Looking to maintain their momentum after beating Manchester City on Sunday (October 16), Liverpool welcome West Ham United to the city for them Premier League bustling on Wednesday (October 19).
The Merseysiders weren’t always in control but won 1-0 in front of their fans at Anfield. Summer signing Darwin Nunez scored the only goal of the game in the first half.
With the victory, the Merseysiders team climbed to 7th place in the Premier League rankings. Having got 16 points after 10 games, Liverpool find themselves four points above fourth place Chelsea.
The Red Devils looked more comfortable than West Ham early on but had to wait until the 14th minute to get the shot on target. Nunez catches the ball with half a volley from outside the box to deflect it Lukasz FabianskiTarget of. The Polish goalkeeper made a crucial save to deny Nunez his first goal at Anfield since joining Benfica.
Eight minutes later, Nunez arrived again, only this time, his effort breaking through Fabianski’s resistance. Kostas Tsimikas made a nice cross from the left, and Nunez struck on purpose, heading straight for Fabianski. A minute later, Nunez had a chance to double the lead but headed straight for Pole’s throat.
At the 38th minute, Mohamed Salah scored with a curl. However, his effort was quite mature and was picked up by Fabianski with relative ease. Just before the half-time whistle sounded, the Hammers were awarded a penalty for a foul by Joe Gomez on Jarrod Bowen. Bowen stepped up to take the kick but failed to convert, with his effort blocked completely behind. Alisson.
Liverpool and West Ham traded against each other in the second half, but both teams lacked composure in front of goal. Four minutes before the final whistle, Tomas Soucek looked like he was about to equalize for West Ham, but James MilnerThe extraordinary final block of grooves has guaranteed the maximum score for the servers.
Here are three players who impressed and two who missed the mark in Liverpool’s win over West Ham on Wednesday night:
Performer: Jordan Henderson
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson produced a commendable performance against West Ham United on Wednesday. The Englishman worked tirelessly throughout the game, bringing the ball well into the opponent’s half, switching to his long balls, and even coming close to scoring.
In the 48th minute, Henderson played a bit with Salah before scoring with a shot from outside the box. Fabianski superbly sent the ball over the crossbar to deny the Reds keeper.
On Wednesday, Henderson played two key passes, made more touches than any other player (106) and won all four duels. In addition, he hit six precise long balls, attempted three tackles and completed a dribble.
Underperforming: Trent Alexander-Arnold
Right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold played significantly worse in the match against The Hammers. He passes in the wrong place, gives possession of the ball quite often and is easily defeated in duels.
Against West Ham, Alexander-Arnold misplaced five of his six crosses, sending seven of his 10 attempted long balls off target and losing both duels on the field. He also lost the ball 23 times, made 14 wrong passes and was dribbled twice.
Performed by: Alisson
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson didn’t have the best start to the game, as he misplaced several early passes. However, the experienced Brazilian goalkeeper solved it well when the match took place. He was barely called up in the first half but showed up when needed, saving an important penalty.
54% – Alisson has conceded just 7 of the 13 penalties he has faced in the Premier League (54% – 2 saves, 4 misses), the lowest rate any goalkeeper has faced with at least 10 penalties in the tournament. Experts. https://t.co/DNYGSx6NmW
Gomez’s challenge to Bowen was initially deemed fair by the on-field umpire, but VAR asked him to reconsider and award the visitors a penalty. Bowen’s penalty kick was good but it wasn’t good enough to beat Alisson, who heroically dashed to the right to deny him. Alisson made a total of three saves against West Ham, hit seven precise long balls and had five recoveries.
Underperforming: Fabinho
Being substituted for Thiago in the 58th minute, Fabinho could not get his footing in the match against West Ham. He is often slow to react, gets turned around too easily, and can’t get into the game.
The Brazil international made just 16 passes (76.2 percent accuracy), lost three-quarters of his matches on the ground, ceded possession six times and fouled. He also lost the only tackle he tried and was dribbled past twice.
Performed by: Darwin Nunez
Recent Liverpool summer signing Darwin Nunez reportedly produced his best ever performance for the Reds on Wednesday night. In addition to a brilliant header against Tsimikas’ cross in the 22nd minute, Nunez hit the post once and made a couple of beautiful saves from Fabianski. Had the Uruguayan had a bit of luck on his side, he could have gone with a brace or better.
Darwin Nunez enjoys his first goal at Anfield https://t.co/6WRXoJSfRt
In addition to scoring the decisive goal, Nunez won two duels, fouled, cleared the ball once and made 12 accurate passes (85.7% accuracy) on Wednesday.
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