Match Preview: Arne Slot on final warning as Liverpool face West Ham United | OneFootball

West Ham United vs Liverpool – Premier League Preview

Date: Sunday, 30th November 2025

Venue: London Stadium

Kick-off: 14:00 BST

Liverpool travel to the London Stadium on Sunday in what feels uncomfortably close to the final stanza of Arne Slot’s reign. The 4–1 humiliation at Anfield to PSV—on the back of the catastrophic 3–0 home loss to Nottingham Forest—has left the reigning Premier League champions staggering into East London with a season in freefall and a head coach hanging by a thread.

There is no longer talk of title challenges, that is long gone. No discussion of progress, quite the contrary. No long-term project narratives, just survival. The only question surrounding Liverpool now is painfully simple: How much longer can this continue?

Defeat on Sunday, particularly another heavy one, could close the chapter entirely.

Liverpool enters this fixture without identity, without structure, and without the emotional coherence that once made them the most suffocating force in Europe. What comes next isn’t about climbing the table; it’s about sheer survival—of confidence, of cohesion, and perhaps of the manager himself.

West Ham United: Direct, Relentless, and Ready to Pounce

David Moyes is gone, but the ethos he embedded may have been resurrected in East London after Graham Potter’s tenure ended: physical, organised, and brutally effective. Under their new structure and Nuno Espírito Santo, West Ham have leaned even harder into their defining traits—long balls, second-ball aggression, wide overloads, and relentless pressure on fragile defensive units.

Liverpool, in their current state, are the easiest target in the league for this type of game and a bombardment of direct play is expected on the eve of December.

The Hammers will smell blood. They will go long early, they will attack the space behind Milos Kerkez and Curtis Jones, and they will hound Liverpool’s disjointed midfield for every scrap in the middle third.

With Jarrod Bowen drifting into half-spaces, Luis Guilherme creating chaos from nothing, and Mateus Fernandes orchestrating transitions, West Ham will view this as a golden chance to force the moment that finally ends the Slot era. Their physical midfield will test every known Liverpool weakness: duels, structure, composure, and the ability to withstand direct pressure.

And West Ham know exactly how to target a team that cannot win a second ball to save their season.

Predicted West Ham Lineup (3-4-3):

GK – Álphonse Areola

RCB – Vladimír Coufal

CB – Igor Julio

LCB – Maximilian Kilman

RWB – Aaron Wan-Bissaka

CM – Mateus Fernandes

CM – Freddie Potts

RW – Jarrod Bowen

LWB – Lucas Paquetá

LW – Luis Guilherme

CF – Callum Wilson

Liverpool: Fragile, Lost, and Staring at the Endgame

Where Liverpool goes from here is unclear, as they stumble through their season.

Slot appears frozen between tactical ideas, unable to restore the heavy-metal identity he abandoned and equally unable to impose the control-based system he insists on. Players look disconnected, confused, and now—alarmingly—disinterested.

Rotation is no longer optional after two humiliations in four days. Fresh legs are needed. Fresh minds are essential. And some of the so-called starters must be taken out of the firing line for their own sake, as mediocrity sets in.

Expect Alisson to return, bringing experience and brilliance in equal measure. Expect Andy Robertson to start for some maturity at full back. Expect Alexander Isak to replace Hugo Ekitike due to injury and form. And expect Dominik Szoboszlai to be asked once again to carry a broken team on his back.

Predicted Liverpool Lineup (4-3-3):

GK – Alisson Becker

RB – Curtis Jones

CB – Ibrahima Konaté

CB – Virgil van Dijk (c)

LB – Andy Robertson

CM – Dominik Szoboszlai

CM – Alexis Mac Allister

CM – Ryan Gravenberch

RW – Mohamed Salah

CF – Alexander Isak

LW – Cody Gakpo

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The Tactical Picture

West Ham will go direct from the opening bell. Liverpool cannot defend direct football and appears to have no desire to start trying.

West Ham will fight for every second ball and win most of these contests. Liverpool cannot win second balls and will not have found out how on one of their many days off.

West Ham will crowd central zones and outmuscle weaker opponents. Liverpool cannot handle midfield traffic and will chase rather than compete.

West Ham will isolate full-backs. Liverpool cannot track runners.

It is a stylistic mismatch, and in Liverpool’s current psychological state, the gulf in confidence may be as decisive as the gulf in tactical structure.

I expect another defeat and hope that ends this damaging saga on ineptitude

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Player to Watch: Dominik Szoboszlai

The only Liverpool player still performing near an elite level.

The only one still pressing with conviction.

The only one still carrying responsibility.

If Liverpool gets anything from this match, it will almost certainly pass through him and I doubt that will be enough.

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Final Word

The end is close, maybe.

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Steven Smith’s Score Prediction:

West Ham 3 – 1 Liverpool