Liverpool Vs West Ham: New set-piece kings can still achieve 'something beautiful' as liverpool vs west ham underlines surge
In a 5-2 victory that underlined their set-piece renaissance, liverpool vs west ham saw Liverpool score five and move up to fifth in the Premier League, three points off third, a result that matters as the champions push to restore their season. The win came on Saturday and has left Arne Slot’s side heading into March with a spring in their step.
Five-goal day and a historical echo
Liverpool scored five against West Ham, a haul they had last achieved when they clinched the title with a 5-1 win over Tottenham in April 2025, a match remembered in the context for the sun being out. Slot’s team have now won four of five Premier League games in a short space of time — the same number of wins they managed in their previous 13 matches, which read as four wins, six draws and three losses. The run has reduced some pressure: Liverpool have now lost just twice in their past 21 matches in all competitions.
Liverpool Vs West Ham: set-piece sequence and scores
The game at Anfield saw all three of Liverpool’s first-half goals come from corners and formed part of a broader set-piece surge. At 3-0 up in the first half of the 5-2 victory, Liverpool had recorded seven straight Premier League goals from set-pieces, a run described as the longest of any side in competition history. Since the turn of the year Liverpool have scored more goals from set-pieces (excluding penalties) than any other side in the league, a stark contrast with the campaign up to the new year when no team had scored fewer from set-pieces.
How the goals fell: Ekitiké, Van Dijk and Mac Allister
Hugo Ekitiké gave Liverpool an early lead after El Hadji Malick Diouf had cleared the first corner and Ryan Gravenberch returned a fine ball into the France international; Ekitiké took his shot early and it nest led into Mads Hermansen’s bottom corner a slight deflection off Konstantinos Mavropanos. Observers noted that both the West Ham centre-half and goalkeeper could have done more.
Virgil van Dijk headed home Dominik Szoboszlai’s delivery after bumping aside Soungoutou Magassa and beating Tomáš Souček to the ball; it was Van Dijk’s second set-piece goal in three games and Liverpool’s seventh set-piece goal of the year. The third goal before half-time was executed from Mohamed Salah’s corner: Van Dijk flicked on at the near post, Ekitiké cushioned the ball out to Alexis Mac Allister and Mac Allister 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.
Tactical work, coaching changes and missing forwards
Arne Slot and his technical staff have been credited with work on the training ground that has rapidly improved Liverpool’s threat from set plays; one line in the coverage said they had worked some magic. At the end of 2025 former set-piece coach Aaron Briggs left the club and the existing coaching staff at Anfield have absorbed his duties. Commentators noted that if this formula had been found earlier Briggs might still have had a job.
Slot stressed the difference set-pieces are making: "There was a time when we were 23 goals behind Arsenal, including penalties, and we have closed the gap a bit, " he said. Cody Gakpo reflected: "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. " The victory was achieved without either of Liverpool’s £100m-plus rated forwards, who remain injured.
West Ham’s problems on and off the pitch
West Ham arrived as a relegation-battling side and their prospects of avoiding relegation were described as bleak after the heavy defeat. The contrast between the clubs extended off the pitch: Liverpool announced record overall revenue of £703m in their latest accounts, most of it ploughed back into the bank balances of the title-winning team, while 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.
