WEST HAM UNITED v LIVERPOOL
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
SUNDAY 6 APRIL 2014
KICK-OFF: 4PM
REFEREE: ANTHONY TAYLOR
FULL AUDIO COMMENTARY - WEST HAM TV
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Introduction
• West Ham United go in search of a third consecutive win in the Barclays Premier League on Sunday afternoon, when they welcome Liverpool to the Boleyn Ground.
• The Hammers head into the match on the back of a fine 2-1 away win against Sunderland which came courtesy of goals from Andy Carroll and Mohamed Diame.
• Preceding that, Sam Allardyce's side won by the same score line against Hull City on their last home outing, thanks to strikes from Mark Noble and a James Chester own goal.
• Six points from their last two fixtures leaves the Hammers nearing the 40-point mark, lying eleventh in the table with 37 points.
• When the two sides met in the corresponding fixture last year, the Hammers held a 2-1 lead until two goals in three minutes snatched the points for Liverpool.
• The Reds arrive in east London as the Premier League's form team having won their last eight league matches.
• The eighth win of that sequence arrived against Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield last weekend, when Brendan Rodgers' side ran riot winning 4-0.
• Liverpool have enjoyed success on their travels this season and have won five of their last six matches on the road, the latest being a 6-3 thrashing of Cardiff City.
Team news
West Ham United
• George McCartney is a doubt for Sunday's clash after tweaking a hamstring in the 2-1 win over his former club Sunderland.
• Long-term absentee Joey O'Brien is still some way from a return to the fold following the dislocated shoulder he sustained against Chelsea in January.
Liverpool
• Jose Enrique is Liverpool's only injury concern, with the left-back having missed a large part of the season due to a knee injury.
Last time out
Sunderland 1-2 West Ham United
Barclays Premier League
1 April 2014
West Ham United: Adrian, Demel, Tomkins, Reid, McCartney (Armero 45), Noble, Nolan (Nocerino 84), Taylor, Diame (Johnson 79), Downing, Carroll
Subs not used: Jaaskelainen, Jarvis, C Cole, J Cole
Goals: Carroll 9, Diame 50
Liverpool 4-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Barclays Premier League
30 March 2014
Liverpool: Mignolet, Flanagan, Skrtel, Agger, Johnson, Gerrard (Lucas 70), Coutinho (Allen 64), Henderson, Sterling (Moses 83), Suarez, Sturridge
Subs not used: Jones, Aspas, Sakho, Cissokho
Goals: Kaboul (og) 2, Suarez 25, Coutinho 55, Henderson 75
Previous meeting
Luis Suarez scored twice late on as Liverpool broke down a stubborn first half Hammers display to eventually run out 4-1 winners. It took 42 minutes for the Reds to strike, with Guy Demel unfortunate to turn the ball into his own net. Mamadou Sakho scored a second just after half-time, before the Hammers pulled one back through a Martin Skrtel own goal. It didn't inspire a comeback however as two late strikes from Suarez and Kevin Nolan's red card compounded the Hammers woes.
Liverpool 4-1 West Ham United
Barclays Premier League
Saturday 7 December 2013
Liverpool: Mignolet, Johnson, Skrtel, Sakho, Flanagan (Kelly 79), Allen, Gerrard (Lucas 56), Henderson Coutinho, Sterling (Moses 72), Suarez
Subs not used: Jones, Alberto, Aspas, Cissokho
Goals: Demel (og) 42, Sakho 47, Suarez 81, 84
West Ham United: Jaaskelainen, Demel, Tomkins (O'Brien 56), Collins, McCartney, Noble, Nolan, Downing (J Cole 46), Diame, Jarvis (Taylor 85), Maiga
Subs not used: Adrian, Collison, C Cole, Diarra
Goal: Skrtel (og) 66
Background
• West Ham United and Liverpool have met 126 times previously, with the Reds enjoying 67 victories. The Hammers have tasted success on just 24 occasions and there have been 35 draws. In the Premier League, Liverpool have won 21 of the 35 meetings, with West Ham winning six and there being eight draws.
• 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 at the Boleyn Ground 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 Liverpool versus West Ham United fixture at Anfield was the 55,675 who attended a goalless Division One draw on 14 May 1977. Liverpool would go on to defeat Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-1 in the European Cup final in Rome eleven days later.
• 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.
• 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).
• 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.
• 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.
• West Ham United player Stewart Downing played against his current employers for Liverpool in both fixtures between the two clubs in the 2012/13 season.
Last six meetings (Premier League unless stated)
7 December 2013 - Liverpool 4-1 West Ham United
7 April 2013 - Liverpool 0-0 West Ham United
9 December 2012 - West Ham United 2-3 Liverpool
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
Overall record v Liverpool (all competitions) W 24 D 35 L 67
Ten-year records
West Ham United
2012/13 Premier League 10th (46 points)
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)
Liverpool
2012/13 Premier League 7th (61 points)
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)
Old boys
• West Ham United midfielder 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.
• Andy Carroll joined the Reds from Newcastle United for £35million in January 2011. Carroll played 58 times for Liverpool, scoring eleven goals, before joining the Hammers permanently in summer 2013 following a successful loan at the Boleyn Ground.
• 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. Cole joined Liverpool in summer 2010, scoring five goals in 42 appearances - including one at the Boleyn Ground in the reverse fixture this season in December - before moving back to east London in January 2013.
• Stewart Downing spent two seasons with Liverpool between 2011 and 2013 before completing a move to the Boleyn Ground in August 2013.
• 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, Robbie Keane, Paul Konchesky, Mike Marsh, Javier Mascherano, Neil Mellor, Neil Ruddock, Danny Shone, Rigobert Song and Thomas Stanley.
Referee
• Sunday's referee will be Anthony Taylor.
• Taylor is in his fourth season on the Select Group of referees appointed to control Barclays Premier League fixtures.
• The Greater Manchester-born official started refereeing in the Northern Premier League in 2002 before being appointed to the Football League list at the start of the 2006/07 season, refereeing his match between Wrexham and Peterborough United in League Two on 12 August 2006.
• Taylor's first Premier League appointment was the 3 February 2010 encounter between today's visitors Fulham and former West Ham United manager Avram Grant's Portsmouth, with the Cottagers winning 1-0.
• Taylor took charge of West Ham against Liverpool almost exactly a year ago on Sunday, as the two sides played out a 0-0 draw at Anfield on 7 April 2013. That match was the last time he took charge of a Hammers fixture.
• Taylor will be assisted by Steve Child and Stuart Burt on Sunday, and the fourth official will be Craig Pawson.
General information
• The weather forecast for Sunday's match is light cloud with temperatures around 17C (62F).
• There are no tickets remaining for the match which is a sell-out.
• The District Line is running a good service this weekend with no planned closures. For updates on all other London Underground line click here.
• For travel updates on the Greater Anglia service, click here.