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A second-half brace from Mohamed Salah and a goal from Georginio Wijnaldum helped defending champions Liverpool to a 3-1 win over West Ham United at the London Stadium on Sunday.
After an uneventful first half dominated by the defenders, there was little indication of the goal-heavy action that was to follow in the second half, as both sides looked decidedly cagey in attack.
However, the deadlock was finally broken by Salah in the 57th minute. The 28-year-old artfully curled a left-footed shot into the far corner to give his side the lead just as the hosts were beginning to ramp up the intensity.
The Egyptian then doubled his own tally along with his side’s by putting the finishing touches on a sumptuous counter-attacking move. Liverpool put the ball in the West Ham net barely 15 seconds after the home side had swung in a corner at the other end.
The game was put out of sight in the 84th minute by another well-worked Liverpool move that Wijnaldum calmly swept home, with Craig Dawson’s 87th-minute goal proving to be scant consolation for the Hammers.
As a result of their win, Liverpool move into third place on the Premier League table, a point behind Manchester United and four behind Manchester City (who have a game in hand) ahead of their clash with Pep Guardiola’s men next Sunday.
Their opponents, West Ham, remain fifth in the table but could be leapfrogged by Tottenham Hotspur, who are two points behind their London rivals with two games in hand.
On that note, here are the five talking points from an engaging clash at the London Stadium.
#1 Liverpool and West Ham are involved in an unlikely top 4 battle
Ahead of the 2020-21 Premier League season, not many would have singled out Liverpool’s trip to West Ham at the end of January as a potential battle for a place in the top 4, especially as deep into the season as we are right now.
However, a variety of factors in this COVID-impacted season led to this being a clash of fifth versus fourth, with David Moyes’ men sitting two points behind the Reds.
A lot of West Ham’s success is down to Moyes’ astute management and the club’s excellent recent recruitment, which has seen the likes of Tomáš Souček, Vladimir Coufal, Saïd Benrahma and others become first-team regulars in a short space of time.
On the other hand, Liverpool have seen injury and fatigue adversely impact their season, with the loss of certain key players rendering them unable to hit the lofty heights they managed to hit in last season’s title-winning campaign.
#2 Jurgen Klopp forced to rotate his team yet again
With injuries to key personnel and workload management to consider, Jurgen Klopp and his staff have had to be extra creative while picking the Liverpool starting eleven this season.
This was the case for this clash as well, with Klopp making three changes to the team that ran out 3-1 winners against Tottenham Hotspur.
While Nathaniel Phillips partnered Jordan Henderson in Liverpool’s latest makeshift defence, the real eye-catching changes came further up the pitch as Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino were replaced by Divock Origi and Xherdan Shaqiri.
While Firmino had to make do with a place on the bench, Mane missed out on the trip to London entirely due to a slight muscle injury picked up in the win against Spurs.
Given the pace at which the packed schedule is throwing up games this season, squad rotation is likely to continue to be a major concern for Klopp and Liverpool.
#3 Could Nat Phillips solve Liverpool’s defensive crisis?
With long-term injuries to Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez as well as the patchy injury record of Joel Matip, Liverpool have had to chop and change their centre-back pairing this season.
While Fabinho has been doing a commendable job filling in at centre-back, he has been partnered by Jordan Henderson, Rhys Williams, and Phillips this season, with varying degrees of success.
Against West Ham, it was Phillips who got the nod, and this opportunity was one he took with both hands by delivering a calm and composed performance alongside Henderson.
Up against the formidable threat of Michail Antonio, Phillips was virtually unbeatable in the air and more than held his own with the ball on the ground, helping to keep the West Ham attack at bay.
As such, with rumours of Liverpool being in the transfer market for a centre-back floating around, Phillips definitely made a case for a run in the starting lineup with his display against West Ham.
#4 Liverpool slowly finding their swagger once again
After a resounding 7-0 thumping of Crystal Palace on December 19, it was widely expected that Liverpool were going to replicate their title-winning juggernaut of last season and romp to the title this season as well.
However, what followed was a rotten run of form that no one saw coming, with the Reds having to wait over a month to register their next league win after their thrashing of Palace.
Draws against West Brom, Newcastle and Manchester United, along with defeats against Southampton and Burnley, saw them drop to fourth in the table, with a defeat against Manchester United also sealing their exit from the FA Cup.
However, the signs that Liverpool were finding their feet again were there, and the first statement of intent was sent out with a comfortable victory over Tottenham Hotspur in London.
While they took a little while to find their feet against West Ham, the Reds seemed to find another gear in the second half, scoring three sensational goals en route to a well-deserved win.
Having racked up back-to-back comfortable wins over tough opposition and played some sumptuous football along the way, the rest of the Premier League would do well to take note of Liverpool’s growing resurgence.
With a huge clash against league leaders Manchester City looming on the horizon, Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool are well aware that there is no time to rest on their laurels as challenges come thick and fast this season.
#5 The 2020-21 Premier League season continues to be impossible to predict
If the previous Premier League season was a totally one-sided win, this season is proving to be anything but, with no less than 9 different teams having ended the day atop the standings even as the season is at its halfway point.
Title challenges and top-four pushes have been mounted and have fizzled out as the season continues to throw up one surprise after another.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are the perfect example of the unpredictable nature of the season, having dispelled early-season talks of a crisis to now leading the pack, with a game in hand over their closest opponents.
Manchester United, Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur are also in and around the top 4 places, with West Ham acting as the season’s dark horse, albeit with all these clubs struggling to find consistency with their results.
Liverpool have also struggled to replicate their title-winning form from last season, but seem to have overcome a mid-season slump to mount a renewed title charge.
As a result, with teams dropping points unexpectedly up and down the table, mouth-watering clashes being played out every week, and no league position being safe, this season promises to be a nail-biter right down to the final week of fixtures.
