West Ham boss hints at fitness concerns as Liverpool chase Champions League qualification spot
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The West Ham manager was tight-lipped but hinted some players may need to be assessed ahead of the Saturday 3pm kick-offWest Ham United manager Nuno Espirito Santo has suggested late decisions may have to be made over the involvement of some of his players before his team's trip to face Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday (February 28).The former Tottenham, Wolves and Nottingham Forest coach was responding to a question in his pre-match press conference asking for any new updates on fitness for his side."You know what it is," Espirito Santo said. "Always knocks and things to assess, [but we have] a training session tomorrow and then we travel."READ MORE: Liverpool given huge injury boost as Jeremie Frimpong returns to defensive right-back crisisREAD MORE: 'Complete nonsense' - Jurgen Klopp exit strongly denied as Red Bull make stance clearThe Hammers only have two players currently known to be out injured: the goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, who has been out with a back injury since November, and January signing Pablo Felipe.The Brazilian striker, known as Pablo, became Espirito Santo's first signing at West Ham when he arrived from Portuguese side Gil Vicente in January.The Portuguese coach gave a positive update on Pablo's recovery, but the £21.8 million striker will not make his return against Liverpool, having already missed the last three games."He didn't join us yet - he's starting his individual programme, improving day by day," Espirito Santo said.
"Like I said, we keep assessing him and see when he can return."Pressed on the timeframe, the Hammers boss added: "It all depends on him, depends on how he adapts to the loads. Hopefully soon - we miss him."The Premier League clash arrives at a time when both teams need to start accumulating positive results to secure their aims at opposite ends of the table, with just 11 games remaining.Sixth-placed Liverpool suffered a total collapse in their title defence earlier in the season, though green shoots are showing and the successful integration of new signings such as Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike and Milos Kerkez has seen results improve since the end of November.The Reds could be without Wirtz for the visit of West Ham, with the German playmaker having been removed from the starting line-up against Nottingham Forest after suffering a complaint in the warm-up, though Arne Slot stressed it was not serious.Jeremie Frimpong could make his return from injury against the Hammers, but several players remain out with existing long-term injuries, including record signing Alexander Isak.Liverpool still face an uphill battle to qualify for the Champions League next season, but are now level on points with fifth-placed Chelsea after the last round of fixtures.West Ham, meanwhile, sit 18th in the table and will likely need to outperform one of Forest or Spurs to avoid the drop.
Both of those sides are still fighting in European competition.West Ham supporters will hope their side can continue their improvement under Espirito Santo, who replaced Graham Potter at the end of September, having lost only once in their last six Premier League games.Liverpool needed until the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time to score the winner against West Ham's relegation rivals Forest last Sunday (February 22), but will hope to make it three successive Premier League victories for the first time in 2026.FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FC FACEBOOK PAGE! All the latest news and analysis from Anfield on the Liverpool Echo's dedicated LFC Facebook page