‘In football, no fear. Never’: Lopetegui urges West Ham to take battle to Liverpool
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Julen Lopetegui has urged West Ham to have no fear against Liverpool on Sunday despite the absence of six first-choice players from the game against the league leaders amid a growing injury crisis. With his job on the line after the defeat by Leicester at the start of December, Lopetegui has eased the pressure slightly over the festive period, with the 1-0 Boxing Day triumph at Southampton making it four games without defeat. That hard-fought win came at a cost, however. Lukasz Fabianski departed the field in a neck brace after a nasty head collision and is sure to miss the Liverpool match, although Lopetegui confirmed the goalkeeper was conscious and talking in the changing room after the match.
Maximilian Kilman (shoulder) and Carlos Soler (knee) also went off injured, joining the long-term absentee Michail Antonio on the sidelines. Tomas Soucek and Guido Rodríguez picked up their fifth bookings of the season at St Mary’s, ensuring they will be suspended for Liverpool’s visit.
“We were resilient and were able to suffer as a team to achieve three important points with a lot of problems,” said Lopetegui of the win over Southampton. “Now we have to manage, to handle these problems for the next big challenge against Liverpool. We have problems. We have a lot of defenders out, only two centre-backs. But it happens. We have to be ready.”.
West Ham have won just one of their past 16 Premier League meetings with Liverpool – a 3-2 victory in November 2021 – and Arne Slot’s side are flying high at the top of the table. But Lopetegui insists his team must go toe-to-toe with the league leaders. “To be afraid?” he said. “No. We have a big respect for all the teams but we have the same respect for Southampton, for Liverpool, all of them.
