Julen Lopetegui is looking forward to getting stuck into a tough-looking Carabao Cup test on the road at Liverpool on Wednesday night, with his side looking to exact revenge on the defending champions following last season’s quarter-final clash.
The Hammers’ impressive run in the 2023/24 competition was brought to a halt by the record ten-time winners at the last eight stage, with Jarrod Bowen’s second-half strike on Merseyside ultimately proving a consolation in a 5-1 defeat.
Nine months on, another trip to Anfield beckons for the Hammers, with both sides now under new management and hoping to progress to take a step further towards silverware while potentially boosting their form back in the league.
The Hammers saw off fellow Premier League outfit AFC Bournemouth in the second round to set up this enticing third-round encounter, but have won just one other match so far in 2024/25, away at Crystal Palace in the league in late August.
Liverpool on the other hand are riding high in second in the league standings, with just one defeat to their name in all competitions this term, at home to Nottingham Forest, and having impressively seen off AC Milan and Bournemouth in the UEFA Champions League and Premier League respectively since.
Dutchman Arne Slot took on the tricky task of filling Jürgen Klopp’s boots in the Anfield dugout during the summer, but after a strong start he will now be eager to maintain such momentum and achieve success on all fronts.
Lopetegui meanwhile is similarly keen for a positive result in what he has described as a tough arena, and he is confident his somewhat new-look squad is progressing well behind the scenes despite Saturday’s disappointment at home to Chelsea.
Speaking to the media little over 24 hours ahead of kick-off, the Spaniard reflected on what he and his team have learnt during the ongoing campaign, while also commenting on the Reds and the Carabao Cup competition.
Learning all the time
After the game on Saturday, I said the result was my responsibility. There were mistakes, and in football there are always mistakes - even when you win, and when you lose you can still do good things.
We made a change at half-time [with Guido Rodríguez coming off], but when you do that it’s not about a player’s form, but rather to do with my first decision. It’s not something I like to do, but we have to be honest and accept when we can do things better. Guido is experienced, and he understood the situation.
Always, we are learning from mistakes. But the more important thing is that we are working to do better. We have big commitment from the players, and we are all doing everything we can to get better results, starting with Liverpool tomorrow.
Ready for the Reds
Tomorrow is a really important match for us, and we’re going to need all of our strengths to come away from Anfield with the result we want. It’s not going to be an easy task, but we have to have the mindset that it’s possible. We will go there with big ambition and enthusiasm, for sure.
Liverpool is a huge club all around the world. They have a good new coach, who has shown so far that he is trying to continue the good work from previous years while also putting his own stamp on things, because every coach is different.
Carabao Cup hopes
Every player has the possibility to stand out and help us go as far as possible in this competition. We know we have a tough task at Liverpool, but we are focused on progressing as far as we possibly can.
All of the players are fighting for minutes, and the possibility to play, but we will put out a balanced team ready for the challenge. We will eventually look towards Brentford in the Premier League, but for now Anfield is our main focus, and we are looking for that win.
Strong support
Always we feel amazing support at home and away, and there will be nearly 6,000 of them there again tomorrow night.
They will support us with energy and ambition, and we’ll go out there and try to deliver them the right result.
