LIVERPOOL v WEST BROMWICH ALBION
Barclays Premier League
Saturday 4th October 2014, 3:00pm
Anfield

MATCH NOTES

The game will be the 143rd league and cup meeting between Albion and Liverpool. The Reds currently lead the way with 65 wins to the Baggies' 38.

Albion's last game on this date came in 2008 when a Roman Bednar goal gave Albion a 1-0 Premier League win over Fulham at The Hawthorns.

Liverpool's last match on October 4 came in 2012, the Reds losing 3-2 to Udinese in a Europa League clash at Anfield.

The Baggies have won six out of the last eight games they have played on this date.

Albion will be attempting to win four games in a row for the first time since November 2012.

Albion's last six games: Burnley (H) 4-0; Hull City (H, LC) 3-2; Tottenham Hotspur (A) 1-0; Everton (H) 0-2; Swansea City (A) 0-3; Oxford United (H, LC) 1-1 (7-6 after pens).

Liverpool's last six games: FC Basel (A, CL) 0-1; Everton (H) 1-1; Middlesbrough (H, LC) 2-2 (14-13 after pens); West Ham (A) 1-3; Ludo Razgd (H, CL) 2-1; Aston Villa (H) 0-1.

TEAM NEWS

Albion

Baggies' boss Alan Irvine will be without the injured trio of Brown Ideye (ankle), Victor Anichebe and Silvestre Varela (both groin) for the trip to Anfield.

On-loan defender Andre Wisdom will also miss out due to rules preventing him from facing his parent club but utility man Chris Baird returns to the squad after missing last week's win over Burnley through illness.

Liverpool

Brendan Rodgers has a number of injury concerns ahead of the match but is hopeful England striker Daniel Sturridge will return after missing the last six games due to a groin strain.

Mamadou Sakho and Suso have joined Liverpool’s lengthening injury list and will miss the game along with Joe Allen, Emre Can, Jon Flanagan and Glen Johnson.

MATCH ODDS

Result

Albion Win: 6/1, Liverpool Win: 4/9, Draw: 10/3.

First Goalscorer

Albion: Berahino 11/1, Samaras 14/1, Sessegnon 14/1, Blanco 20/1, Dorrans 20/1, Gardner 20/1, Brunt 20/1, Morrison 25/1, Mulumbu 33/1, Dawson 33/1, Lescott 33/1.

Liverpool: Balotelli 3/1, Sturridge 10/3, Lambert 4/1, Sterling 9/2, Borini 6/1, Lallana 6/1, Gerrard 6/1, Coutinho 7/1, Markovic 8/1, Henderson 11/1, Skrtel 16/1, Lovren 25/1, Moreno 25/1, Lucas 33/1, Enrique 33/1, Manquillo 33/1.

www.williamhill.com

REFEREE

Michael Oliver (Northumberland)

Oliver refereed four Albion games last season - the 3-3 draw at home to Cardiff in March, the 1-1 draw at home to Everton in January, the 2-2 draw with Aston Villa at The Hawthorns in November and the 2-1 win at Manchester United in September.

The Northumberland official has already taken charge of a Liverpool game this season - the 3-1 defeat at Manchester City in August.

The official took charge of three Liverpool games during 2013/14 - the 5-1 win at home to Arsenal in February, the 4-1 win over West Ham at Anfield in December and the 2-2 draw at Swansea City in September.

Oliver has issued 26 yellow cards and no red in the seven games he has officiated so far this season.

A full run down of Oliver's record when taking charge of Albion games can be found here

TICKET INFORMATION

Only a limited number of seats, all restricted view, remain for the trip to Anfield.

The remaining tickets, which are on general sale are priced at £46/£44 adults, £35 for over 65s and £10 for under 17s.

WEATHER FORECAST

Sunny intervals, 12°C.

FIXTURE HISTORY

LAST MEETING AT ANFIELD

Liverpool 4-1 Albion
Barclays Premier League
Saturday 26th October 2013, 3:00pm

Liverpool: Mignolet; Toure, Skrtel, Sakho; Johnson (Kelly 62), Lucas, Henderson, Cissokho; Gerrard (Allen 86); Sturridge, Suarez (Alberto 89). Subs not used: Jones (gk), Agger, Sterling, Moses.

Goalscorers: Suarez 12, 17 & 55, Sturridge 77.

Albion: Myhill; Jones, McAuley, Olsson (c), Ridgewell; Yacob (Brunt 68), Mulumbu; Amalfitano (Morrison 44), Sessegnon, Anichebe; Anelka (Long 68). Subs not used: Daniels (gk), Lugano, Vydra, Berahino.

Goalscorers: Morrison 66 pen.

Booked: Yacob 54 (foul), Olsson 72 (foul).

Attendance: 44,747

Referee: Jon Moss (West Yorkshire)

Luis Suarez scored a scintillating hat-trick as Liverpool kept the pressure on Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table with a convincing victory over West Brom at Anfield. This was a majestic individual display by the Uruguayan striker, who left the field to a rapturous ovation and went down the tunnel with the match-ball under his arm. But it was also a day when the partnership between Suarez and Daniel Sturridge simply proved too much for the visitors.

Suarez fired Liverpool in front on 11 minutes, after a delightful, jinking run that tore the West Brom defence to shreds. The 26-year-old added a second six minutes later, heading powerfully beyond goalkeeper Boaz Myhill, and completed his hat-trick with a glancing header from a Steven Gerrard free-kick. James Morrison pulled a goal back for West Brom with a controversially awarded penalty but Sturridge extinguished any hopes of a comeback 15 minutes from time with a wonderful 20-yard chip. Both home strikers also hit the bar.  Suarez and Sturridge have now scored 14 goals between them in the league this season, and the Uruguayan has 36 goals in his past 46 matches for Liverpool. The only disappointment for Brendan Rodgers' side was the failure to keep a clean sheet, something they have now failed to do since 1 September. Their concession here was down to a strange piece of officiating midway through the second half, when the assistant referee awarded West Brom a penalty for Aly Cissokho's foul on Billy Jones, despite referee Jon Moss having apparently already decided against awarding a spot-kick.  But the day belonged to Suarez, who came into this game having failed to score against West Brom in five previous appearances but clearly in no mood to be denied again.  His close control was, at times, hypnotic. He produced his full repertoire of feints and swerves, sudden stops and demoralising spurts to leave the visiting defenders dumbfounded time and again.  Frustrated to be denied a penalty after 10 minutes when he went down too easily following a coming together with Gareth McAuley, he soon put things to rights with an opening goal that was the pick of the bunch. Gathering the ball 25 yards from goal, Suarez drifted away from Claudio Yacob, nutmegged Jonas Olsson and fired a low shot unerringly beyond Myhill and into the far corner of the net. Next he combined with Cissokho down the Liverpool left before directing the Frenchman's cross beyond Myhill with a powerful header that hit the top corner from the edge of the penalty area. It felt only a matter of time before Suarez completed his hat-trick as he saw a curling free-kick drift narrowly wide and a goal-bound shot blocked brilliantly by Olsson.

In fact, he had to wait until 10 minutes into the second half for his third, but he made no mistake when Gerrard's free-kick came his way, glancing a header beyond Myhill as Anfield reverberated to the sound of Suarez's name. Even Liverpool owner John W Henry felt moved to tweet his thoughts from Boston. "Luis. Magician" was all he wrote. On this evidence, it was hard to disagree. If Suarez had set the record straight on a personal level, this result also brought a measure of revenge for Liverpool, who had lost the past three league matches between the sides. West Brom had come into the contest unbeaten in five games, their best run of form under Steve Clarke. Memories of their stunning victory at Old Trafford were fresh in the mind and, given the Baggies' solid defensive record, Liverpool might have expected a more taxing afternoon. But with the calming presence of Lucas Leiva, restored to the side after the birth of his second child, alongside Gerrard and the irrepressible Jordan Henderson in midfield, Liverpool rarely looked troubled. And while Sturridge may not get the headlines, his contribution was at times just as dazzling as Suarez's. His deft chip for Liverpool's fourth would, on another day, have been the moment of the match. But by then Suarez had already produced more than enough magic to see West Brom off.

BBC Sport

CURRENT CONNECTIONS

Baggies' defender Andre Wisdom is currently on a season-long loan from the Reds.

Liverpool youngster Jerome Sinclair started his playing career in Albion's academy before leaving to join the Reds in 2011.

PAST CONNECTIONS

Amongst the players to have turned out at various levels for both clubs are: Nicolas Anelka, Freddie Buck, David Burrows, Scott Carson, John Chadburn, Harry Chambers, John Durnin, Bruce Grobbelaar, John Glover, Andrew Hannah, Charlie Hewitt, Tony Kelly, Chris Kirkland, Steve Nicol and David Speedie.

ALL-TIME LEAGUE & CUP RECORD VS LIVERPOOL