Seeking to preserve their momentum after beating Manchester Metropolis on Sunday (October 16), Liverpool welcomed West Ham United to city for his or her Premier League tussle on Wednesday (October 19).
The Merseysiders weren’t all the time accountable for the sport however did properly to seal a 1-0 win in entrance of their followers at Anfield. Summer time signing Darwin Nunez scored the one objective for the sport within the first half.
With the win, the Merseysiders have climbed as much as seventh place within the Premier League standings. Having secured 16 factors from 10 matches, Liverpool discover themselves 4 factors adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea.
The Reds regarded extra snug than West Ham early on within the match however needed to wait till 14 minutes to lodge their first shot on the right track. Nunez caught the ball on the half-volley from outdoors the field to ship it swerving in direction of Lukasz Fabianski’s objective. The Polish goalkeeper made an important save to disclaim Nunez his first Anfield objective since becoming a member of from Benfica.
Eight minutes later, Nunez got here once more, solely this time, his effort breached Fabianski’s resistance. Kostas Tsimikas curled in a lovely cross from the left, and Nunez attacked it with intent, directing his header previous the hapless Fabianski. A minute later, Nunez acquired the chance to double his tally however ended up guiding his header straight down the Pole’s throat.
Within the thirty eighth minute, Mohamed Salah went for objective with a roller. Nonetheless, his effort was reasonably tame and was collected pretty simply by Fabianski. Simply earlier than the half-time whistle, the Hammers had been awarded a penalty kick, courtesy of Joe Gomez’s foul on Jarrod Bowen. Bowen stepped as much as take the kick however didn’t convert, together with his effort being comprehensively parried behind by Alisson.
Liverpool and West Ham traded blows within the second half, however each groups lacked composure in entrance of objective. 4 minutes earlier than the full-time whistle, Tomas Soucek regarded destined to equalize for West Ham, however James Milner’s extraordinary last-ditch block ensured most factors for the hosts.
Listed here are three gamers who impressed and two who missed the mark in Liverpool’s win over West Ham on Wednesday night time:
Carried out: Jordan Henderson
Liverpool skipper Jordan Henderson produced a commendable efficiency towards West Ham United on Wednesday. The Englishman labored tirelessly over the course of the match, carried the ball properly into the opposition’s half, switched play together with his lengthy balls, and even got here near scoring.
Within the forty eighth minute, Henderson performed a little bit one-two with Salah earlier than going for objective with a chipped try from outdoors the field. Fabianski fantastically tipped the ball over the bar to disclaim the Reds’ skipper.
On Wednesday, Henderson performed two key passes, took extra touches than every other participant (106), and gained all 4 of his floor duels. Moreover, he delivered six correct lengthy balls, tried three tackles, and accomplished a dribble.
Underperformed: Trent Alexander-Arnold
Proper-back Trent Alexander-Arnold was significantly under his greatest towards the Hammers. He misplaced passes, ceded possession reasonably steadily, and was simply overwhelmed in floor duels.
Towards West Ham, Alexander-Arnold misplaced 5 of six crosses, noticed seven of his 10 tried lengthy balls veer off beam, and misplaced each his floor duels. He additionally misplaced possession 23 instances, misplaced 14 passes, and was dribbled previous twice.
Carried out: Alisson
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson didn’t have the most effective of begins to the sport, with him misplacing some early passes. Nonetheless, the skilled Brazilian shot-stopper settled down because the match wore on. He was barely known as into motion within the first half however produced the products when he wanted to, saving an important penalty.
54% – Alisson has solely conceded seven of the 13 penalties he has confronted within the Premier League (54% – 2 saved, 4 off beam), the bottom share of any goalkeeper to face at the very least ten spot-kicks within the competitors. Professional. https://t.co/DNYGSx6NmW
Gomez’s problem on Bowen was initially dubbed truthful by the on-field referee, however VAR requested him to rethink and provides the guests a penalty. Bowen’s spot-kick was respectable however it wasn’t ok to beat Alisson, who heroically lunged to his proper to disclaim him. Alisson made a complete of three saves towards West Ham, delivered seven correct lengthy balls, and had 5 recoveries.
Underperformed: Fabinho
Launched in Thiago’s place within the 58th minute, Fabinho didn’t put his greatest foot ahead towards West Ham. He was typically sluggish to react, was rotated manner too simply, and didn’t get entangled within the recreation.
The Brazil worldwide made solely 16 passes (76.2% accuracy), misplaced three of 4 floor duels, ceded possession six instances, and dedicated a foul. He additionally misplaced the one deal with he tried and was dribbled previous twice.
Carried out: Darwin Nunez
Liverpool’s marquee summer time signing Darwin Nunez arguably produced his best-ever efficiency for the Reds on Wednesday night time. Aside from making use of an excellent headed end to Tsimikas’ cross within the twenty second minute, Nunez hit the submit as soon as and drew a few gorgeous saves from Fabianski. Had the Uruguayan had a little bit of luck on his facet, he may have walked away with a brace or higher.
Darwin Nunez loved his first objective at Anfield 😜 https://t.co/6WRXoJSfRt
Along with scoring the winner, Nunez gained two duels, drew a foul, cleared the ball as soon as, and made 12 correct passes (85.7% accuracy) on Wednesday.
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