Stats: Stevie one away from 700 mark

The Reds skipper could become only the third player to reach the landmark of 700 appearances for the club. Ian Callaghan leads the way with 857, while Jamie Carragher wore the shirt 737 times.

He made his debut in November 1998 and has scored 182 goals. He should also reach 500 league appearances before too long - he is currently on 495.

Gerrard has played against 115 different teams and scored against 64 of those.

It is 153 days since Daniel Sturridge last played for Liverpool, in a 3-0 win at Tottenham Hotspur on the last day of August. He has played just 270 minutes for the club this season.

A win today would see Liverpool move above West Ham in the table. If the Reds take maximum points and Tottenham fail to win at West Bromwich Albion, they will move into the top six for the first time in three months.

The Reds are unbeaten in the last 41 league games against West Ham at Anfield. In that time they have won 30 and drawn 11, conceding just 16 goals.

Only one Liverpool player - Fernando Torres in March 2008 - has scored a league hat-trick against West Ham at Anfield. Roger Hunt (1965), John Toshack (1976) and Michael Robinson in 1983 have achieved the feat at Upton Park.

Gerrard has scored nine goals in 22 appearances against the Hammers. Only Toshack (10) has scored more for the Reds against the Londoners in league and cup. If the skipper scores he would equal the club record of eight league goals against West Ham, currently held by Ian Rush and Toshack.

Liverpool's biggest home win over West Ham in the league was a 6-0 success in April 1984. Rush and Graeme Souness each scored twice, with the others coming from Kenny Dalglish and Ronnie Whelan.

The Reds have accumulated 14 points out of the last possible 18 since losing at Manchester United. They are seeking to keep a third successive league clean sheet for the first time since the opening three games of last season, while they have not won three in a row since April.

West Ham's last victory at Anfield came in September 1963 with Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters scoring in a 2-1 win. 'She Loves You' by the Beatles was No.1 in the charts on that day, Harold Macmillan was Prime Minister and current Hammers boss Sam Allardyce was an eight year-old boy in Dudley, West Midlands.

The Hammers have kept two clean sheets in the last 14 league visits, December 2008 and April 2013.

West Ham are only four points from equalling their total for the whole of last season - they currently have 36 from 22 games.

They have already scored more goals away from home (16) in the league this season than they did in the entire 2013-14 campaign (15).

Since losing on their last visit to Merseyside, at Everton in November, the Londoners have lost two of the last 10 league fixtures - to Chelsea and Arsenal in successive matches over Christmas.  

In league and cup it is six games unbeaten for the Hammers, and they have lost only two of the last 13.