Match report: “Their hopes of a quadruple long turned to dust, Liverpool can at least start to plan for the Slot era,” writes Jacob Steinberg from the London Stadium, after watching the visitors squander enough chances to win several games of football.
Jurgen Klopp: “Very disappointed, obviously,” says the Liverpool manager. “I think everyone can see that only one team wins the gam, and that is us with the chances we created, with the possession we had. With all the things we did. It was a tough one at the end of a four games in 10 days period, but I think the players did really well.
“We just conceded out of nothing and need a few more chances and kind of scrappy goals in the end to score twice. When we are 2-1 up we could control it, and still as I said in a lot of moments playing really well but the final situation we didn’t take. That has been the story of the last four weeks.”
David Moyes: “They started the first half on fire, we couldn’t get the ball,” says the West Ham manager. “Everyone probably watched Everton-Liverpool and Everton were similar, compact and hard to play against. We did much of the same. The first goal was important for us. Great credit to the lads for the character they showed to come back from there.”
That touchline row: Salah v Klopp
Asked by TNT if he can shed any light on the touchline tirade aimed at him by Mo Salah, Jurgen Klopp’s answer is fairly short and to the point. “No, but we have discussed it already in the dressing-room and for me it’s done,” he says.
Cody Gakpo’s opportunism: It seems the reason Gakpo didn’t put the ball in the net when Alphonse Areola threw it in front of him ready to resume play that time is because Anthony Taylor blew his whistle, signalling him to stop.
Taylor had no reason to blow his whistle because the ball hadn’t gone out of play and no foul had been committed. If Gakpo had been allowed and able to take the ball around Areola and roll it into the empty net, the goal would have been completely legitimate.
Cody Gakpo: “The result was obviously not the result we wanted,” the Liverpool player tells TNT Sports. “We came here for the three points. I think we played a good game; first half we controlled the game but then we conceded. It was difficult to come back but we scored two goals and then we just had to stay more calm, keep the ball … and don’t concede any more, but we did. It was not the result we wanted.”
A quick recap: Luis Diaz hit the post before Jarrod Bowen headed West Ham in front at the end of an otherwise uneventful and dreary first half, before proceedings livened up after the break. An opportunistic effort from Andy Robertson restored parity for Liverpool, who went ahead when a Cody Gakpo shot at a corner ricocheted in off Ogbonna, Soucek and finally Areola.
West Ham’s goalkeeper was forced to make several good saves to keep West Ham in the game, before Jarrod Bowen turned provider and teed up Michail Antonio to take advantage of some more woeful Liverpool marking. Harvey Elliott hit the woodwork late in an entertaining second half. Whatever about the on-field action, Salah’s angry confrontation with Jurgen Klopp on the touchline is likely to be a major talking point.
Full-time: West Ham 2-2 Liverpool
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeeep! The game ends all square, with both teams taking a point that isn’t much use to either of them. The first half was dire, the second was great – if only there was some sort of cliche to describe such an encounter. We’ll bring you post-match reaction and see if we can find out what prompted Mo Salah’s very public act of insubordination against his manager on the touchline as he waited to come on.
90+4 min: Free-kick for West Ham. Ward-Prowse floats the ball into the Liverpool penalty area from deep, where Michail ANtonio chests it down but is unable to get a shot off. It’s all over …
90+3 min: Vladimir Coufal deals with a cross from by chesting the ball back to his goalkeeper with the power of 10,000 suns. Alphonse Areola probably wasn’t expecting to have to deal with such a violently struck pass, but gets behind the ball.
90+2 min: James Ward-Prowse floats a free-kick from deep towards the edge of the Liverpool penalty area. West Ham clear.
88 min: Harvey Elliott sees a shot hit the bar as Liverpool make another change. Dominik Szoboszlai is on for Jarell Quansah.
87 min: There’s a moment of ingenuity from Gakpo, who sprints to the ball after Areola had tossed it to the ground in front of him, as if to take a kick-out. The West Ham goalkeeper seemed to think he had a free-kick but there’s no evidence that any was awarded after he’d gone down injhured after catching a high ball under his cross-bar. If Gakpo had actually rolled the ball into the West Ham goal, I’m not sure Anthony Taylor would have had any grounds to disallow it. But he didn’t, so we’ll never know.
84 min: Brilliant defending from Coufal, who slides in to intercept a low pass from Salah towards Nunez at the near post. The Liverpool substitute looked nailed on to score there.
79 min: Liverpool have made a triple-substitution: Mo Salah, Darwin Nunez and Joe Gomes are on for Luis Diaz, Wataru Endo and Trent Alexander-Arnold. As the subs were waiting to come on, Mo Salah seemed to be having a very animated rant at Jurgen Klopp. There was a lot of finger-pointing from the Egyptian in the direction of his manager, who was standing a few feet away, pointedly ignoring him.
Updated
78 min: We’ve had more excitement in the past 90 seconds than we did in the entire first half but we’ve got a proper game on our hands now. A draw isn’t much use to either side, with Liverpool needing a win to keep their faint hopes of winning the league alive, while West Ham need all three points to maintain their push for a place in Europe.
GOAL! West Ham 2-2 Liverpool (Antonio 77)
West Ham equalise! Bowen crosses into the Liverpool penalty area from the right. Antonio drifts into the large gap between Alexander-Arnold and Quansah and heads past Alisson.
Updated
76 min: Michail Antonio sends a cross into the Liverpool penalty area, where Alisson flaps at it under pressure from Paqueta. Liverpool clear their lines but not for long … Alisson is forced to save splendidly from Emerson’s effort.
74 min: West Ham substitution: James Ward-Prowse comes on for Thomas Soucek. Lucas Paqueta will, presumably move further up the pitch while the substitute sits in a deeper role.
73 min: Coufal sends a cross into the Liverpool penalty area, where Quansah heads clear. Liverpool break upfield and Areola is forced into action again, saving from Diaz after the Liverpool winger had cut inside Kurt Zouma from the left.
70 min: Luis Diaz and then Alexis Mac Allister are both denied by Areola from close range in quick succession. Diaz had a low shot from a tight angle saved by the goalkeeper’s feet. Areola then kept out Mac Allister’s header from a Gakpo dink over the top.
67 min: The official verdict of the Premier League is that it goes down as an Areola own goal, which seems a little harsh if irrelevant. The goalkeeper was the last person the ball cannoned off before it crossed the line, but there would have been no goal were it not for the massive deflection off Ogbonna from Gakpo’s shot.
GOAL! West Ham 1-2 Liverpool (Areola 65og)
Liverpool lead! Liverpool win a corner, the ball is floated towards towards Gakpo at the far post. His volley takes a wicked deflection off Ogbonna, before hitting both Soucek and Areola on its way into the back of the net.
Updated
63 min: West Ham struggle to clear after Diaz plays the ball towards Gakpo in the West Ham penalty area. The Dutchman goes to ground but still tries to steer the ball goalwards under pressure from Ogbonna, who is standing over him but wary of commiting a foul and conceding a penalty.
60 min: Jarrod Bowen and Virgil van Dijk go down in a tangle after the West Ham goalscorer had been fouled by Robertson and knocked over the Liverpool captain with his momentum as he went to ground. Bowen rises to his feet nursing a sore elbow, while Van Dijk also seems to have hurt himself. Both players are fit to continue.
59 min: Elliott cuts in from the right and curls a cross towards the far post. Vladimir Coufal leaps to head clear.
57 min: Liverpool continue to dominate with West Ham struggling to get a touch of the ball. Trent Alexander-Arnold tries his luck with a dipping diagonal shot from outside the West Ham penalty area that looks bound for the bottom corner. Areola dives to his left to save well.
56 min: Angelo Ogbonna makes a crucial block as Cody Gakpo was shaping to pull the trigger from a good position in the West Ham box. West Ham are on the ropes in the early stages of this second half.
54 min: Performing a sort of pirouette as he tries to connect with a Gakpo ball towards the edge of the six-yard box, Gravenberch fails to make any contact and another good chance for Liverpool goes to waste. The visitors have really upped their game in this second half, presumably on the back of a half-time rocket from Jurgen Klopp.
51 min: That was quite the lucky goal for Robertson, whose effort was extremely speculative. With no other options available to him he sent a fairly weak shot goalwards from about 12 yards after having the ball played to his feet by Diaz. It went in off the post, despite Areola getting a hand to the ball.
GOAL! West Ham 1-1 Liverpool (Robertson 48)
Liverpool equalise! In a crowded penalty area, shooting with barely any backlift, Robertson sends a side-footed effort off the post and past Areola, who we’ll charitably say was unsighted as Angelo Ogbonna was standing in his way. The goalkeeper got a hand to the ball but could not keep it out.
Updated
47 min: Luis Diaz plays the ball into the path of Gravenberch on the edge of the West Ham penalty area but the Liverpool midfielder blasts the ball high over the bar.
Second half: West Ham 1-0 Liverpool
46 min: With his players sleepwalking their way to another defeat, it’s a surprise that Jurgen Klopp hasn’t made any changes in personnel at half-time, but the teams remain unchanged for now.
An email: “That is the 23rd time Liverpool have hit the post this campaign,” writes Declan Brennan. “Nice to see it wasn’t Nunez this time though; nine for him alone this season.” Like Larry David on Curb Your Enthusiasm, Liverpool clearly respect wood.
That goal: West Ham took a quick corner while Liverpool’s defenders were completely switched off. Emerson played the ball short to Kudus, who curled a cross into the penalty area while a couple of Liverpool defenders (hello Virgil and Trent) were quite obviously not paying attention. As the ball came into the box, Bowen rose completely unchallenged to powerfully nod home his 20th goal of the season.
Updated
Half-time: West Ham 1-0 Liverpool
Peep! A very pedestrian and largely uneventful first half meanders towards its conclusion with no sign of a reaction from Liverpool. Jarrod Bowen’s goal was the highlight of a half in which not a great deal else of note happened. Liverpool’s players look to have thrown in the towel as far as keeping their extremely faint title hopes alive is concerned.
45 min: Jurgen Klopp is appalled by what he’s just seen and it’s no surprise. He’s watched his team go behind again, conceding from a set-piece … again. Bowen, who is not a big man, was surrounded by Liverpool players as he leapt unchallenged in the box to power that excellent header home. A tip of the hat to Mohammed Kudus, whose delivery was excellent.
GOAL! West Ham 1-0 Liverpool (Bowen 44)
West Ham lead! Moments after going close with a deflected shot that Alisson was forced to put behind, Jarrod Bowen rises unmarked to head home from the corner. Liverpool concede the first goal for the 16th time in the Premier League this season.
Updated
42 min: Bowen whips a free-kick from deep over the top of Liverpool’s high defensive line. Soucek gets in behind and flings himself in the direction of the ball but is unable to get the crucial touch on it.
40 min: On the ball in the West Ham penalty area, Luis Diaz fires a shot through a gap between Coufal and Soucek only to see his effort strike the foot of the post. That’s the nearest we’ve come to a goal so far.
39 min: Retrieving an overhit cross from Harvey Elliott near the byline, Luis Diaz lays the ball off to Cody Gakpo in a good position. The Dutchman blasts the ball high and wide with the outside of his right foot.
38 min: Coufal sends a long, hopeful hoof down the pitch from deep only to see the ball bounce out of play for a throw-in. It’s that kind of game …
34 min: Liverpool continue to dominate possession but West Ham look more dangerous on their sorties forward in a game that has a real end-of-season, nothing-to-play-for feel about it. Both sets of players seem to be doing little more than going through the motions, while the atmosphere in the stands is pancake flat.
33 min: Harvey Elliott has the ball played his way in a good position by Mac Allister and shoots low, hard and straight at Alphonse Areola.
31 min: A half-chance for West Ham, as Paqueta sends the ball into the Liverpool penalty area. The ball doesn’t drop kindly for Bowen but squirms towards Coufal. The full-back’s low drive takes a nick off a defender but is saved by Alisson.
Updated
30 min: Wataru Endo is booked for a tactical foul on Kudus.
27 min: Cody Gakpo is felled by Ogbonna in the Liverpool penalty area and referee Anthony Taylor bides his time before awarding Liverpool a penalty. They won’t get to take it, however, as Luis Diaz was offside in the build-up. There’s a long VAR check soundtracked by boos from the crowd and small wonder – it was a quite obvious offside so there’s no need for this performative nonsense from the curtain-twitchers in Stockley Park.
24 min: Michail Anotonio takes a throw-in, receives the return pass and scuttles to the byline, where the ball is put out for another throw-in near the corner flag. Antonio takes this one too, Delapping the ball into the Liverpool penalty area, where it’s headed clear.
23 min: Gravenberch jinks his way down the left before pulling the ball inside to the centre. Mac Allister is crowded off the ball after running into traffic on the edge of the West Ham penalty area.
20 min: Alexander-Arnold takes the free-kick, fizzing the ball over the defensive wall but unable to keep it low enough to trouble Areola. Over the bar.
19 min: Kudus fouls Gakpo a couple of yards outside the West Ham penalty area and Liverpool have a free-kick in prime Trent Alexander-Arnold real estate.
18 min: Liverpool corner. Robertson’s inswinger is headed clear. The atmosphere on the pitch and in the London Stadium stands seems remarkably quiet.
17 min: Ryan Gravenberch tries to drill a low ball across the face of the West Ham goal, hoping to pick out Gakpo. His delivery is too close to Areola, who dives on the ball.
16 min: Alisson is quick off his line to snuff out any danger by putting an end to an impromptu game of head tennis which had broken out in the Liverpool penalty area.
Updated
13 min: Liverpool are doubling up on Kudus whenever the ball comes his way out on the left flank, making life difficult for the Ghanaian. He loses the ball but a loose pass niside from Harvey Elliott allows Bowen to pounce and send a low shot goalwards. Alisson spares his teammate’s blushes.
12 min: Good work from Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus, who combine down the inside-left to win a corner for West Ham. Emerson’s delivery is better on this occasion but Liverpool clear their lines after the ball bounces in the penlaty area.
11 min: Robertson curls a cross into the West Ham penalty area, standing the ball up nicely for Cody Gakpo. He can’t any purchase on his header and flicks the ball towards Harvey Elliott, who smashes a shot into the side-netting from a tightish angle.
10 min: Edson Alvarez fouls Mac Allister about 40 yards from the West Ham goal and Liverpool take a quick free-kick. Nothing comes of it.
8 min: Trent Alexander-Arnold drops the ball into the West Hamn penalty area, where Virgil van Dijk gets to it just ahead of Zouma but can only help it over the bar.
6 min: Paqueta catches Alexis Mac Allister with a late challenge, crunching his studs into the Argentinian’s instep. It’s a sore one and the West Ham midfielder is lucky to avoid a booking. Free-kick for Liverpool halfway between the halway line and the edge of the West Ham penalty area.
5 min: West Ham corner from the left. With James Ward-Prowse kicking his heels on the bench, Emerson takes responsibility for taking it. Or doesn’t – his delivery is poor and Andy Robertson clears with a header at the near post.
Updated
2 min: Lucas Paqueta wins possession for West Ham but immediately gives the ball back to Liverpool, who have started very aggressively and are hogging the ball in these early stages. Ryan Gravenberch directs a cushioned right-foot volley across the face of the West Ham goal but there’s nobody there in a Liverpool shirt to poke the ball home.
1 min: Andy Robertson gets an early delivery into the West Ham penalty area, where it’s headed away by Kurt Zouma, the home side’s skipper.
West Ham v Liverpool is go ...
1 min: Liverpool get the ball rolling, the opening seconds of the game soundtracked by a rousing rendition of I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles sung by the West Ham fans.
Updated
Not long now: Led by referee Anthony Taylor and his match officials, the teams have made the long, long walk from the tunnel to the London Stadium pitch. Kick-off is just a couple of minutes away.
Jurgen Klopp: “It’s definitely a challenge, but it’s part of the job,” said the Liverpool manager, upon being asked how he would raise his players morale after their largely unexpected defeat at Everton. “I can’t remember ever being as disappointed or frustrated after a game like I was after Everton.
“I’ve unfortunately lost a lot of games in my life, but it was special. We were not there. You see the other two [Arsenal and Manchester City] playing very positive football, high results, but we are where we are because in this precise area, we don’t play positive football.
“I blame myself for that – 100%. I don’t know why or how it happened, but I’m responsible for the mood the team is in, and this team was not. In general, like I said, we don’t play positive football. It always feels in the end [like] we are always catching up with something.
“I think even Arsenal and City see it as a two-horse race. We might have to say something else publicly, but they don’t expect for themselves to lose two games from now on, I don’t think so. I don’t expect them to do that. If they do it, then we would be completely silly if we were not around.”
David Moyes: “The most important thing is things will need to be right between me and the club,” said David Moyes yesterday, when he was quizzed on his contract situation. “If we get that right, then we will see what happens but it will be at the end of the season. You can continue asking me the questions, I’ll be happy to take them but it’s not as if I have changed track. We’ve always said we will make it at the end of the season. As far as I’m concerned that will still be the decision.”
Today’s match officials
Referee: Anthony Taylor.
Assistants: Gary Beswick and Adam Nunn.
Fourth official: Josh Smith.
VAR: Tim Robinson.
Assistant VAR: Wade Smith.
Liverpool’s succession plan: Jurgen Klopp was asked about his successor, the current Feyenoord manager Arne Slot, yesterday and had this to say of the Dutchman.
“I like the way his team plays football. All the things I hear about him as a guy, a good guy. Some people I know, know him. I don’t know him, but some people who know him say he’s a good guy. I like that a lot. So good coach, good guy. Looking forward for the club, if he is the solution, if he is the man, I am more than happy.”
Liverpool have since agrred a deal in principle with Feyenoord for Slot to become their next manager and will pay the Dutch club €9m (£7.7m) plus €2m in add-ons in compensation for the 45-year-old, who has two years remaining on his contract.
Salah and Nunez dropped to Liverpool bench
Those teams: Jarrod Bowen returns for West Ham in place of James Ward-Prowse but Konstantinos Mavrapanos and Nayef Aguerd both remain sidelined through injury. Alphonse Areola is back in goal, with Lucas Fabianski making way.
The big news for Liverpool is that Jurgen Klopp has dropped Mo Salah and Darwin Nunez to the bench, with Cody Gakpo coming back in to the side following his brief spell of midweek paternity leave. Ibrahima Konate, Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones have also been left out, with Jarell Quansah, Waturo Endo, Ryan Gravenberch and Harvey Elliott coming into the starting line-up.
Updated
West Ham v Liverpool line-ups
West Ham: Areola, Coufal, Zouma, Ogbonna, Emerson Palmieri, Soucek, Alvarez, Bowen, Lucas Paqueta, Kudus, Antonio.
Subs: Fabianski, Johnson, Cresswell, Ward-Prowse, Phillips, Cornet, Ings, Casey, Mubama.
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Quansah, van Dijk, Robertson, Mac Allister, Endo, Gravenberch, Elliott, Gakpo, Diaz.
Subs: Gomez, Konate, Szoboszlai, Nunez, Salah, Jones, Tsimikas, Bajcetic, Kelleher.
Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)
Early team news: West Ham midfielder George Earthy has been stood down according to the concussion protocols after being stretchered off with a head injury during his Premier League debut against Fulham last weekend.
Defender Nayef Aguerd is out with a twisted ankle, but Konstantinos Mavrapanos could return after a short spell on the sidelines with a minor injury. Jarrod Bowen is fit again after missing a couple of games with a back injury but his manager says his best player needs to be “monitored”.
For Liverpool, Joel Matip and Thiago Alcanatara remain sidelined with longterm injuries, while Conor Bradley and Diogo Jota are also out. Cody Gakpo is available for selection after missing the Merseyside derby to be with his partner, who was giving birth to their child.
Updated
Premier Leagvue: West Ham v Liverpool
Following his side’s miserable midweek Merseyside derby defeat at the hands of Everton, Jurgen Klopp could be forgiven for thinking the TV network gods are trolling him by ensuring his team’s first opportunity to bounce back comes in the Saturday lunchtime time-slot he loathes so much.
The good news for the German is that it’s the last time he’ll take charge of Liverpool in this time-slot and it may well be David Moyes’ final Saturday afternoon kick-off as West Ham boss too. Following the humiliation visited upon his team by Crystal Palace on Sunday, the writing looks to be on the wall for the Scotsman, whose contract is due to expire in June and whose employers are reported to be courting potential replacements.
With both teams out of sorts and licking their wounds after scarring defeats, this is a match that could go either way. Liverpool simply must win to keep their rapidly diminishing hopes of winning the title alive, while anything less than three points could kibosh West Ham’s faint hopes of playing European football next season.
Kick-off at the London Stadium is at 12.30pm BST but we’ll have team news and build-up in the meantime.
Updated
