Julen Lopetegui has made seven changes to West Ham United’s starting XI for this evening’s third-round Carabao Cup tie against Liverpool.
The Hammers have made the trip to Anfield looking to earn a place in the fourth round of the competition, and captain Jarrod Bowen, Maximilian Kilman, Edson Álvarez and Crysencio Summerville are the only figures to maintain their places from Saturday’s Premier League defeat to Chelsea.
Having seen off AFC Bournemouth 1-0 in their first bout of Carabao Cup action this season, at the end of last month, Lopetegui's charges were dealt a tough task in the third round of a competition in which they have reached the final on two occasions, in 1965/66 and 1980/81.
Indeed, they are looking to evoke the spirit of the 3-0 Premier League win in 2015, when we ended a 52-year wait for a win at Anfield, as goals from Manuel Lanzini, Mark Noble and Diafra Sakho ended the barren run on Merseyside.
Danny Ings, Aaron Cresswell and Carlos Soler make their first competitive starts of the season, while Łukasz Fabiański, Jean-Clair Todibo, Vladimír Coufal and Tomáš Souček also come into the side.
Lopetegui is without centre-forward Niclas Füllkrug, however. The 31-year-old returned to full training after recovering from the calf injury he suffered while on international duty with Germany earlier in September, but Wednesday’s fixture comes too soon.
Goalkeeper Fabiański, who kept clean sheets in wins over Lincoln City and Arsenal in last season’s competition and against Bournemouth in round two this term, will hope to extend his perfect Carabao Cup record at Anfield, with Wes Foderingham serving as back-up on the bench.
Ahead of Fabiański will be a defensive line that consists of Coufal, Todibo and Kilman, a trio that impressed in the second round at London Stadium. Cresswell makes his first start of the season having come off the bench against Crystal Palace and Chelsea.
The midfield will likely be anchored by Álvarez and Soler, the latter of whom makes his first start in Claret and Blue, while Souček looks set to fill the No10 role, flanked by Bowen and Summerville.
Ings, who netted a dramatic late leveller to secure a 1-1 draw at Fulham earlier this month, is rewarded with his first start of the season and leads the line for the Hammers this evening.
A strong bench is named too by Lopetegui, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Emerson, Guido Rodríguez, Mohammed Kudus, Lucas Paquetá and Michail Antonio to call upon, while Andy Irving, who caught the eye during his Premier League debut on Saturday, completes the matchday squad.
Liverpool: Kelleher, Bradley, Quansah, Gomez, Tsimikas, Endo, Jones, Gakpo, Chiesa, Diogo Jota, Núñez
Subs: Jaroš (GK), Alexander-Arnold, Robertson, van Dijk, Morton, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai, Díaz, Salah
West Ham United: Fabiański, Coufal, Todibo, Kilman, Cresswell, Álvarez, Soler, Souček, Summerville, Bowen ©, Ings
Subs: Foderingham (GK), Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Emerson, Rodríguez, Irving, Paquetá, Kudus, Antonio
Referee: Andrew Madley
