Liverpool Vs West Ham: liverpool vs west ham — New set-piece kings can still achieve 'something beautiful'
liverpool vs west ham ended in a dominant 5-2 victory for the hosts as Arne Slot’s side underlined a recent transformation from set-piece liability to set-piece specialists. The win leaves Liverpool fifth in the Premier League, three points off third, and carrying momentum into March.
Liverpool’s set-piece surge
Liverpool put five past West Ham and all three of their first-half goals came from corners. Since the turn of the year, Liverpool have scored more goals from set-pieces (excluding penalties) than any other side in the league. 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). At 3-0 up in the first half of the 5-2 victory, Liverpool had scored seven straight goals from set-pieces in the Premier League — the longest run of any side in competition history.
Liverpool Vs West Ham review
The scoring sequence began when Hugo Ekitiké gave the hosts an early lead after El Hadji Malick Diouf had cleared the first corner of the afternoon. 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 then headed home Dominik Szoboszlai’s delivery after bumping aside Soungoutou Magassa and beating Tomas Soucek to the ball; it was Van Dijk’s second set-piece goal in three games and his team’s seventh of the year. Alexis Mac Allister extinguished any West Ham hope in the 43rd minute with a brilliant volley — the third Liverpool goal to originate from a corner in the match. The corner sequence that produced the eighth set-piece goal for the calendar year was finished when Mohamed Salah took a corner from the right, Van Dijk flicked on at the near post, Ekitiké cushioned the ball out to Mac Allister and he volleyed into the roof of the net the head of Aaron Wan-Bissaka. The ball did not touch the ground from the moment it left Salah’s foot.
West Ham fight and faults
The visitors had a better xG than Liverpool and had moments in the match, with Mateus Fernandes and Crysencio Summerville often to the fore as Liverpool were opened up frequently. Mavropanos scooped wildly over when a Jarrod Bowen corner landed at his feet and Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson made smart saves, including from Soucek and Bowen. Still, defensive shortcomings at set-pieces and elsewhere proved costly. West Ham’s bus even got stuck on a ramp while attempting to leave the team hotel before the game. “If I say it was a good performance I sound silly, ” said Nuno Espírito Santo.
Form, injuries and internal issues
Liverpool have won four of five Premier League games in a short space of time, which is as many wins as they managed in their previous 13 (D6 L3). They have now lost just twice in their past 21 matches in all competitions. Arne Slot admitted the nervousness around the stadium after a strange game: "I could feel the nervousness inside the stadium. " Slot has also been explicit about targets, saying it would not be an acceptable season if the reigning champions did not qualify for the Champions League, and in recent weeks Liverpool have pushed towards that minimum objective.
