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On their worst run of form since Don Welsh led them to relegation over seventy years ago, Liverpool headed to London to face West Ham in desperate need of a win.
Arne Slot made four changes to the side that lost to PSV, as Alisson Becker, Joe Gomez, Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak replaced Giorgi Mamadashvili, Curtis Jones, Mohamed Salah and Hugo Ekitiké.
Undefeated through November, Nuno Espirito Santo made three changes to the team that drew with Bournemouth, as Konstantinos Mavropanos, Soungoutou Magassa and Lucas Paqueta came in for Igor Julio, Maximilian Kilman and Luis Guilherme.
Liverpool’s build-up looked much-improved. After starting the season pushed forward into the attacking line, in recent games Alexis Mac Allister has been back at the base of the midfield next to Ryan Gravenberch. This gives an extra passing option for the defenders, but also provides a nice simple pass for the other midfielder, making it easier for them to evade pressure and play out.
Mac Allister and Gravenberch were both using little tricks to get on the ball and help play out: dropping back into the defensive line, or pulling wide.
One of the most important things they did though was occupy the West Ham forwards. Primarily concerned with stopping the passes into midfield, Callum Wilson and Paqueta rarely pushed up, leaving the Liverpool centre-backs free to pick out passes. Ibrahima Konaté was pulling a little wider, giving him more space to push forward on the ball or pass forward.
Jarrod Bowen was often pushing up onto Virgil van Dijk instead, however this did little to stop Liverpool playing out, and it had the knock-on effect of leaving Milos Kerkez free on the left. Kerkez was generally poor when he actually got the ball though, so this was left relatively unpunished.
Likewise, Gomez, naturally a centre-back, did venture forward on the other flank, but his final ball was found lacking too.
Instead, Liverpool’s real bright spot going forward was Wirtz. The German was often dropping deep, helping to work the ball past the West Ham forwards into the midfielders, so they could receive the ball facing forward.
With Liverpool’s build-up actually functioning though, he was receiving the ball in the final third far more than he usually has in a Liverpool shirt. This allowed him to attempt some dangerous passes, and he also seemed more in tune with the rhythm of play, moving the ball on quicker.
West Ham were very much in the game though. Paqueta was often dropping deep to help the Hammers play out, and him doing this would often draw Mac Allister forward, stretching the Liverpool midfield to leave a gap for West Ham’s midfielders to exploit.
West Ham were also pushing their full-backs high, although like Liverpool their deliveries were lacking.
Matheus Fernandes and Paqueta swapped positions towards the end of the first half, but this had little effect. For the second half though, West Ham switched to a 4-5-1, as Paqueta dropped back deeper into midfield out of possession. This appeared to be a defensive move, essentially accepting that Liverpool would get the ball into midfield, so bolstering this area instead of trying to stop them.
This didn’t really work though. With Dominik Szoboszlai tucking in off the flank, Liverpool still outnumbered West Ham in the middle, and so continued to knock the ball around them with some slick passing.
Liverpool would take the lead just before the hour mark. West Ham defended a throw-in, but Liverpool won the second ball, and Wirtz slipped a pass in behind for Cody Gakpo, who pulled the ball back for Isak to finish first time.
Slot would make like-for-like substitutions, swapping out Isak, Wirtz and Kerkez for Ekitiké, Jones and Andy Robertson, so Liverpool continued to play the same way, quickly passing the ball around.
West Ham weren’t dead and buried though. Drawing Mac Allister out then attacking the space that opened up still proved to be a good strategy in the second half, while the dribbling of Luis Guilherme got West Ham into some dangerous positions once he was brought on.
Paqueta talking himself into a red card helped secure Liverpool’s lead though, and they guaranteed the three points in injury time. Robertson carried the ball forward down the left, with a little combination of passes getting them into the West Ham box. This initial attack broke down, but Liverpool would recover the ball, and Mavropanos failing to cut out Gomez’s cross gave Gakpo enough space to control it and finish.
From there Liverpool simply held onto possession to see the game out.
This was a big improvement from Liverpool, looking more confident in their passing than they had all season, however many teams will also do more to frustrate them than West Ham did here. A clean sheet is also a welcome addition – the confidence boost needed to interrupt their trend of falling apart as soon as anything goes against them.
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