Both Liverpool and West Ham have reached the point in the season where the games are arriving at such a rapid pace that they don’t have time to savor or stew over their most recent result.
Those two clubs were in Europa League play on Thursday, and Jurgen Klopp’s thoughts would have moved to devising a strategy to pull one over on David Moyes’ troops when they visit Anfield this coming Sunday in the Premier League.
Both teams enter into the game in good form, having had strong beginnings at home and beginning their European campaign with a come-from-behind 3-1 triumph.
Due to the brief turnaround, the two line-ups at the weekend are likely to be drastically different from the Europa League games, but the Liverpool coaching staff can undoubtedly arrange for one of West Ham’s starters last night to be in the team again on Sunday afternoon.
If things had gone differently in the summer, James Ward-Prowse might have been in Klopp’s starting lineup instead of Moyes’. The Reds were connected with him in June (The Mirror), but he eventually moved to the London Stadium after leaving Southampton following their relegation at the end of last season.
He’s had a fantastic start to his West Ham career, collecting at least one goal contribution in all five of his appearances (two goals, five assists), and he stole the show last night.
According to Sofascore, the ex-Saints captain often opened up TSC Backa Topola with his immaculate distribution, picking out seven vital passes, finding a teammate with seven crosses and nine of his ten long balls, and finishing the night with a 95% passing success rate (60/63 completed).
Of course, none of this should come as a surprise to Liverpool fans who have witnessed Ward-Prowse net 51 goals and provide 43 assists in 347 Premier League games (Transfermarkt).
Surprisingly, he’s tended to be relatively quiet when facing the Reds – it took him until his 20th appearance against us to score his first goal, netting in last season’s crazy 4-4 draw at Southampton. In all of those games, he’s only supplied two assists (Transfermarkt).
However, as West Ham’s Serbian opponents discovered last night, the 28-year-old is unquestionably a man in form.
Liverpool may be on a five-game winning streak in all competitions, but they have a terrible habit of conceding the first goal in games. Ward-Prowse might take advantage of that familiar flaw if Klopp’s team allows him to continue creating havoc on Sunday.
