Fast Results
Scores
Liverpool vs West Ham betting tips, BuildABet, best bets and preview
Football betting tips: Carabao Cup
2pts Cody Gakpo to score in 90 minutes at 41/20 (Unibet)
BuildABet @ 10/1
- Liverpool to score 3+ goals
- Cody Gakpo to score in 90 minutes
- Darwin Nunez to score in 90 minutes
- Wataru Endo 3+ tackles to score in 90 minutes
Kick-off time: 20:00 BST, Wednesday
TV channel: Sky Sports Main Event
Home 1/3 | Draw 15/4 | Away 11/2
Often, guessing who'll start for any team in the Carabao Cup is exactly that: guesswork.
Fortunately, holders Liverpool have done much of the legwork for us by selecting nine of the same outfield players for every top-flight match since the half-time whistle at Ipswich on opening weekend.
Darwin Nunez replacing Diogo Jota for Saturday's 3-0 win over Bournemouth, as well the enforced goalkeeping change of Caoimhin Kelleher coming in for Allison, are the only changes Arne Slot has made following his decision to bring on Ibrahima Konate for Jarell Quansah at Portman Road.
To lighten a wet, miserable midweek in late September I've had a bash at naming the Liverpool XI to see how clever (or stupid) I am come an hour before kick-off on Wednesday.
What are the best bets?
Home defeat by Nottingham Forest aside, Slot's start as Jurgen Klopp's successor has been excellent: won five, lost one, scored 13, conceded two.
The same cannot be said for David Moyes' replacement.
The nature of West Ham's 3-0 thrashing by Chelsea, the first time the club has started a league season with three straight home defeats, saw Julen Lopetegui cut from 18/1 to 6s to be the first Premier League manager to lose his job this season.
Of huge concern ought to be the way in which his side was easily cut open by their London rivals; it wasn't a one-off either.
Only Everton and Wolves have conceded more goals in the opening five top-flight games.
Only newly-promoted Ipswich and a Brentford team who have already faced Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham away from home, have given up more opportunities according to expected goals (xG).
It's something Liverpool are likely to take full advantage.
While the 6/5 about over 2.5 goals is tempting, the possibility of a less fluid Liverpool because of their changes, and the more controlled style of play under Slot has me leaning towards goalscorers instead, with CODY GAKPO TO SCORE ANYTIME at around 2/1 the standout selection.
The Netherlands forward scored in every round of the Carabao Cup last season other than the final, and should get plenty of opportunities to continue that impressive record on Wednesday night.
Incredibly, 100% of the Reds' league goals so far have come from their forwards, with half of those 10 goals via the man playing on the left of the front three, Luis Diaz, who Gakpo will replace.
I'm prepared to look past the anomaly of all three goals against Milan coming from elsewhere, and back Gakpo to ably step in.
Team news
Liverpool are likely to change the vast majority, if not the entire, outfield team from the victory over Bournemouth on Saturday, meaning Federico Chiesa should make his full debut.
Alisson remains out injured, but wouldn't have played in this game anyway.
West Ham should bring in Tomas Soucek, Michail Antonio and Lukasz Fabianski, with Carlos Soler and Jean-Clair Todibo also pushing to start. Guido Rodriguez may start having been substituted before half-time in the 3-0 defeat by Chelsea for tactical reasons.
Niclas Fullkrug is still struggling with a calf injury.
Predicted line-ups
Liverpool: Kelleher; Bradley, Gomez, Quansah, Tsimikas; Endo, Morton; Chiesa, Jones, Gakpo; Jota.
West Ham: Fabianski; Coufal, Todibo, Kilman, Emerson; Soler, Soucek; Bowen, Paqueta, Kudus; Antonio.
Odds correct at 1200 BST (24/09/24)
More from Sporting Life
- Fixtures, results and live scores
- Expert xG analysis and features
- Transfer news and done deals
- Football and other sports tips
- Download our free iOS and Android app
- Podcasts and video content
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.