It was an awful start for Liverpool and for the referee, Craig Pawson, and VAR Stuart Attwell, who went on to compound their errors soon after by not penalising a lurid tackle by Aaron Cresswell on Jordan Henderson, in which the West Ham defender took out the Reds’ captain with a knee-high studs-up challenge, which wasn’t given as a foul, a yellow card, let alone a red, which is what Cresswell deserved.
Liverpool struggled to find their way back into the game after these glaring injustices and mistakes from the officials – with Pawson continuing to perform shockingly throughout the game, sometimes giving fouls for soft challenges, at other times not giving them for much harder tackles.
It took a clever free kick – given dubiously for a foul on Mo Salah – from Trent Alexander-Arnold on 41 minutes for Liverpool to equalise, West Ham dropping deeper and deeper; though as potent as the Reds’ full-back was going forward, his display as a defender left a lot to be desired. Crosses that he should’ve prevented were allowed to be made, misplaced headers and clearances abounded and, worst of all, for West Ham’s third goal, he was caught ball watching as Kurt Zouma made his way to the back post to nod in from a corner.
There will be those who will say that Alisson was at fault for West Ham’s first goal, that he wasn’t strong enough in seeing off Ogbona, but this wouldn’t be right. What would be right would be to question the Liverpool keeper’s effort in trying to prevent West Ham’s second. As Pablo Fornals bore down on the Reds’ goal, after being put through by Jared Bowen, Alisson seemed to lose his bearings, coming out too far, then veering off to the left and, finally, not getting strong enough hands to Fornals’ weak shot, allowing it to creep into the goal.
At this point, Jurgen Klopp decided to bring on Thiago Alcantara for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who, after an indifferent first half, seemed to be coming in to his own in the second 45, with the Spanish veteran, after a month-long calf injury layoff, proceeding to give the ball away and misplace passes.
Klopp will also have to be questioned as to why he is persisting with Andy Robertson at left back. His delivery today, as throughout the season, was poor and, apart from one good volleyed cross into the area that Sadio Mané should have done better with, his attacking contribution was disappointing.
Greek international Kostas Tsimikas, who has looked dynamic and dangerous whenever he has played for Liverpool this season, will surely be knocking on the manager’s door demanding to know why he isn’t being started more often.
Indeed, the statistics reveal that whenever Tsimikas has begun a game for Liverpool this season, the Reds have not conceded a goal. With Robertson – although of course Liverpool’s poor defending cannot be attributed all to him – the Reds have conceded three to Brentford, three to West Ham and two to Brighton.
As for Liverpool going forward, Mo Salah, after his electrifying start to the season, continued his goal drought, now not having scored in the last four games, while Diogo Jota, in for the injured Roberto Firmino, could have done better with a couple of headed chances that came his way.
Of Liverpool’s attacking players, however, Mané will be the most disappointed. He found himself in several good situations, not least when, in the 91st minutes – Divock Origi’s good turn and shot having made the game 2-3 on 83 minutes – a free kick from Alexander-Arnold found the Senegalese all on his own six yards out, only for Mané to guide his header well wide when it looked much easier to score.
A disappointing couple of weeks for Liverpool in the Premier League – they’ve dropped five of the last six points on offer – has seen the Reds slip to fourth in the table, falling beneath Manchester City, who crushed Manchester United in the derby, and unable to take advantage of Chelsea’s slip-up against Burnley, the Clarets coming away from Stamford Bridge with a 1-1 draw. Furthermore, by losing today, Liverpool, who had previously gone 25 games unbeaten in all competitions, missed the chance to set a club record of 26 consecutive matches undefeated.
The international break takes precedence now and when the Premier League returns in two weeks, Liverpool face a rejuvenated Arsenal, a team Liverpool usually put to the sword at Anfield, but they will have to play much better today if this good run against the Gunners is going to continue.
