Lucas: We are still in a good moment now
Lucas Leiva acknowledges West Ham United will arrive at Anfield today brimming with confidence, but insists Liverpool are primed to bounce back from their midweek Capital One Cup exit to Chelsea.
The Reds' 10-match unbeaten run was brought to an end by a narrow 1-0 extra-time defeat at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday evening - though Brendan Rodgers' side more than matched the Barclays Premier League leaders over the course of the 120 minutes.
Meanwhile, West Ham head into this weekend in seventh position in the table, one point ahead of Liverpool, after an impressive 2014-15 so far.
Indeed, Sam Allardyce's men are yet to taste defeat since the turn of the year, with two former Anfield men in Andy Carroll and Stewart Downing turning in a series of eye-catching performances.
Lucas, therefore, knows the Hammers will provide a stern obstacle to overcome as he and his teammates look to return with a win, but he maintains that confidence remains high within the Melwood dressing room.
Looking ahead to the contest, he told Liverpoolfc.com: "They have changed a little bit the way they play, but they still have that physical presence.
"With Andy [Carroll] back, there is a threat in the air, but they have a lot of players that can play. Stewart Downing is in a very good moment, as are other players.
"It's been a very good season for them and they are probably coming here with a lot of confidence and hoping they will get something from the game.
"We just have to approach it in the same way we approached the other games, with a lot of confidence also because we are in a good moment despite the defeat in the cup.
"We have everything in place to go and win the game and keep climbing in the table."
Earlier this season, Liverpool were subjected to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of West Ham on an evening to forget at Upton Park back in September.
Lucas feels the Londoners will come up against a very different Reds side this afternoon, who have learned from that previous meeting.
He said: "It is a different moment. Of course, we saw how difficult they are to play against and they are in good form.
"They have been doing very well all season. We learned a lot from that game and hopefully we won't make the same mistakes."
This will be Liverpool's first outing in the Premier League following three successive cup ties.
Lucas is confident the Reds will make a seamless transition back to top-flight action, particularly given the collective determination to ascend the standings and continue the challenge for a top-four berth.
"We have played some hard games, but our focus now has to change and we need to get the three points and we will be ahead of West Ham, so it's a big game for us," he said.
"We just need to keep climbing and then in midweek we will have another difficult game away from home in the cup - but for now the Premier League is the main focus and we have to keep this momentum.
"We've shown in many games we are capable. Probably the results were not what we wanted a few times, but I think the performance level has been very good.
"Now it is a case of adding to the performances with results and it'll be perfect. We all know when we are playing well and we are on a good run, in a good moment and we just have to keep going."