West Ham vs. Liverpool: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info and Preview
Liverpool travel to Upton Park in Saturday's late kick-off knowing that a loss to West Ham could leave a considerable dent in their early title hopes.
Last week's loss at home to Aston Villa was the Reds' second defeat of the season thus far, and while Sam Allardyce's side sit five places below, they're beginning to show positive signs after a busy summer of spending.
Brendan Rodgers is in need of a result to rebuild momentum as a candidate for league honours. Full viewing information and match preview for the east London clash is detailed ahead.
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Date: Saturday, Sept. 20
Time: 5:30 p.m. BST/12:30 p.m. ET
Live Stream: Sky Go (UK, subscription required), NBC Sports Live Extra (US, subscription required)
TV Info: Sky Sports 1 (UK), NBC (US)
Upton Park Hospitality
These two teams last met in April when the Merseysiders were still enjoying their run as 2013-14 Premier League leaders, and two Steven Gerrard penalties helped Liverpool to a 2-1 win away from home.
But the Upton Park meeting didn't come without its share of controversy. Dominic King of the Daily Mail quoted the Reds captain's accusations of underhanded tactics on West Ham's part, alleged to include a hot dressing room, unsatisfactory pitch conditions and forcing the visitors' bus to park a mile away from the ground.
However, Allardyce has moved to quash any such notions in advance this time around, per Neil McLeman of the Mirror, with grass length this time one of the main topics on discussion:
"There is only a certain grass height that we now have to stick to. It's never been too much of a problem for me that two teams play on a pitch that is the same for both of us, whatever the pitch might be. I don't know what the next thing is that we will be instructed to do. I just think that they take those small little things too far.
[...]
It was a bit of a shame they got away with it last year - the result that they got - because we played ever so well. Hopefully we can repeat that this year and not give two penalties away.
The most annoying thing was that we lost to them when we shouldn't have lost to them.
But I think the bottom line is obviously they didn't have a good enough coach driver because everybody backs into the space that we leave for them, so clearly the coach driver was not Premier League standard!
"
Premier League rules have been enforced, dictating that grass must be a maximum of 30 millimetres long.
It's perhaps a boost for Rodgers as he continues to promote a fast passing game within his squad, a style that West Ham are also adopting if their 2-2 draw at Hull City on Monday was anything to go by.
Rodgers praised Allardyce's men for that result, per This Is Anfield, where an Enner Valencia goal proved the highlight in a performance displaying West Ham's promise for the campaign ahead:
Allardyce appears fired up by Gerrard's accusations from last season, so expect his team to reflect that mood come kick-off time in the capital.
Liverpool Wounded
In a big way, Liverpool have already helped morale somewhat with a 2-1 win over Ludogorets Razgrad in midweek, getting the club's Champions League group stage off to a winning start.
However, it took a 90th-minute Gerrard spot-kick to get the better of the Bulgarian champions, a result which by all means should never have been cast in such doubt.
Match of the Day commentator Nigel Adderley pointed out the tight margins by which the tie was decided:
Far from the most convincing of performances, Rodgers' men still have some way to go before resuming the kind of mood enjoyed after the 3-0 win over Tottenham three weeks ago.
In that sense, Saturday's visit to West Ham represents another huge test, and the Hammers will feel buoyed going up against a team not exactly enjoying its best run of form.
