West Ham versus Liverpool: Preview

It’s funny how one result can shape your whole perception of the team’s performance. We started last season in awful form (a common phenomenon under Rafa Benitez). Having been fortunate to get out of Belgium with a 0-0 draw against Standard Liege, we were uninspired against a crap Sunderland side and then outplayed at home by a Middlesbrough team that went on to be relegated. We needed a late Dirk Kuyt goal in extra team to qualify for the Champions League proper in the return game against Liege and then put in a poor performance away at Aston Villa. Despite not managing a single decent performance, we went into the home game against Man Ure with 7 points from 3 League games and having secured Champions League qualification.

Had we failed to cancel out Carlos Tevez’s early opener, the perception would have been that we’d started the season playing badly, fluked a couple of good results, and now blown our hopes of challenging for the title having lost at home to our most hated rivals again. However, because we rallied and unexpectedly delivered a fine team performance to deservedly beat the Scum 2-1, the perception was that we’d discovered that essential title-winning ingredient of winning despite not playing well and, having given our most hated rivals a long overdue spanking, were now ready to at least challenge for the title. Of much greater significance than the three points at stake, that one match dictated whether the start to the season had been good or bad in the minds of the supporters and the players. A bad result might have irreparably damaged confidence but the great result we achieved carried us on into our first title challenge since 2001-02.

Our pending match against West Ham can be viewed in a similar context. Obviously victory at Upton Park won’t paper over the defeats to Tottenham and Villa but, depending on how it is achieved, it would allow us to believe that those defeats were simply consequences of the team being woefully underprepared for the season’s start and that the team is now ready to start delivering on a consistent basis. Lose or draw and it will confirm fears that we face an uphill battle to finish in the top four this season.

There are no easy games in football – except for Stoke, Burnley and Debrecen at home and Bolton away. Tottenham away and Aston Villa at home are fixtures that could be labelled ‘tough’ but Liverpool would still always go into both expected to win. West Ham is another such fixture and if Liverpool can’t come away with 3 points, the reality will be that we’ve won the easy games and not won the slightly tougher games so God help us when we face the really tough games like Chelsea away.

I’d like to see a commanding Liverpool performance and a 2-0 or 3-0 scoreline but even a solid 1-0 will do me. The first name on the teamsheet has to be Yossi Benayoun. The Israeli is bang in form and was our most creative player against Burnley and Debrecen. I’d fancy him to do well against his former club.

The greater conundrum concerns who will play in midfield. Mascherano’s late return from international duty forced Rafa to do what I’ve been calling for in dropping Gerrard back into central midfield. While Gerrard didn't quite shine against Burnley and Debrecen, there was undoubtedly a better balance with him and Lucas than there has been with Lucas and Mascherano with the ball being moved about quicker and into better positions. Personally, I would like to see Gerrard and Mascherano (another ex-Hammer) start but it wouldn’t surprise me if Rafa went for Lucas and Mascherano with Gerrard restored as Torres’ striking partner. If that happens, Kuyt and Benayoun must be used in the wide positions with Riera dropping out. Riera did OK against Debrecen - apart from the one-on-one he missed - but I’m still far from impressed with him and I think we get much more from Kuyt and Yossi.

Aurelio’s return as a sub against Debrecen was great news for the club. Insua has done OK in his run of games and clearly has great future potential but his lack of height and wayward distribution have given some cause for concern. He was very much at fault for Bolton's opening goal and he hasn't offered the attacking threat that he showed in games last season against Arsenal and Blackburn. As soon as Aurelio is ready, I would like to see him back in the first team – especially with the Chelsea game approaching.