Liverpool's start has been tougher than expected but they can gain ground against West Ham

On a weekend of heavyweight clashes, Liverpool should take advantage of the leading pack dropping points

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp may be able to call on Sadio Mané's services again (Getty)

With just over a quarter of the season gone, Liverpool have already played seven of the other nine teams in the top half of the Premier League table. Of that seven, they beat Arsenal, drew against four of the others and lost heavily away to Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur.

Can Jürgen Klopp claim to have been dealt a tough hand by the fixture computer? Hindsight is 20/20 of course, but those meetings with Watford, Burnley and Newcastle United look a little more difficult now than they did before the start of the campaign, especially since two of those sides have also frustrated other members of last season's top six.

Whichever way you cut it though, his players should have taken more than 16 points at this stage of the season. A trip to an out-of-sorts West Ham United is on the agenda this weekend and 19 points from 11 would certainly sound a little, if not a lot, healthier.

Klopp did not want to make any direct demands of his players at his pre-match press conference on Friday, but ahead of fourth-placed Chelsea hosting Manchester United and fifth-placed Arsenal travelling to Manchester City, he knows Liverpool have the chance to pick up three points and gain ground on their rivals.

“I think that would sound kind of disrespectful to be honest, to say ‘now we have to have to win',” the Liverpool manager said. “I think apart from the Tottenham game and Manchester City for different reasons, each game we played we had a chance. It was maybe more than us.

“Absolutely we have no time to waste any more, that’s 100 per cent. The season fits between it. People don’t remember that a player was bad four weeks ago, but they don’t remember we were good at the start without having the results. Now we have to get results, that's how it is.”

A drastic improvement in Liverpool's away form would help Klopp's cause most of all. Though his side are unbeaten at Anfield and have conceded just once there in the league so far, they have only one win on the road in five. The 15 goals conceded as visitors is currently the most of any team in the top flight.

“I don't make a difference between [home and away form],” Klopp said. “I'm happy we can have this record at home. Of course, if you want to be really successful, you cannot drive to other cities and leave the points there. In most of the games we were in a really good way. Two were big defeats – Manchester City and Tottenham. I think other teams will lose there too.

“That's already in the past though. In the future, we should really take three points as often as possible in other stadiums. That's the aim.”

Sadio Mané could be in line for surprise return this weekend having missed Liverpool's last three league matches with a hamstring injury suffered on international duty. The Senegal winger returned to full training on Thursday and impressed Klopp enough to be considered for a bit-part at the London Stadium.

“Sadio looked really, really good. We will see what we do with that,” Klopp said. “Yesterday it looked like he is ready for at least 20-25 minutes but we have to wait to see how his body reacts to the session because for him it was pretty intense; not because it was intense but because it was his first football session for a long time. He did really well, he obviously didn’t miss his abilities or skills during the injury break, so that’s good.”

However, Philippe Coutinho, who put on a masterful display in Liverpool's 4-0 win at West Ham last May, will not be available on Saturday while he continues his recovery from a thigh problem.

Dejan Lovren (back) and Georginio Wijnaldum (ankle) are doubtful, while long-term absentees Adam Lallana (thigh) and Nathaniel Clyne (back) remain out of contention.