West Ham United are currently in the midst of something of a defensive injury crisis, with manager David Moyes facing a nervous wait ahead of their midweek trip to Anfield.

What's the word?

The Hammers take on a Liverpool side who will no doubt be buoyed following their recent triumph over champions Manchester City, with the east London outfit potentially set to be without a handful of key figures for Wednesday's clash.

Speaking after Sunday's draw with Southampton, Moyes provided an update on the fitness of centre-back duo Kurt Zouma and Craig Dawson, with the pair having been absent from the trip to St Mary's.

Regarding those two crucial assets, the former Everton boss stated, as per football.london: "One’s got an injury and one’s got an illness so we’ve had to go without them. Obviously, we’ve got no Nayef Aguerd at the moment so we were rocked terribly from an injury in midweek. It’s really set us back from how we want to play."

The 59-year-old went on to add that he had "no idea" if the two men would be fit to feature against Jurgen Klopp's side in just a few days' time.

Moyes should be worried

Such injury woes will no doubt be of huge worry to the veteran coach ahead of that Merseyside meeting, with the Irons head coach potentially set to see his squad depth tested to the extreme once again.

In the case of Dawson, it will have been a huge frustration to see the Englishman struck down by injury during Thursday's win over Anderlecht at the London Stadium, with the 32-year-old having only entered the fray as a replacement for the stricken Angelo Ogbonna - albeit with the latter man since returning on the bench yesterday.

The former Watford man had been hampered by a thigh injury in the early weeks of the season, with it no doubt worrying to see the old-school gem suffer a potential setback, particularly as he had started in the two recent wins over Wolverhampton Wanderers and Fulham.

With the aforementioned Zouma also sidelined at the weekend due to illness - while long-term absentee Nayef Aguerd is also still out of action - it left the Hammers with a real dearth of options defensively, having been forced to start with Thilo Kehrer as the only recognised centre-back.

That fact had seen Moyes deploy a back five against Ralph Hasenhuttl's side, although the change in shape seemingly had a negative impact, with broadcaster Tom Rennie notably suggesting that the system simply "doesn't work" following that frustrating draw.

Having few defensive options once again may well leave West Ham with little choice but to continue with that tactic against the Reds, with it set to be a real concern if the club are not able to welcome back at least one of their sidelined central defenders.