Premier League preview: West Ham v Liverpool

Liverpool can extend their eight match unbeaten run when they travel to London to take on West Ham on Sunday.

The Reds will make the trip south full of confidence after they eased into the last 16 of the Europa League with a 1-0 win over Sparta Prague on Thursday, and have not lost since going down 2-1 to Blackpool in mid-January.

A win on Sunday could move Liverpool within three points of fifth-placed Chelsea, and Dutch forward Dirk Kuyt, who scored the winner against Sparta on Thursday, said his team-mates were keen to keep their streak going.

“We have continued our unbeaten run and we want to keep moving forward,” Kuyt told Liverpool’s official website.

“Another away win would be massive for us and we are looking forward to it.”

“We enjoyed it the last time we were in London when we won at Chelsea which I thought was a terrific performance. Hopefully we can do the same at West Ham and keep a clean sheet and win the game.”

The Reds fielded a weakened side against Sparta and are expected to welcome back captain Steven Gerrard, Glen Johnson and Luis Suarez for the clash with West Ham, but manager Kenny Dalglish said striker Andy Carroll was still at least a week away from making his debut.

The Hammers found their scoring touch as they thumped Burnley 5-1 in the FA Cup fifth round on Monday, but will be facing a much different opponent at Upton Park this weekend.

Avram Grant’s side have not beaten Liverpool in their last six attempts and have conceded at least three goals in five of those matches.

Despite winning just one of their last five games in the league, a victory on Saturday could lift West Ham out of the relegation zone should other results also go their way.

Just seven points separate the bottom 10 sides in the Premier League this season with 11 games still to play, and striker Carlton Cole said the club needed to pull together to ensure they remain in the top flight next season.

“We really want to be a Premier League outfit next season. Everyone really dug in and that’s what we need, we need everyone pulling in the same direction,” Cole said.

“Everyone has to play their part this season because this is going to be a massive team effort.”

Matthew Upson is still missing for West Ham with an Achilles problem, while on-loan striker Robbie Keane has also been ruled out.