United are the only side in the Barclays Premier League not to have conceded a headed goal in 2012/13. The Hammers have conceded just two goals from set pieces all season.
Team news
West Ham United
• George McCartney (groin) and Yossi Benayoun (hip) could return to the squad after being injured at Newcastle United on 11 November.
• Andy Carroll (terms of loan agreement), Ricardo Vaz Te (shoulder), Alou Diarra (thigh), and Jack Collison (knee) are all definitely out. However, Diarra has returned to light training this week.
• Stephen Henderson (Ipswich Town), Ravel Morrison and Rob Hall (Birmingham City), Dan Potts (Colchester United), Blair Turgott (Bradford City) and Paul McCallum (AFC Wimbledon) are all out on loan.
Liverpool
• Liverpool will definitely be without suspended centre forward Luis Suarez, who was shown his fifth yellow card of the season in last weekend's 1-0 home Barclays Premier League victory over Southampton.
• Injury-wise, Italy striker Fabio Borini (broken foot) and defender Martin Kelly (knee) are both side-lined.
Background
• The first-ever meeting between the two clubs was an FA Cup intermediate round tie played at the Memorial Grounds on 5 January 1901. Division One Liverpool edged out Southern League West Ham United 1-0 in front of a crowd of 6,000, with Sam Raybould scoring the winner.
• Vic Watson scored four times, Stan Earle twice and Wilf James once as West Ham United went top of the Division One table after beating Liverpool 7-0 here on 1 September 1930 - the Hammers' biggest-ever home win over the Reds.
• A three-minute hat-trick scored by Roger Hunt either side of half-time inspired Liverpool to a 5-1 Division One victory at the Boleyn Ground on 6 September 1965 - the Reds' biggest win at the home of the Hammers. Martin Peters scored West Ham United's consolation goal.
• The largest crowd to attend a West Ham United versus Liverpool fixture at the Boleyn Ground was the 38,239 who saw Pat Holland score the only goal in a 1-0 Division One victory for the Hammers on 28 March 1970.
• The Hammers and the Reds met in the 1981 League Cup final at Wembley. The match ended in a 1-1 draw after extra-time, with Ray Stewart's last-gasp penalty wiping out Alan Kennedy's 118th-minute strike. The replay, held at Villa Park, saw Paul Goddard put John Lyall's side in front, only for goals from Kenny Dalglish and Alan Hansen to see the trophy head to Merseyside.
• West Ham United and Liverpool famously met in the 2006 FA Cup final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Jamie Carragher's own-goal and a Dean Ashton strike put the Hammers 2-0 up before Djibril Cisse and Steven Gerrard brought the Reds level. Paul Konchesky put West Ham back in front before Gerrard's late 25-yarder forced extra-time. After a goalless 30 minutes, Liverpool prevailed 3-1 on penalties.
• Goals from Scott Parker, Demba Ba and Carlton Cole saw West Ham United defeat Liverpool 3-1 in the most-recent Premier League meeting between the two clubs on 27 February 2011. The Reds' goal was scored by former Hammer Glen Johnson.
• Billy Bonds has made more appearances against Liverpool, 33, than any other West Ham United player. The Reds' Ian Callaghan made a record 33 appearances against the Hammers, scoring twice.
• Vic Watson scored a record nine goals in 14 appearances against Liverpool. John Toshack has scored more goals for the Reds against the Hammers than anyone else with ten.
• Kevin Nolan, Andy Carroll and Liverpool full-back Jose Enrique were all part of the Newcastle United squad which won the Championship title in 2010.
• A number of other West Ham United and Liverpool players have lined-up alongside one another at their former clubs and at international level - Andy Carroll, Steven Gerrard, Glen Johnson, Jordan Henderson, Stewart Downing and Martin Kelly (England), Jack Collison, James Collins and Joe Allen (Wales), James Tomkins and Allen (Team GB), Collins and Stewart Downing (Aston Villa), George McCartney and Jordan Henderson (Sunderland), Raheem Sterling, Matthias Fanimo and Blair Turgott (England age-group sides).
• No fewer than 19 players have made their West Ham United debuts against Liverpool - Alex Kane (January 1926), Walter Pollard (September 1929), Reg Wade (January 1930), Bill Nelson (September 1954), Dave Bickles (September 1963), Eddie Presland (February 1965), Mick McGiven (December 1973), John Radford (December 1976), George Parris and Keith McPherson (May 1985), Kevin Keen (September 1986), Hugo Porfirio (September 1996), Andy Impey (September 1997), Marc Keller (September 1998), Gavin Holligan (February 1999), Svetoslav Todorov (February 2001), Laurent Courtois (August 2001), Rufus Brevett (February 2003) and Kepa Blanco (January 2007).
• Centre-back Dave Bickles made his debut in West Ham United's 2-1 Division One victory at Anfield on 14 September 1963 - the last time the Hammers won at Anfield!
• Eddie Presland scored on his debut in a 2-1 Division One victory over Liverpool at the Boleyn Ground on 27 February 1965. The left-back would make just six first-team appearances for the Hammers before joining Crystal Palace in 1967.
• Tony Cottee was sent-off on his second 'debut' for West Ham United in a goalless Premier League draw at Liverpool on 10 September 1994.
• Kepa Blanco netted just minutes after coming on as a substitute for his West Ham United debut in a 2-1 home Premier League defeat by Liverpool on 30 January 2007
Last time out
West Ham United
Saturday 1 December 2012
Barclays Premier League
West Ham United 3-1 Chelsea
West Ham United: Jaaskelainen, Demel, Reid, Collins, Tomkins (Diame 46), O'Neil (Taylor 46), O'Brien, Nolan, Jarvis, Noble, Cole (Maiga 87)
Subs not used: Spiegel, Spence, Moncur, Fanimo
Goal: Cole 63, Diame 86, Maiga 90
Liverpool
Thursday 6 December 2012
UEFA Europa League Group A
Udinese 0-1 Liverpool
Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Enrique, Carragher, Skrtel, Sahin (Shelvey 12), Henderson, Downing, Allen, Suso (Sterling 71), Suarez
Subs not used: Jones, Coates, Wisdom, Cole, Assaidi
Goal: Henderson 23
Previous meeting
Scott Parker inspired West Ham United to a 3-1 Premier League win over Liverpool at the Boleyn Ground last time the sides met on 27 February 2011. The midfielder opened the scoring with a dinked effort into the far corner to give the Hammers the lead after 22 minutes. Demba Ba soon added a header to double the home side's advantage. Liverpool rallied late on and Glen Johnson pulled one back after 84 minutes, but Carlton Cole secured the points by firing home in the second minute of added-time.
West Ham United: Green, Tomkins, Upson, Bridge, Jacobsen, Parker, Hitzlsperger, Noble, O'Neil, Ba (Cole 88), Piquionne (Spector 82)
Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Wilson, Carragher, Kelly (Cole 43), Skrtel, Meireles (Ngog 49), Gerrard, Lucas, Suarez, Kuyt
Last six meetings
27 February 2011 - West Ham United 3-1 Liverpool
20 November 2010 - Liverpool 3-0 West Ham United
19 April 2010 - Liverpool 3-0 West Ham United
19 September 2009 West Ham United 2-3 Liverpool
9 May 2009 West Ham United 0-3 Liverpool
1 December 2008 Liverpool 0-0 West Ham United
Overall record v Liverpool (all competitions) W 24 D 65 L 34
Ten-year records
West Ham United
2011/12 Championship 3rd (86 points - promoted via Play-Offs)
2010/11 Premier League 20th (33 points - relegated to Championship)
2009/10 Premier League 17th (35 points)
2008/09 Premier League 9th (51 points)
2007/08 Premier League 10th (49 points)
2006/07 Premier League 15th (41 points)
2005/06 Premier League 9th (55 points)
2004/05 Championship 6th (73 points - promoted via play-offs)
2003/04 Championship 4th (74 points)
2002/03 Premier League 18th (42 points - relegated to Championship)
Liverpool
2011/12 Premier League 8th (52 points)
2010/11 Premier League 6th (58 points)
2009/10 Premier League 7th (63 points)
2008/09 Premier League 2nd (86 points)
2007/08 Premier League 4th (76 points)
2006/07 Premier League 3rd (68 points)
2005/06 Premier League 3rd (82 points)
2004/05 Premier League 5th (58 points)
2003/04 Premier League 4th (60 points)
2002/03 Premier League 5th (64 points)
Referee
• Foy controlled West Ham twice last season, refereeing the Hammers' 2-0 npower Championship away win at Cardiff City at the beginning of March and the defeat at the Boleyn Ground to Reading at the end of the same month.
• Foy has been a Barclays Premier League referee since 2001, having originally made the Select Group list of assistant referees in 1995.
• In 2007, Foy took charge of the FA Trophy final at Wembley, before returning to the Home of Football a year later to act as fourth official for Portsmouth's FA Cup final victory over Cardiff.
• In 2009, he was back at Wembley to take charge of the League Cup final and Community Shield, while Portsmouth were in action again as Foy refereed the 2010 FA Cup final, which Pompey lost to Chelsea.
• In all, the 49-year-old has taken charge of 26 West Ham fixtures - the first coming as long ago as 23 February 2002, when Frederic Kanoute scored the only goal in 1-0 home Premier League win over Middlesbrough.
• He has been the man in the middle for 16 Stoke City matches, the most-recent being a 2-2 Premier League draw with Bolton Wanderers at the Britannia Stadium on 13 May this year.
• Foy will be assisted tonight by Harry Lennard and Michael McDonough, while the fourth official will be Howard Webb.
• Alou Diarra spent three seasons with Liverpool between 2002 and 2005 after joining the club from Bayern Munich. However, the 31-year-old failed to make a first-team appearance for the Reds, instead being loaned to Le Havre, Bastia and Lens before joining the latter on a permanent basis.
• Yossi Benayoun spent three seasons with Liverpool between 2007 and 2010, having joined the Reds from West Ham United. The Israel midfielder scored 29 goals in 134 appearances for the Reds before moving on to Chelsea.
• Andy Carroll, who is ineligible for today's game under the terms of his loan agreement from Liverpool, joined the Reds from Newcastle United for £35million in January 2011. Carroll has played 58 times for Liverpool, scoring eleven goals, including one in last season's FA Cup final defeat by Chelsea.
• Glen Johnson came through the ranks at West Ham United, making 15 league appearances in the 2002/03 season. He was transferred to Chelsea for £6million in summer 2003 and subsequently moved on to Portsmouth before Liverpool snapped him up in June 2009.
• Joe Cole played 149 games in all competitions for the Hammers, scoring 13 goals, before his switch to Chelsea in August 2003. Cole also won the FA Youth Cup with West Ham United in 1999.
• Liverpool midfielder Jonjo Shelvey spent a period of time as a schoolboy within the West Ham United Academy before joining Charlton Athletic.
• Among the other players who have represented both clubs are Craig Bellamy, Yossi Benayoun, Tom Bradshaw, David Burrows, Titi Camara, Charles Cotton, Julian Dicks, Ray Houghton, Don Hutchison, Paul Ince, David James, Rob Jones, George Kay, Paul Konchesky, Mike Marsh, Neil Mellor, Neil Ruddock, Danny Shone, Rigobert Song and Thomas Stanley.
General information
• All standard match tickets for this fixture have SOLD OUT. For disabled/ambulant ticket details, click here.
• For the latest travel news visit the TFL website by clicking here and use the Journey Planner.
• Sunday's forecast in east London is for a cloudy with maximum temperatures of 8C (47).