West Ham vs. Liverpool
Venue: Upton Park
Kick off: 12:45pm
The first Premier League match of 2016 will take place at Upton Park on Saturday (today) as West Ham United host Liverpool.
West Ham will no doubt reflect on 2015 as a mixed year.
After a storming start to the 2014-15 campaign, the Hammers won just three of the 19 remaining games that season following the turn of the year.
The year ahead promises to be a momentous one, however, with the club leaving the Boleyn Ground – its home for 112 years – in order to relocate to the Olympic Stadium.
A 2-1 triumph over Southampton in their final match of 2015 was their first victory since October – a winless spell of eight games that saw them score only four goals.
They are, however, now unbeaten in six games having ended a run of five straight draws with the victory over the Saints, and with two of the bottom five to come in their next couple of games, they will be confident of extending that run even further if they can get past Liverpool.
The belief should be high following their 3-0 triumph at Anfield earlier in the season, and while it was their away form that was making all of the headlines during that spell, they are now unbeaten in seven in front of their own fans, dating back to August.
They have not gone eight home Premier League games without defeat since the 2001-02 season, although they do still boast a better away record than they do at home this season, picking up 16 points on their travels compared to 13 at Upton Park.
Having been one of the final two Premier League competitors of 2015, Liverpool also have the honour of opening up the New Year with Saturday’s early kickoff.
It was a tumultuous 2015 for Liverpool too as Brendan Rodgers’s reign came to an end, while Jurgen Klopp has so far struggled for consistency since his arrival.
Such is the unpredictable nature of this season, though, that there were renewed whispers of a possible title challenge after Liverpool made it back-to-back wins with a 1-0 triumph over Sunderland on Wednesday night.
While many were expecting three points from the Reds in that game, is was the nature of their previous victory that forced people to once again sit up and take notice as Klopp’s side stopped Leicester City in their tracks, becoming the first team to prevent them from scoring and only the second team to beat them this season.
Whether they can maintain that form into 2016 remains to be seen, but it may take some rotation from Klopp.
TV coverage, in addition to the club’s continued participation in the League Cup, means they face four games in the space of just 10 days, all of which are away from home.
It is fair to say that their away form has been rather mixed under Klopp so far.
Comprehensive victories over Chelsea, Manchester City and Southampton hinted at things going in the right direction, but back-to-back defeats against Newcastle United and Watford – both without scoring – stopped their momentum in its tracks.
They got back to winning ways on the road against the Black Cats last time out, though, and having got trips to Arsenal, Manchester United, Everton, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Man City out of the way in the first half of the season, it could well be their remaining away games that provide the main thrust behind any top-four challenge.
Victory on Saturday would take Liverpool to within two points of those Champions League places ahead of a crucial double-header against Arsenal and Manchester United in their next two league games.
West Ham possible starting lineup: Adrian, Jenkinson, Tomkins, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Song, Kouyate, Antonio, Payet, Lanzini, Carroll.
Liverpool possible starting lineup: Mignolet, Clyne, Lovren, Sakho, Moreno, Can, Lucas, Lallana, Coutinho, Firmino, Benteke.