Liverpool predicted line-up vs. West Ham - £37m forward battles for place as key defenders return

Liverpool face an intriguing tussle with high-flying West Ham United this Sunday, with the Reds kicking off at Anfield at 14:00 BST as they look to maintain their unbeaten start to the Premier League season against a team who are defying expectations to sit sixth in the early table.

While Jürgen Klopp’s team selection for the Thursday evening Europa League group stage match against Austrian outfit LASK may tell us more about who will play in the league this weekend, we’ve corralled all the most up-to-date team news and injury updates in order to venture a predicted line-up for you.

Goalkeeper & Defence

The big news for Liverpool is that Trent Alexander-Arnold is back in training, but the England international still faces an uphill battle to be ready for action on Sunday, and has been working out separately from the rest of the squad as he builds his fitness back up following a hamstring problem. Should he not be ready to start, Joe Gomez will be his likely replacement at right-back.

Jarell Quansah, the young centre-half who made his full debut in the 3-1 win over Wolves last weekend, is expected to be fit following a knock suffered late on at the Molineux, but Ibrahima Konaté is more likely to start after his own recovery from injury. Virgil van Dijk, who was suspended for the last two games after his red card against Newcastle United, will also be available once more, a great relief for Klopp given his makeshift back four’s struggles in the first half last week.

Midfield

There are no fresh injury worries in midfield at the time of writing, with Stefan Bajcetic back in training as well as he looks to rediscover the hugely impressive form he displayed last year. Ryan Gravenberch should be closer to full fitness but is more likely to get a start against LASK than he is against West Ham. The former Bayern Munich man has too few minutes under his belt to be expected to play 90 minutes just yet.

That likely means that Alexis Mac Allister will continue as the deepest-lying midfield man, with Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott battling it out for the final midfield spot alongside Dominik Szobszlai. Thiago Alcântara is back in training following a long-term hip injury, but is unlikely to be ready to make the matchday squad just yet.

Forwards

Cody Gakpo’s goal last weekend could be enough to see the Dutchman keep his place in the front line ahead of Darwin Nuñéz, who was limited to a substitute role after picking up a knock on international duty with Uruguay – he should, however, be fully fit for the game against David Moyes’ men.

The other big selection quandary is whether to start Diogo Jota over Luis Díaz again, with the Colombian forward unexpectedly dropped after a strong start to the campaign. Mohamed Salah will take the right forward role barring injury.

Full predicted line-up vs. West Ham

Alisson; Robertson, Konaté, Van Dijk, Gomez; Mac Allister, Jones, Szoboszlai; Díaz, Gakpo, Salah.