Liverpool Vs West Ham: liverpool vs west ham set-piece mastery lifts champions
In a dominant 5-2 victory, liverpool vs west ham produced a display that underlined Liverpool’s sudden set-piece ascendancy and a renewed run of results. The win leaves Arne Slot’s side fifth in the Premier League, just three points off third, and heading into March with what has been described as a spring in their step.
Liverpool Vs West Ham analysis
Liverpool scored five goals against a relegation-battling West Ham, the first time they had netted five in a Premier League game since the sun-lit 5-1 win over Tottenham that clinched the title in April 2025. Slot admitted: "I could feel the nervousness inside the stadium, " after a strange game where Liverpool were clinical if not always in control. The result is part of a recent run in which Liverpool have won four of five Premier League games in a short space of time, as many wins as they managed in their previous 13 (D6 L3).
Set-piece surge and statistics
The match underlined a dramatic swing in Liverpool’s set-piece fortunes. Since the turn of the year Liverpool have scored more goals from set-pieces (excluding penalties) than any other side in the league, and in 2026 they have now scored more set-piece goals than any other team in the division, excluding penalties. At 3-0 up in the first half of the 5-2 victory, Liverpool had scored seven straight Premier League goals from set-pieces, a run described as the longest of any side in competition history. Seven of Liverpool's most recent nine Premier League goals have come from set-pieces (5 x corner, 1 x direct free-kick, 1 x throw-in), one more than in their first 38 goals of the season. All three of Liverpool's first-half goals against West Ham came from corners.
Goals, sequence and scorers
The opener came when Hugo Ekitiké reacted after El Hadji Malick Diouf had cleared the first corner. Ryan Gravenberch returned a fine ball into the France international, who took his shot early and saw it nestle into Mads Hermansen’s bottom corner a slight deflection off Konstantinos Mavropanos. Virgil van Dijk headed home Dominik Szoboszlai’s delivery after bumping aside Soungoutou Magassa and beating Tomas Soucek to the ball; it was the Liverpool captain’s second set-piece goal in three games and his team’s seventh of the year. Number eight was executed in a sequence begun by Mohamed Salah’s corner from the right: Van Dijk flicked on at the near post, Ekitiké cushioned the ball out to Alexis Mac Allister and he volleyed into the roof of the net the head of Aaron Wan-Bissaka, the ball never touching the ground from the moment it left Salah’s foot. Mac Allister’s brilliant volley in the 43rd minute effectively extinguished West Ham’s hopes of a comeback.
Financial contrast and club consequences
The contrast between the clubs was stark off the pitch as well as on it. In the week Liverpool announced record overall revenue of £703m in their latest accounts, most of it described as ploughed back into the bank balances of a title-winning team, West Ham warned that players will have to be sold this summer whether they stay up or not after suffering a £104. 2m loss in the same financial year. That financial strain, combined with the heavy defeat on the field, made West Ham’s prospects of avoiding relegation look bleak.
Reactions from managers and players
Nuno Espírito Santo offered a measured assessment: “If I say it was a good performance I sound silly, ” said Nuno. “But that’s what I saw. ” Slot framed the turnaround through set-pieces as central to recent success: "It's very pleasing because firstly that is the reason we have won, " said Slot. "Second of all, people said well played, and in my opinion we have been better when we lost and better when we conceded from set-pieces. The first half of the season, almost every set-piece we conceded went in. Now we start scoring from set-pieces and things start looking brighter and better than when you don't. " Slot also reflected on the wider season: "There was a time when we were 23 goals behind Arsenal, including penalties, and we have closed the gap a bit, " remarked Slot. "Set-pieces can make a massive difference. " Cody Gakpo added: "In some games, when the game is stuck and you know you can score from a set-piece - which we lacked in other moments - it's very important, " reflected Gakpo.
West Ham players played their part in explaining defensive lapses: Mateus Fernandes said his side had worked all week on a plan to stop Van Dijk, a plan that failed, and Crysencio Summerville and others had moments that opened Liverpool up without finishing. Observers noted that West Ham’s bus even got stuck on a ramp while attempting to leave the team hotel. Alisson was credited with saves from Tomas Soucek and from Jarrod Bowen after a clearance that hit the visiting captain. Liverpool have now lost just twice in their past 21 matches in all competitions, and their restored ability to win — through late winners, gutsy away displays and improved set-pieces — has become a central feature of their season revival.
Aaron Briggs, the former set-piece coach, left the club at the end of 2025; his departure was noted as occurring in December and the existing coaching staff at Anfield have absorbed his duties. Sky coverage named Virgil van Dijk as now the second-highest scoring central defender in Premier League history behind John Terry. The match report also appears alongside commentary credited to Laura Hunter and Lewis Jones. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player.
Liverpool’s set-piece streak, the financial gulf between the clubs and the managers’ reactions together framed a day when a dominant scoreline masked moments of vulnerability and underlined why the champions see set pieces as a route back toward their minimum objective: Champions League qualification.
