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Slaven Bilic: West Ham can be 'even better' at Liverpool than in Spurs win

Having wrecked Tottenham Hotspur's hopes of the Premier League title last week, West Ham manager Slaven Bilic thinks his team can do the same to Liverpool's Champions League qualifying chances.

Liverpool are third but will play at the London Stadium on Sunday after Manchester City, a point behind, host Crystal Palace and Arsenal, four behind, play Stoke. Both those teams have a game in hand on Jurgen Klopp's men, who have faltered of late and could only manage a 0-0 home draw with Southampton last week.

Beating Spurs 1-0 last week secured safety for the Hammers, lifting pressure off for their final home match of the season.

"It's a big game," said Bilic. "Results-wise it's even bigger for them because they have to win to keep it in their hands.

"Of course we don't care about their wishes or what aims they have. I am really expecting a big game for us with the same kind of adrenaline and motivation as it was against Spurs.

"Spurs was a bit different but I told them already, 'it's Liverpool at home, it's our last home game of the season. It can't be any bigger.'

"If you are playing Liverpool in front of 60,000 people it's the best situation. I am expecting us to be even better than we were against Spurs."

Bilic is friendly with Klopp, having met him through his assistant Edin Terzic, who worked as a coach under Klopp at Borussia Dortmund. Klopp's assistant Zeljko Buvac is also a friend of Bilic's, from playing against each other in league football in the former Yugoslavia.

But there will be no pal's act on Sunday afternoon, with the pressure firmly on Liverpool's shoulders.

Bilic said: "Every league is difficult but you have six clubs or teams [in England] that are expecting to win the title and for them not to get in the Champions League, it's a failure of course.

"But one of them will not make it. So for Liverpool, I don't know their media, their expectations or whatever, I don't spend too much time thinking about it but they are a big club and they have been there for the whole season.

"I think they will be very disappointed if they don't make it, but then if they make it, they will definitely present it as a massive achievement, which it is, in this kind of league."

Bilic is scheduled to have a hip operation at the end of the season, and he revealed first-team coach and former Hammers hardman Julian Dicks will be joining him in the sick bay.

"We have had so many injuries this season and a lot of them were big ones," he said. "I think we've had eight operations and then on top of that I'm going to have surgery. Then 'Dicksy' did his knee a few days ago. Now he's on crutches. I think we must be jinxed."