West Ham and Liverpool beckon in the New Year with a showdown at the Boelyn Ground. The Hammers snapped their eight-match winless streak with a home win against Southampton last time out, while the Reds have rebounded from their 3-0 defeat at Watford with back-to-back 1-0 victories.

Despite tallying a modest a modest goal-haul (four), Liverpool ranked top for attempts (83), top for key passes (66), joint-second for shots inside the box (42) and third for shots on target (22) across the previous four Gameweeks – underlining their poor finishing. Similarly, the Merseysiders conceded the fewest shots inside the box (16) and just four big chances during that period, yet their defence was still breached on five occasions.

West Ham charted joint-fourth for shots inside the box (35), joint-fifth for key passes (41) and joint-fifth for shots on target (19) over the last four Gameweeks but have just three goals to show for their efforts. From a defensive standpoint, only Crystal Palace conceded fewer goals (one) than the Irons, yet Slaven Bilic’s troops still allowed the fifth-most shots inside the box (37), offering encouragement for the visitors’ array of attacking talent.