West Ham vs Liverpool Review
Liverpool concluded 2024 with a commanding 5-0 win against West Ham at the London Stadium, establishing an eight-point lead at the top of the Premier League. West Ham entered the match unbeaten in four games and enjoying their best form under Julen Lopetegui. The visitors pressed hard, with Alphonse Areola making a series of impressive early saves to thwart Mohamed Salah, Curtis Jones, and Luis Díaz. However, the hosts’ defense was finally breached in the 30th minute in somewhat lucky circumstances, as Vladimír Coufal’s interception of a Díaz pass fell back to Luis Díaz, who was able to score at the near post.
Mohammed Kudus took a shot from distance, only to be denied a stunning goal by the post. In a typical display of efficiency, Arne Slot’s team quickly capitalized on the situation and increased their lead. Salah was instrumental, skillfully maneuvering past Konstantinos Mavropanos and threading a pass through Max Kilman’s legs to Cody Gakpo, who scored for the second consecutive match.
Salah capped off a dominant first half with a goal in the 44th minute, beating Areola at his near post to bring his season total to 20 across all competitions. This marked the eighth instance this season where Salah has both scored and assisted in the same Premier League match, setting a new record for the competition.
This was a troubling sign for West Ham, especially since Liverpool had scored at least two goals after halftime in six of their last eight league games. Just two minutes into the second half, Salah found himself in a scoring position again, but Areola managed to stop him from getting a second goal. However, the West Ham goalkeeper could not respond to Trent Alexander-Arnold’s shot shortly after, as the full-back’s long-range attempt took a significant deflection off Kilman before finding the net.
Slot was able to rest players like Ryan Gravenberch and Gakpo in preparation for their upcoming match against Manchester United. However, their substitutes were still of high quality, as Diogo Jota was initially denied a fifth goal for Liverpool by a clever save from Areola, but he managed to score in the 84th minute, adding to the impressive performance of the Premier League leaders. This victory marks their 15th win in the last 19 head-to-head encounters, serving as an excellent lead-up to their highly anticipated match against United next week. Meanwhile, West Ham will aim to quickly recover after experiencing only their second loss in the last seven home games.
