There is no shame in defeat at Anfield, an outcome West Ham and David Moyes have each sampled more often than most. There must be regret, though, in a surrender as tame as this.
With momentum building on a run of seven wins from nine matches, and Liverpool perhaps distracted by the shootout for Christmas No1 with Arsenal to come, many Hammers travelled north with cautious optimism that conditions might be ripe for only a second Anfield triumph in 60 years, and that a place as the top-ranked side among the Carabao Cup’s final four may lie in wait.
