Liverpool made to pay for mistakes as West Ham United end Reds’ unbeaten run

Anytime Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp displays his petulance during a press conference, it’s usually the case that his side has performed badly in a game they should have won.

That was exactly the situation following Liverpool’s 3-2 defeat to West Ham United on Sunday. The German manager had a bone to pick with the match officials and then hit out at VAR as well.

In the end, though, Klopp was magnanimous enough to admit that Liverpool weren’t at their best and that the Hammers deserved to take home the three points.

David Moyes’ side has been the team of the season so far and they once again proved that their form is no fluke by giving the Reds a fight at the London Stadium.

Hammers shock Liverpool

Liverpool have distinguished themselves as title contenders and, before Sunday, were the only team in Europe not to have tasted defeat this season. However, they just didn’t turn up against West Ham. Collectively, the Reds committed too many mistakes and the home team was on hand to make them pay for it.

Individually, players like Jordan Henderson and Alisson Becker endured a bad day at the office, with the latter being culpable for all three goals conceded.

That is not to take anything away from West Ham, who gave everything on the pitch. Kurt Zouma, in particular, put up a monstrous performance at the heart of the defense. It was only fair that he was the player to score the goal that turned out to be the winner.

Reds’ 25-game unbeaten run ends

The international break prevents Liverpool from putting things right immediately after having seen their 25-game unbeaten run come to an end. The Reds have also now dropped to fourth in the Premier League table, a point behind West Ham and Manchester City and four points adrift of leaders Chelsea.

However, all is not lost. Klopp’s side has proven time and again that they know how to recover from setbacks and that is all this is. The Liverpool boss told Sky Sports after the game:

"People will say I'm looking for excuses, I'm not. I accept we're not too good to lose football games. Today, we lost it, that's not nice but I accept it. But when we speak about situations in a game, you just need normal decisions from a referee."

Klopp added:

"He didn't do that. But in the end, West Ham fought for the three points. They are not responsible for the decisions the VAR made."

Such a disappointing defeat is a test of Liverpool’s character. How they respond after the international break will determine how their season progresses from here.