Jonathan Wilson on Henderson.
A new defender for Liverpool.
That’s it for today’s blog - I’ll leave you with Jonathan Liew’s report from the London Stadium. Bye!
Incidentally, there were 33 or 34 Liverpool passes in the build up to Gini Wijnaldum’s goal. Rice got a slight touch on Oxlade-Chamberlain’s return pass to Firmino, but that doesn’t invalidate the move. Seven touches from a West Ham corner for one goal, 30-odd passes for another.
Here’s Mo Salah “It’s a good win for us - they are a tough team. We need to win every game now. I knew there was a big responsibility on me (with Mane and Firmino not in the team) and I just try - every game, not just now - to help the team.
“It was a lovely ball from Shaq for the second goal, I want to give him credit. If it was a little bit short I would have taken it with my left foot, but the ball was exactly at my feet so I had one touch with the right and then the finish.
“I don’t like VAR. Just my opinion, it kills the game, the joy of football. I don’t want to complain it or get fined, but it’s just my opinion - I don’t like it.
“City were struggling in the beginning, then we were struggling three or four games ago. Now we need to keep winning if we want to win the league. It’s been a really big week.”
More more more
Full time: West Ham 1-3 Liverpool
Peep peep! Liverpool move up to third after another impressive victory in London. They took a while to get going - the first half was a study in sterile domination - but when they did they were devastating. Mo Salah scored two beauties, the second a Goal of the Season contender, and Gini Wijnaldum added a lovely third. Craig Dawson’s late consolation was an irritant, especially as meant another game without a clean sheet, but overall it’s been a very good day for Liverpool. Their post-Christmas blip is old news.
90 min Three minutes of added time.
GOAL! West Ham 1-3 Liverpool (Dawson 87)
West Ham do score from a set piece. Cresswell’s corner from the right skimmed the head of Robertson at the near post and was shinned in from close range by Dawson.
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85 min Yeah, they’re back.
Liverpool kept the ball for ages and then suddenly cut through West Ham. Firmino played a one-two with Oxlade-Chamberlain, who flicked a return pass behind his standing leg to put Firmino through on goal. He dummied to shoot and slid the ball across to give Wijnaldum a simple finish.
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GOAL! West Ham 0-3 Liverpool (Wijnaldum 84)
Gini Wijnaldum finishes off another beautiful Liverpool move!
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83 min The first half was tight, but Liverpool have been much better in the second half. David Moyes will be frustrated with how little West Ham have created.
80 min And now a change for Liverpool. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain replaces Divock Origi.
78 min A double change for West Ham: Mark Noble and Ryan Fredericks replace Michail Antonio and Jarrod Bowen. It looks like David Moyes has settled for 0-2.
75 min Salah, on a hat-trick, shoots miles wide from 20 yards. Liverpool have got their swagger on now.
73 min From the moment Bowen took the corner, Liverpool had only seven touches before scoring. It wasn’t quite as efficient as Terry McDermott against Spurs but it was still devastatingly incisive.
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71 min A week ago, Liverpool were reportedly in crisis. There’s a moral in there somewhere.
70 min There were four parts to that goal, all perfect: Alexander-Arnold’s pass, Shaqiri’s pass/cross, Salah’s touch and finally Salah’s finish.
69 min That was Shaqiri’s last touch - he is replaced by Roberto Firmino, and gets a big hug from Klopp.
69 min Jurgen Klopp puts his hands on his head when Salah scored, as if he couldn’t quite believe the brilliance of his team.
What a goal! Bowen’s corner was headed away by Robertson and picked up by Alexander-Arnold just outside the area on the right. He blasted a crossfield pass out to Shaqiri on the left, and suddenly Liverpool had a four-on-three break. Shaqiri curled a booming first-time cross to Salah, who cushioned the ball immaculately on the run and flicked it nonchalantly past Fabianski.
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GOAL! West Ham 0-2 Liverpool (Salah 68)
Mo Salah settles the match with a glorious goal on the break!
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66 min Another West Ham corner. Bowen curls it towards Dawson, who mistimes a header onto his own arm and over the bar. That was a chance.
64 min Bowen’s inswinging corner bounces dangerously across the six-yard line. Soucek chests it up in the air and launches into an acrobatic volley. But Henderson gets to the ball first, heading it away before taking one from Soucek.
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63 min Bowen wins a corner off Robertson. So far West Ham’s set pieces have been poor, but their threat remains.
62 min A West Ham change: Andriy Yarmolenko replaces the disappointing Pablo Fornals.
60 min If Liverpool win today they will be four points behind Manchester City, having played a game more. Oh and they play City next Sunday.
Jones surged through midfield and played a short pass to Salah, lurking on the right edge of the box. He hugged the ball on his left foot, used Cresswell as a screen and curled a blistering shot into the top corner. That’s a brilliant goal, Salah’s first in the league since Christmas.
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GOAL! West Ham 0-1 Liverpool (Salah 57)
Curtis Jones gets an assist straight away!
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57 min Liverpool make their first change: Curtis Jones is on for James Milner.
56 min: Just wide from Antonio! West Ham almost steal the lead on the break. Bowen’s low cross from the right is missed by Milner, who was running the wrong way, and picked up by Antonio just inside the area. He turns and belts a shot just wide of the far post. Liverpool would have been fuming had that gone it because they thought Origi was fouled by Dawson at the other end.
55 min Liverpool have been a bit more dynamic since half-time. Still nowhere near their heavy-metal best, but better than they were.
54 min Henderson, on the halfway line, drives a superb pass over the defence towards Salah. He runs behind Ogbonna but can only head straight at Fabianski from 12 yards. It was a really difficult chance, with the ball coming over his shoulder.
52 min Bowen stabs a pass down the right wing for Antonio, forcing Alisson to come out of his area to clver.
50 min Origi smashes a shot into the side netting from a tight angle.
49 min: Great block from Cresswell! Soucek crunches Thiago but Jon Moss plays a good advantage and Liverpool break. Origi beats Dawson on the left and slides a low cross into the path Salah, whose close-range shot is superbly blocked by Cresswell. That looked a certain goal as Salah ran onto the ball. When the ball goes dead, Soucek is booked for the foul on Thiago.
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48 min Rice is booked for a crunching late tackle on Henderson.
46 min Peep peep! Liverpool begin the second half.
Half time: West Ham 0-0 Liverpool
Peep peep! No goals and not many chances. Liverpool have dominated possession, but West Ham have defened admirably. See you in 15 minutes for the second half.
45+1 min Salah shoots straight at Fabianski from 20 yards.
45 min: Chance for Liverpool! An ingenious pass from Thiago is poked just wide by Origi. Thiago cut infield from the left and waved a stunning angled pass behind Dawson towards Origi. Fabianski came out and Origi, who was ahead of the near post, could only stab it wide from six yards. It was a tricky chance because of the angle, and a quite outrageous pass from Thiago.
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43 min This is West Ham’s best spell of possession.
42 min Benrahma’s deep, dipping cross from the left is headed straight at Alisson by Antonio. It was a difficult chance as he was running backwards and the angle was fairly tight.
41 min That header from Phillips probably saved a goal. None of the other Liverpool defenders ran back towards the ball, and Dawson was waiting behind him to score.
40 min Sadio Mane is having a great game.
39 min Thiago commits a needless foul on Benrahma on the right wing. Coufal’s excellent free-kick is headed away brilliantly by Phillips, who was facing his own goal but managed to twist his neck and get the ball away. It drops to Benrahma, whose volley from the edge of the D is blocked.
38 min West Ham are working so hard defensively. For all their possession, Liverpool still haven’t had a shot on target.
36 min “Shaqiri is a terrific attacking player but quick thinking in tight spaces is not necessarily his forte, is it?” says Phil Podolsky. “He was so much better at conducting counterattacks at Stoke than he is against the kind of defending Liverpool are up against.”
35 min West Ham win a corner on the right. They are very good from set pieces, the best in the league this season, but they make a mess of this opportunity. Bowen works a short corner with Benrahma and then crosses straight into Alisson’s arms.
33 min Liverpool continue to dominate possession - we haven’t seen a graphic but I’d imagine they’ve had around 65 per cent - without creating any clear chances. It’s unusual to see such sterile domination from a Jurgen Klopp team.
30 min It’s not a classic.
27 min Henderson’s long ball into the area finds Salah, who controls it with his shoulder. Cresswell pokes the ball away from him but only as far as Shaqiri, whose stinging shot hits Dawson and flies behind for a corner.
24 min: Chance for West Ham! That was much better. Fornals played Cresswell in down the left, and he cut the ball back sharply to Benrahma at the near post. He took a touch and was about to shoot when Thiago poked the ball away from him. It came to Fornals, whose shot took a deflection off Milner and was headed off the line by Robertson. Alisson had that one covered I think.
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23 min Thiago’s hanging cross is headed wide by Salah, 12 yards from goal. It was a difficult chance, with no pace on the ball for him to work with.
22 min “I find Liverpool games tense at the best of times,” weeps Matt Dony. “Now, though, the eternal pessimist in me can’t help but analyse every single movement the defenders make, looking for any tiny sign of discomfort or potential problem. They’re one defensive injury away from me sending a CV to Klopp (CB/RB, probably lacking a yard or two of pace). As many have commented over the last few weeks, thank goodness Henderson is such an intelligent footballer.”
21 min West Ham have been quite poor in possession so far, sloppy and lacking in ideas. On the plus side, Lukasz Fabianski has had nothing to do in goal.
19 min “Weird that Robertson is on corner duty and not the Swiss Charlie Adam,” weeps Niall Mullen.
17 min Alexander-Arnold’s free-kick is headed away as far as Thiago, who whistles a left-foot shot that is blocked by Antonio. I think it was going wide anyway. He then stops a possible West Ham break by handling the ball while on the floor. He’s a bit lucky not to be booked for that.
16 min Thiago’s cross towards Origi is headed away well by Dawson. Liverpool are starting to turn the screw.
14 min Liverpool win their first corner. Robertson’s outswinger is headed away at the near post by Coufal.
12 min It’s all a bit cagey. You’re welcome!
9 min Antonio beats Alexander-Arnold on the left and stands up a good cross towards Soucek at the near post. Henderson does well to get in front of him and head the ball away.
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8 min Wijnaldum shoots over from long range after nicking the ball off Soucek.
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7 min “What’s wrong with the excellent Mané?” says Ruth Purdue. “Also if Liverpool are drawing near the end of the match, (which I doubt) do you think they will pass it around slowly around at the back with little or no urgency like another team we know?”
That’s a bit harsh on West Brom. Mane has a “minor muscle injury”, it says here.
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5 min Liverpool are having most of the ball. Shaqiri plays a good pass down the inside-left channel to Origi, who spanks a shot wide from a very tight angle. That was a poor decision, not least because he had Salah in the middle.
3 min A slow start. Meanwhile, here’s more on Leeds’ thrilling victory at Leicester.
2 min Liverpool have started with a diamond formation, not the usual 4-3-3. Shaqiri is playing behind Salah and Origi, and this is the revised team.
Liverpool (4-D-2) Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Phillips, Henderson, Robertson; Wijnaldum; Thiago, Milner; Shaqiri; Salah, Origi.
Substitutes: Adrian, Kelleher, Tsimikas, R Williams, N Williams, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jones, Firmino, Minamino.
1 min Peep peep! West Ham, in the usual claret and blue, kick off from left to right. Liverpool are in their black change strip.
It’s a grim afternoon in east London, and a few of the players are wearing gloves as they stroll onto the field. It’s time for business.
“Other things being equal,” begins Niall Mullen, “Liverpool’s first XI is Alisson, Trent, Van Dijk, Matip, Robertson, Henderson, Fabinho, Thiago/Gini, Mané, Salah, Firmino. Do you reckon we will ever see them line up together?”
Probably not. It’s surprising how infrequently famous XIs actually play together. Arsenal’s Invincible XI, for example, only started two or three league games.
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In the 2pm game, Leeds have come from behind to lead 3-1 at Leicester. If it stays like that, Liverpool will move above Leicester into third if they win today. Klopp out!
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Some pre-match reading
Team news
West Ham are unchanged from the team that beat Crystal Palace in the week - not just the first XI, but the nine subs as well. Their new signing Jesse Lingard was not registered in time for this game.
Liverpool make three changes from their win over Spurs: Nat Phillips replaces Joel Matip in defence, while Xherdan Shaqiri and Divock Origi come in for Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane. Firmino is on the bench; Mane has a minor muscle injury.
West Ham United (4-2-3-1) Fabianski; Coufal, Dawson, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Soucek, Rice; Bowen, Benrahma, Fornals; Antonio.
Substitutes: Martin, Balbuena, Diop, Fredericks, Johnson, Lanzini, Noble, Yarmolenko, Odubeko.
Liverpool (4-3-3) Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Phillips, Henderson, Robertson; Wijnaldum, Thiago, Milner; Shaqiri, Salah, Origi.
Substitutes: Adrian, Kelleher, Tsimikas, R Williams, N Williams, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jones, Firmino, Minamino.
Referee Jon Moss.
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Preamble
Hello and welcome to the latest chapter in Liverpool’s bizarro season. Thursday’s majestic victory at Spurs - a performance that was both familiar and unexpected - has re-energised their title challenge, although they need to keep winning just to stay in Manchester City’s slipstream.
This season, Liverpool have generally been excellent in the big games and vulnerable against the weaker sides. I’m not sure which category West Ham fit into - they’re not in the Big Six but they are in the top six, and will go above Liverpool into fourth if they win today. Southampton and Aston Villa had good claims earlier in the season, but at the moment West Ham are the premier overachievers of 2020-21.
Kick off 4.30pm
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