On Wednesday, Liverpool fell heavily 0-2 in the Merseyside derby against Everton. A real blow to the club’s ambition to win the Premier League.
Already during Saturday, they were back in the game. Then West Ham was waiting at the London Stadium.
When the starting eleven were released before kick-off, it was clear that Liverpool made a total of five (!) changes from the derby against Everton. Harvey Elliott, Wataru Endo, Ryan Gravenberch, JarellQuansah and Cody Gakpo started instead of Mohamed Salah, Darwin Núñez, Dominik Szoboszlai, Curtis Jones and Ibrahima Konaté.
During the first half hour of the match, something of a positional war unfolded. Neither West Ham nor Liverpool created any hot scoring chances.
In the 27th minute, Liverpool looked set to be awarded a penalty when Cody Gakpo went down in a duel with Alphonse Areola, and then a West Ham defender also handled the ball in his own penalty area.
After VAR review, however, it was judged to be offside in an earlier situation in connection with the goal. The final verdict was thus offside.
After the penalty situation, the home team took over more and more. Jarrod Bowen came close to giving West Ham the lead in the 43rd minute when he curled a left-footed finish towards the far post. But Alisson made a reflex save and averted the situation.
However, it would only take seconds before the ball was in the net behind the Brazilian keeper. Mohammed Kudus delivered a cross that Bowen met with his head, and the right winger got a header that Alisson couldn’t save. 1-0 to West Ham was a fact just before the half-time break.
– Liverpool shut down completely. There is no one who takes responsibility in the defense. You watch when West Ham take a short corner, let West Ham hit a cross and then you watch when West Ham nod in 1-0, says former English national team goalkeeper Rob Green to the BBC.
But Liverpool responded to speech. West Ham scored just before half-time, Liverpool responded just after half-time. Luis Díaz found Andy Robertson in the home team’s penalty area and the shots made it 1-1 with a distinct finish.
– It is clear that there have been demands to increase the intensity at Liverpool. But I think Areola lets that shot go too easily, former Nottingham Forest coach Mark Warburton told the BBC.
Liverpool also managed to take the lead through an own goal in the 65th minute. A shot by Cody Gakpo from close range went like a pinball between the West Ham defenders before finding the net.
– West Ham take pride in their defensive play at set pieces, but this goal has been up in the air. A cheap goal to give away, says Warburton.
But with just over ten minutes left to play, another cold shower came. Bowen whipped in a cross from his right that Michail Antonio headed in to make it 2-2.
In connection with the 2-2 goal, Klopp chose to make a triple substitution. Mohamed Salah, Darwin Núñez and Joe Gomez came on instead of Luis Díaz, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Wataru Endo.
Notable scenes then unfolded. Klopp and Salah fell out, and Núñez had to push Salah away from his coach.
– The TV footage has just shown a very clear conversation on the touchline between Klopp and Salah as the forward was introduced. Words were exchanged before fingers were pointed, and it was clear that Salah was pushed away by Darwin Núñez, says Sky Sports’ Pete Gill.
In the 89th minute, Harvey Elliott was a hair’s breadth away from deciding for Liverpool – but the shot hit the crossbar.
There were no more goals in the match – West Ham and Liverpool had to share the points.
The result means another smack for Liverpool in the title fight. After today’s match, they are still in third place in the Premier League, one point behind runner-up Manchester City with two games less played and two points behind first-place Arsenal with one more game played.
– I am very disappointed, of course. Everyone can see that only one team wins the match. We try with the chances we create, the possession we had, all the other things we do. This was a tough end to a period with four games in ten days, but I think the players did well, Klopp told TNT Sports.
Otherwise, the outgoing Liverpool coach was not in the mood to talk about the title fight.
– I’m not in the mood to talk about the title fight, to be honest. We had to win, we knew it, we didn’t win, and now we have a little more time to prepare for the next game. We try to get the boys ready again and get going.
Klopp also addressed the row with Mohamed Salah. You can read the answers to that here.
Startelvor:
West HamAreola – Coufal, Zouma, Ogbonna, Emerson – Soucek, Alvarez – Bowen, Paqueta, Kudus – Antonio.
Liverpool: Alisson – Alexander-Arnold, Quansah, van Dijk, Robertson – Mac Allister, Endo, Gravenberch – Elliott, Gakpo, Díaz.
