WEST HAM V LIVERPOOL: MATCH PREVIEW

Paul Hassall 30 January 2008

Liverpool head to Upton Park on Wednesday night still searching for their first league win of 2008.
It is a statistic that has seen them draw their last four matches in the topflight and one that Rafael Benitez admits has all-but ended our hopes of landing the Premier League title.

The elusive league win could so easily have come in the games against Aston Villa and Wigan but a habit of conceding sloppy goals from set-pieces has effectively led to us losing ground on the top three.

And with the likes of Everton, Manchester City and Aston Villa all pressing hard for the much-coveted fourth and final Champions League place the Reds need to return to winning ways - sooner rather than later.

In a strange twist of fate, the Reds' search for victory takes them to a venue that saw them clinch a 2-1 success against the Hammers exactly a year ago today.

Dirk Kuyt and birthday boy Peter Crouch were the scorers on that occasion as the Reds notched up their fifth straight league win - and Rafa would no doubt take a similar scoreline this time around.

But West Ham are a different proposition now.

Last year they were a side devoid of belief and battling against relegation, but Alan Curbishley has reinvigorated them since then and they have rediscovered the verve and panache that led them to the FA Cup final in 2006.

The Hammers have already seen off Manchester United on home turf this season and on their day they are a match for anyone.

They are currently lying in 10th place in the table and with the likes of Freddy Ljungberg, Dean Ashton, Carlton Cole and Liverpool old boy Craig Bellamy in their ranks, they will pose a very real threat.

Rafael Benitez Benitez is still without Andriy Voronin, Daniel Agger and Alvaro Arbeloa but is likely to recall Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres, Pepe Reina and Jamie Carragher for the Upton Park clash after they were rested for Saturday's 5-2 victory over Havant and Waterlooville.

Reina is still looking to secure his 50th clean sheet for the club and if he can shut-out the Hammers he will have achieved the landmark in record-breaking time.

As for West Ham, they have former Red Craig Bellamy and Nolberto Solano fit again, but they are unlikely to feature from the start as they bid to clinch their first victory over Liverpool since they triumphed 1-0 at Upton Park way back in November 1999.