Liverpool made it back-to-back Premier League (PL) wins, overcoming West Ham United to rise to seventh. The Reds are now unbeaten in 29 league games at Anfield, ending the Hammers’ three-game undefeated run in the process.
Looking to build on their impressive victory over Manchester City at the weekend, Liverpool began this encounter on the front foot. Darwin Núñez tested Łukasz Fabiański from range before putting his side ahead with little over 20 minutes played. The Uruguayan attacked Kostas Tsimikas’ searching cross, heading into the ground to loop the ball beyond Fabiański’s reach. Núñez continued to threaten, striking the post on the half-volley after several efforts from Mohamed Salah had failed to do the trick. Looking set to take a one-goal lead into the break, Liverpool conceded a clumsy penalty when Joe Gomez bundled over Jarrod Bowen, but Alisson guessed correctly to deny Bowen and preserve his clean sheet.
A subdued Anfield watched on as the second period struggled to get out of first gear. With an hour gone, Roberto Firmino saw his close-range shot diverted wide after a smart pull-back from Jordan Henderson, keeping the contest within the visitors’ grasp. Sensing just that, David Moyes brought on Michail Antonio to play alongside Gianluca Scamacca, yet Liverpool almost instantly doubled their advantage as Curtis Jones’ fired through a sea of bodies. The hosts had racked up the shots to this point, but it was Kurt Zouma who almost sealed all three points for Liverpoool, inadvertently toeing Henderson’s delivery onto his own crossbar and over.
Liverpool had James Milner to thank for denying what looked like a certain goal, getting his body in the way of Tomáš Souček’s would-be tap-in. That crucial defensive action helped see out the game and continue Liverpool’s dominant H2H record, having lost just one of their last 50 league games dating all the way back to 1963. Meanwhile, West Ham miss the opportunity to leapfrog Liverpool in the table, as Moyes’ unwanted winless PL streak at Anfield hits 18 games. Perhaps more concerning, the Hammers have now lost 10 of their last 14 league fixtures on the road.