By Jordan Carreno

Matchday 25 sees Liverpool head down to London to take on West Ham at the Olympic Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:00 PM EST on Monday.

West Ham v Liverpool — 2/4/2019 2000 GMT

Another weekday game means another chance to test out your “get out of work” skills. It is early enough in the year that you can’t have possibly used up all your sicks days, but you might want to consider saving those for bigger occasions down the line. Maybe you have a dentist appointment, maybe your grandmother is landing at TIA and doesn’t know how to work the Uber app. Regardless, scheme your way out of work and head on down to one of our 3 LFC Tampa Bay locations. With all that being covered, let’s dive into the talking points.

The Curious Case of Keita

About 18 months ago, at the end of the 2017 summer transfer window, it was announced that Liverpool had reached an agreement to eventually sign Naby Keita. Over the whole of the 17/18 season we all spent countless hours watching YouTube compilations and Leipzig highlights, hyping ourselves up in anticipation of finally getting a chance to see Keita play in the red kits of Liverpool. The consensus within the fanbase, and the wider footballing world, was that Liverpool had gotten themselves a real player with a bright future.

After his first game, against these same Hammers, it seemed all of our wildest dreams were going to come true. Keita looked calm and composed on the ball. His passing was sublime and his ability to drive at the defense and create was a breath of fresh air in comparison to what the Gini-Milner-Hendo midfield had provided us at the back end of the previous season. It appeared, despite all the ridiculous hype we had built up as a fanbase, that Naby Keita was going to meet and surpass all of our expectations.

Fast forward to the present day and things have not continued on an upward trajectory. An early season injury coupled with being played out of position has meant the first 6 months of Keita’s Liverpool career hasn’t been as glorious as we all hoped. Like most players transferring into the Premier League, Naby has struggled to fully get his feet underneath him and create a solid base from which to erect his Liverpool career.

Now is the time for Naby to turn the corner and show his class

That’s not to say it has all been bad. When given the opportunity to play in his preferred central midfield role, he has looked promising. There was the game at Burnley in early December, his first start since picking up an injury away to Napoli, where his driving runs and smart passing helped Liverpool turn that game around and walk out with 3 points. Then there was the Bournemouth game three days after that where again he looked to be coming into his own. Even the last match against Leicester he looked to be gaining a bit more comfort in his role and was unfortunate not to win Liverpool a penalty that could have made the difference.

Though it is far too early in his Liverpool career, given his known level of ability and potential, to give up and call the move a failure, it is time for Keita to start to show the class he has exhibited at different parts of this season on a more regular basis. Given his best performance of the season came against West Ham in the opener, this match might present the perfect opportunity for him to continue to grow into his preferred central midfield role. We would have all preferred for Keita to hit the ground running but, with the title race heating up and a large chunk of the season still to play, there is still a chance for Naby to leave his mark on what could be a memorable season.

Which West Ham Will We Get?

In many ways Liverpool were fortunate to get West Ham at the start of the season. At that time they were a club with a new manager and plenty of new faces which meant most, if not all, of their players were learning a new system. Whilst Liverpool were largely just picking up from where they left off the prior season, West Ham were still coming to grips with their new manager’s way of doing things. The 4–0 result was as much of a reflection of Liverpool’s dominance as it was of West Ham’s growing pains.

After 4 matches, West Ham were firmly planted at the bottom of the table having scored only twice whilst conceding 10 times. It appeared that the fears of their probable relegation could come true. However, they managed to turn it around, having since climbed their way to 12th position, and are now only only 7 points out of 7th place and a possible European position. West Ham have also managed to beat both Manchester United and Arsenal at home during that time.

There has also been an emergence of players like Felipe Anderson and Fabian Balbuena, new signings who look to have settled and come to grips with the Premier League. Felipe Anderson has become West Ham’s top scorer with 8 goals whilst Fabian Balbuena has become by far the best centerback at the club. Mix in players like Arnautovic, Michail Antonio, and Yarmolenko, and on paper it is clear to see why West Ham have been able to turn things around and have been able to give the bigger sides issues.

However, despite the relative improvement over the last 6 months, the last few weeks have signaled a downturn in form for the Hammers. First Arnautovic tried to force a move to China which, according to Pablo Zabaleta, caused disarray in the locker room. Since the start of January, West Ham have only managed to win one league game, albeit at home to Arsenal, and got knocked out of the FA Cup by AFC Wimbledon. Their last league match was a 3–0 thumping away to Wolves.

So, it will be interesting to see which West Ham side Liverpool will come up against on Monday night. Will it be the same side we faced to start the season and that has reappeared in the last few weeks, lacking confidence and seemingly disconnected, or will the Hammers rediscover their form of the 4 months leading up to the New Year? Regardless, Liverpool have the tools necessary to get the job done.

Remain Calm

“From Doubters to Believers”

I was thinking about saving this particular talking point for a longer and more in depth piece, but then Van Dijk came out after the Leicester City game and told the Anfield crowd they needed to be more patient and less anxious. So now, I’d like to take a few moments to talk to the wider Liverpool FC fan base about handling this title run and burdening the team with baggage they didn’t help create. We are in the middle of a special season and, though it could end in disappointing fashion, there is no need to pile on added pressure to our own squad.

I get that a majority of Liverpool fans interacting online and here with us in the Bay area may be a bit green in their Liverpool fandom. For others, the demons of 13/14 and even 08/09 will be finding their way back into the collective consciousness. For a lot of us, the only experiences of Liverpool Football Club in a title race have all ended in Liverpool not quite getting the job done. So, I understand the temptation to work yourself up and preach the prophecies of doom. At this point it might be all you know how to do.

However, there is only one player on the current starting XI that was a part of either one of those tantalizingly close title challenges (Jordan Henderson). We have a manager who has experience in beating out a stronger and wealthier club to a league title. We have the top goal scorer in the league. We have the best defense in the league. We have the goalkeeper with the most clean sheets. All this goes to say, this team is nothing like those teams.

Plus, why are we so obsessed with saddling this team with the demons of the recent past. Liverpool Football Club is much more than the last decade of football. It is the 70’s and 80’s. It is the noise of the Bill Shankly boys coming down the road. If anything, this is a club with a much more rich history of seeing things over the line than bottling it. The recency bias of the newer generation of fans shouldn’t over shadow that.

Yes, not winning the title at this point would be a tough pill to swallow, but at this point this is an added bonus. We weren’t a shoe-in to challenge for the title this season. If the pundits were to be believed, this was City’s trophy from the first whistle of the season. That we find ourselves still top at the start of February has far exceeded even the most optimistic expectations.

On top of that, we are currently witnessing the best Premier League points total that Liverpool Football Club have ever had up to this point. So please, stay calm and understand the up’s and down’s of a season are a given in football. Most importantly, believe that this team has what it takes.

Prediction

We’re staying put in the domestic table again, and David and I managed to back our way into a point last match. We both predicted Leicester would score one goal, so we each get a point. Wonderful. It is now David leading 31 points to my 30.

If you can’t tell by my last talking point, I am not yet ready to start nervously shitting myself and start throwing everything on the ground. I think we go back to the the 4–3–3 as it worked so well the first time out against West Ham and the London Stadium boasts a larger pitch than Anfield. James Milner plays RB again with the rest of the back line remaining unchanged. I also think we will see Keita paired up with Henderson and Gini, with Fabinho still coming into full fitness. We go with the usual suspects up front with Mo moving out to the left.

Honestly, we’re going to smash these. It’s going to feel good. We’re going to sing loads of songs. And we will all laugh at the “crisis” January was. 4–0.

David’s Prediction: Time for that collective deep breath. We’ve hung four goals on the hammers each of the last four times we’ve played them and since they moved to the London Stadium, we haven’t lost to them. This West Ham side has some injury troubles of its own and is widely expected by its own supporters to capitulate at some point on the night. It’s been a quiet few matches for Mo Salah, something I suspect he’ll put to an end as he runs through their struggling back line with regularity, netting twice and assisting once as the Reds cruise 3–0. We can all just simmer down a bit after this one.