West Ham United will be missing two key components of their side when they make the trip to Anfield to take on Liverpool on Monday evening.
The Hammers have had the luxury of seeing results go their way this weekend, so their match against the Champions League winners could be considered a free hit, with the opportunity to escape out of the bottom three on offer to them.
David Moyes has been speaking about what West Ham will need to do to avoid the drop this term, but even the strongest supporter of the London Stadium outfit will not be expecting much from their trip to Anfield.
One of the reasons for that is because the Hammers will be missing Ryan Fredericks and Andriy Yarmolenko for the contest, with both out through injury, as well as the likes of Jack Wilshere, who continues to miss out.
Moyes confirmed the absences when he spoke to the media ahead of the game, beginning with his right-back, who left the field early in the defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday evening, before moving onto the Ukraine international.
“I can’t confirm exactly how long he’s going to be out for, but we know that he’s damaged the ligaments in his shoulder and we’re waiting on more advice just to see what we think.” The West Ham official website quotes him as saying.
“He’s done a little bit of training. He’s joined us a little bit during the week, but he’s not really joined any of the main sessions like he’s not trained today with the group. He’s probably still a bit off from joining in.”
Both men are going to be key losses to a Hammers side, who are getting tested both with personnel options and a tough run of fixtures at the present time.
It would appear as though experienced West Ham defender Pablo Zabaleta will be the man to come in for Fredericks, having replaced him at the Etihad Stadium when the former Fulham full-back was forced off early.