West Ham: Pellegrini discusses injuries ahead of Liverpool clash
The Austrian star was expected to be named on the bench at the very least but appears to be suffering still from the injury that forced him off in the 3-0 defeat by Wolves last weekend.
He was pictured leaving Molineux in a protective boot and was set to undergo a late fitness test before the Liverpool clash.
However, he has not recovered in time so Javier Hernandez has been named in attack.
Elsewhere, Ryan Fredericks was handed a first Premier League start since the beginning of September and Michail Antonio, and Felipe Anderson will support Hernandez up front.
Liverpool named Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino in a familiar front three.
However, Jordan Henderson and Dejan Lovren miss out because of muscle injuries and Georginio Wijnaldum has a sore knee.
Adam Lallana was a surprise starter for Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool, who are looking to re-open their five-point lead at the top of the table with victory.
Manchester City cut the gap to just two points with their 3-1 victory over Arsenal yesterday.
Marko Arnautovic is not in the West Ham squad to face Liverpool (Image: GETTY)
Arnautovic was forced off injured against Wolves (Image: GETTY)
Manuel Pellegrini is looking to help out former club Manchester City (Image: GETTY)
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And Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini is looking to do former club City a favour by causing an upset at the London Stadium.
"If we win, I will be very happy for our club first," he said.
"We need a good performance against the leaders.
"After that, if we can give a hand to Manchester City, it's not our problem, but of course I am a fan of Manchester City also."
Pellegrini has no new faces in his squad for the match as West ham were quiet in the January transfer window.
West Ham: Arnautovic addresses rumours after signing contract
Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool are two points clear at the top of the Premier League (Image: GETTY)
But the Chilean is happy with the shape of his squad and is hoping for a good performance.
"I am not frustrated. We didn't have any interest in bringing a new player here unless we sold one,” he said.
"We have a squad, we have some players with long injuries but we have other players.
"The only player we had interest in was Gary Medel [of Besiktas], they told us it was free and we were interested because he can play in two or three positions.