West Ham United are currently experiencing one of their better seasons and a result against Liverpool who will travel to Upton Park on May 9 will only boost their determination to do well in the remaining fixtures. The Hammers go into the clash in seventh place and a potential slot in Europe, but they hold a slender one point lead over Manchester City, and local London rivals, Fulham and Spurs.

Liverpool meanwhile, three points behind United, and with an extra match played, have three matches left in which they have no room for error – nine points for collecting, and the hope that United will slip twice. Likely occasions for that would be the derby with Manchester City and the match with Arsenal. The game in hand that United have could be a double edged sword as it's one additional fixture in an already super congested schedule, right before the final stretch. Liverpool have nine points to collect. United 12. Mathematically, United have a larger room for error.

West Ham striker Carlton Cole is close to recovering from a groin injury but he is unlikely to make it for the encounter against Liverpool.  Scott Parker (groin) is out, along with James Collins (calf) and Kieron Dyer (hamstring). Those absentees might cost the Hammers dearly but they surely will be welcomed by the Reds.

Italian manager of West Ham, Gianfranco Zola, was quoted as saying by the BBC:

"They (Liverpool) are a team you'd rather play at their home than away as if you look at their record away it must be one of the best in the Premier League. So it is a really tough match for us but my players are determined to beat one of the really top sides.

"If we can cause them problems then we can do well, but if we don't pose any threat to them, then they have so many good players that they will hurt us."

Should the Reds bag all three at Upton Park, Liverpool will leapfrog United again on the top of the Premiership. This match comes one day before United clash with City at Old Trafford, followed by the Wigan match. 

For the Liverpool website, Martin Skrtel insists that he and his teammates will not be looking over their shoulder, paying too much attention to United. He reckons they have to take their three remaining matches as they come and extract the maximum from them. If United slip, then all is well. If not, then, just walk on.
 
"We are playing well at the moment because we are working hard every day in training, we have good players, a very good manager and belief in ourselves," Skrtel told the club's website.
 
"We have made our own luck in games, and taken an advantage from that".
 
"In football, especially in England, any team can cause a surprise, so when you are not 100 per cent concentrated on your opponents, slip-ups can happen. Hopefully, it happens to United because we are only thinking about us."