Paul Merson is expecting to see Liverpool be held to a 1-1 draw by West Ham at Boleyn Ground tomorrow lunchtime.
Jurgen Klopp’s side ended 2015 with back to back victories as Christian Benteke’s second-half goal handed the Reds a 1-0 win against Allardyce’s struggling Sunderland on Wednesday night.That result lifted the Reds up to seventh place in the Premier League table displacing West Ham to eight spot.
Merson says that he was not particularly impressed by what he saw from Liverpool at the Stadium of Light in midweek and is tipping them to struggle against the Hammers in their first game of 2016.
Merson told Sky Sports: “I wasn’t really impressed with Liverpool against Sunderland, they didn’t look great. They didn’t keep the ball for more than about four or five passes, and the goal was rather fortunate.
“The manager will be pleased with the result, but Jurgen Klopp will know that if they carry on playing like that they will not win many football matches. They gave away the ball so cheaply.
“West Ham, if they get all their players back, are a threat. They got a massive win against Southampton especially going 1-0 down against a club on a bit of a high.”
Hold them? I think we’ll do better than that. It depends somewhat on what Liverpool turns up, they’ve had some good wins, they beat City well, but some other matches have less than impressive. They’ve been beaten by Palace, Watford & Newcastle & they are still missing Sturridge. The Southampton win was important as Merson says. We fought back & Carrolls goal was critical for both him & the club. The way he ran over to the supporters said that. We have been somewhat negative lately, missing players & lacking some direction & being happy with a point. That is about to change & i see us being far more positive from now on. This will be a good game to build on what we did last match & given Liverpools leaky defence i only see us winning this.
To be honest I will take a draw, payet is unlikely to make any impact as he is likely to come on late and won’t be match fit. We will need to rely on Lanzini, Carroll and Antonio to be the difference. If benteke is on form we will struggle