West Ham's switch to a back five was supposed to deliver greater defensive solidity and close the gaps available for Liverpool to attack. It could therefore scarcely have been more alarming for Julen Lopetegui quite how routine an evening this was for Arne Slot’s men.
Catching the tail-end of three straight seasons in Europe, of David Moyes’s tenure, and the start of Lopetegui’s, 2024 has been a testing year for the Hammers.
