At this point in the season, Liverpool truly look unstoppable. On Sunday evening at the London Stadium, they put West Ham to the sword by putting five unanswered goals past the hosts. Five goals, five different scorers: Luis Diaz (30′), Cody Gakpo (40′), Mohamed Salah (44′), Trent Alexander-Arnold (54′), and Diogo Jota (84′).
The teams
West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui was without the services of striker Michail Antonio, who is recovering after a car crash, goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski due to a head injury, and the suspended midfield pair of Guido Rodriguez and Tomas Soucek.
Alphonse Areola was in goal, behind the back line consisting of right-back Vladimir Coufal, centre-backs Dinos Mavropanos and Max Kilman, and left-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka. Edson Alvarez paired up with Carlos Soler in the middle of the park, with Lucas Paqueta joining wingers Mohammed Kudus and Emerson Palmieri in supporting Jarrod Bowen in attack.
As for Liverpool, they were still without defenders Ibrahima Konate and Conor Bradley, though both should be available for their next game, as should midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai, who missed this one through suspension.
With that in mind, coach Arne Slot selected his arguably strongest XI available. With Alisson Becker between the posts, Virgil van Dijk had Joe Gomez with him in the centre-back department, flanked by Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson. With no Szoboszlai, Curtis Jones was again the man to start in midfield with Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister. Salah on the right, Gakpo on the left, and Diaz as the ‘false nine’, formed a menacing attacking trio.
Game recap
West Ham managed to weather the storm for half an hour, mostly through Areola making several excellent saves to deny Salah, Jones and Diaz. They even came close to taking the lead early on as Bowen broke down the left and pulled it back for Paqueta on the far post, but the Brazil international lost his step for a moment and ruined the chance.
But in the 30th minute, there was no stopping Diaz as he charged through the middle, received a slightly lucky bounce off Coufal, and smashed past Areola from just inside the box.
Even then, the Hammers could’ve gotten back level rather quickly, but Kudus was unlucky as his shot from range hit the post. Only three minutes later, they were completely undone by a fantastic piece of intricate play from Liverpool. Mac Allister’s pass over the top seemed destined to catch Salah offside, but the Egyptian brilliantly changed direction and left the ball for Jones who had made a run to the right. There was no offside when Jones passed it to Salah, to the dismay of Mavropanos and Kilman who both got nutmegged in the process of Salah assisting Gakpo at close range.
And if the assist itself wasn’t brilliant enough (it certainly was), Salah himself smashed past Areola as the Hammers’ back line got bypassed by Jones’ pass far too easily. It wasn’t even halftime, but it was quite obvious at that point that there was no way back for Lopetegui’s men. Areola actually did well to prevent Salah from scoring again within two minutes.
It was more of the same after the break, with Liverpool in full control of the contest and West Ham only occasionally coming within reach of the visitors’ box. Kudus did hit the woodwork again (header onto the crossbar this time), but a deflected shot by Alexander-Arnold and a fine finish from Diogo Jota later on set the final score.
The only slightly worrying aspect for Liverpool in this game is Gomez being forcibly withdrawn through a hamstring injury after 37 minutes. With that in mind, Konate’s imminent return to action ahead of the next match could not have come at a better time.
Mohamed Salah
Liverpool were mostly ridiculed by pundits and rival fans alike when the transfer of Salah from AS Roma was confirmed back in 2017. He was described as a “Chelsea reject” and “just another Juan Cuadrado”, among other things, but he quickly put all such nonsense to rest with 32 Premier League goals in his first season at the club.
Salah has been shining in a Liverpool shirt since, but his game has gone to a whole other level this season. With the league campaign still to reach its halfway line, he has 17 goals and 13 assists to his name. With eight matches in which he has both scored and assisted, he owns the record of the English flight on that front – again, before the first half of the season is played.
At the moment, it’s hard to think of an attacking player anywhere in the world performing anywhere close to the level of the Liverpool star, and the Anfield faithful are surely praying for an agreement between the club and Salah’s agent over a new contract to be reached as soon as possible.
Salah is the one constant in Slot’s formidable attacking department, starting every game in the Premier League and the Champions League, repeatedly proving his worth with incredible output. Gakpo, Diaz, Jota and Nunez, all excellent players, are left in his wake, competing for the remaining two attacking spots in the lineup.
Trent drops a hint?
Alexander-Arnold is another Liverpool star whose contract is up at the end of the season, and the speculation around his future grows every day. Spanish outlet Marca, known for doing Real Madrid’s bidding more than reporting football matters accurately, has reported that the 26-year-old England international has already informed his boyhood club of his decision to leave as a free agent and join Los Blancos. The claim was, however, quickly denied by media in England and elsewhere.
And celebrating his goal in the 54th minute, Alexander-Arnold made a hand gesture that seemed to indicate there had been too much talk.
His celebration is certainly open to various directions of interpretation. It might have been a hint one way, or the other, or no hint at all – it’s anyone’s guess. But for argument’s sake, it seems he doesn’t want his future publicly discussed at this point, which would probably mean he is yet to make a decision.
Title race
It doesn’t really seem like a race right now, does it?
With 18 matches played, Liverpool lead the way with 45 points, and it’s Nottingham Forest, the surprise of the season, in second place with an eight-point deficit and one game played more than the Merseysiders. Arsenal trail by nine, with 18 matches played too. Chelsea are behind by 10, and Manchester City, who have played 19 games already, are staring at a whopping 14-point gap between them and the place where they want to be. Are the defending champions out of the race?
Probably.
As for West Ham, they won’t be quite as much troubled by the loss itself as by the manner of losing. At the moment, they sit in 13th place with 23 points, and though their Premier League status shouldn’t really be at risk, the club will have had bigger ambitions ahead of the season, and Lopetegui’s job is far from safe.
Both Liverpool and West Ham will face teams from Manchester next, and while Liverpool welcome United at Anfield on January 5th, West Ham travel to face City at the Etihad the day before.
- Soccer News Like
- Be the first of your friends!
