Roy Keane brutally shoots down West Ham theory ahead of Liverpool game

Liverpool will host West Ham United in the Premier League this weekend with Roy Keane shooting down suggestions that Nuno Espirito Santo's team is in encouraging form

Roy Keane on The Overlap podcast.(Image: YouTube // The Overlap)

Roy Keane is expecting Liverpool to get over the line against West Ham United this weekend, but not all the pundits are on the same page about a home win for Arne Slot.

Last season, Nuno Espirito Santo got the better of Liverpool with Nottingham Forest. The Reds have not been in the most consistent form of late, playing well at Sunderland but then very poorly last weekend at the City Ground.

A win at Anfield on Saturday would be helpful in the race for the Champions League spots, with Manchester United and Chelsea playing a day later, against Crystal Palace and Arsenal respectively.

On the Stick To Football podcast, sponsored by Sky Bet, Portugal manager Roberto Martinez predicted a 1-0 win for West Ham on Merseyside, with Gary Neville more than willing to get on board with that.

However, Keane was not so enamored with such a scoreline, shooting down suggestions from the likes of Ian Wright that under Nuno Espirito Santo, the Hammers are back in form.

"Florian Wirtz was a big loss; they were dreadful against Nottingham Forest," Keane said. "But don't overthink it. It's Liverpool at home to West Ham.

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot.(Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

"Momentum? West Ham are fourth bottom. What momentum have they got? That's great momentum, that. They'll be in the Champions League next year."

In recent games, West Ham has been unbeaten, but it drew with Manchester United and Bournemouth and needed extra time to get through in the FA Cup against Burton Albion.

Its last defeat came at Chelsea on the final day of January, but the only Premier League win since then came at Burnley. There is still a two-point gap to Nottingham Forest and four points to Spurs in the standings.

"We want to play our best football, and I think at times in the games we are definitely doing that," Virgil van Dijk told club media after the late victory at Nottingham Forest last weekend.

"But obviously we are still looking for improvement and we are not perfect. We are human beings and we want to do our best for the club.

"We want to be performing on the absolute highest level, and we need each other at their best and it's a process, but we keep going and focus on the next one.

"It will be another difficult one at the weekend again [versus West Ham], so onto the next."

Liverpool.com says: West Ham will not make things easy for the Reds, but Slot's men simply have to win. The next few games are a chance to get some substantial points on the board while Chelsea has a really tough run.