Darwin Nunez scored his first Anfield goal on Wednesday night as Liverpool recorded their third win on the bounce against a West Ham United team that are without a win in the same amount of games in the Premier League.
The story of the night was a lack of composure in front of goal from both teams. While Nunez hit the post and saw his early half-volley saved, a cross from Kostas Tsimikas was inch-perfect for the Uruguayan to head the ball into the floor and away from Fabianski.
Jarod Bowen was made to rue his missed penalty on the stroke of halftime as the Englishman squandered the chance to etch his name into the England squad and capitalise on The Reds' uneconomical finishing.
During the second half, more wasted opportunities went begging, leading to a cagey affair where neither side could take matters into their own hands and Nunez's goal in the first half remained the only difference.
Liverpool moved up to seventh place in the Premier League, with their home league form reaching 29 games unbeaten; a run that stretches back to their six-game losing streak between January and March 2021.
-
Story of the match
Heading into the fixture with spirits high, having picked up astounding victories against Rangers and Manchester City in the buildup to a visit from the Hammers, Klopp made five changes from the weekend as Darwin Nunez replaced the injured Diogo Jota, Trent Alexander-Arnold returned to the fold, and Kostas Tsimikas and Fabio Carvalho were brought in from the start.
For West Ham's Flynn Downes, it was a big night as he made his first Premier League start for his new club. Pablo Fornals and Kurt Zouma also came into the starting lineup in place of Lucas Paqueta and Emerson.
In case Liverpool fans had become comfortable with Alisson's distribution after his assist for Salah at the weekend to secure all the points, the Brazilian produced a scare early on after his driven pass out from the back went straight to Declan Rice.
As luck would have it, the defence got into shape and dealt with the mistake, but it was a jittery start that continued in the opening exchanges for both teams.
The wind was playing its part as it swirled around Anfield like a cyclone. But that still couldn't stop Thiago from pinging his trademark through ball over the West Ham defence into the path of Nunez.
Searching for his first home goal for The Reds, the Uruguayan let it bounce once before unleashing a venomous and dipping half-volley that Fabianksi had to tip over for a corner.
Nunez looked hardwired to score from the offset under the floodlights at Anfield; It was the best effort of the half. As he persisted in pulling the strings of the Hammers' defence with his movement, the goal eventually came after 21 minutes.
Tsimikas' cross from the left was tantalising for the Liverpool striker, who anticipated the opportunity and headed the ball into the ground and out of reach for Fabianski after outmuscling Thilo Kehrer.
He could have silenced his critics again minutes later when Zouma's fumble allowed Nunez to gallivant towards goal. The striker may have been stopped only by the time he had to think about his shot, as his placed effort was too tame to put their poor form even further back in the memory.
The Reds were reignited by their frontman's performance in the first half. While Alisson had shown hints of agitation with the ball, the midfield and attack helped Liverpool to bring the fight to the East Londoners, and as two Salah shots were finessed high and wide, a second goal seemed inevitable.
Incisive play inside the West Ham box led Firmino to pull off a neat touch into the Egyptian, but while his other two attempts were off target, his third strike was straight at the goalkeeper.
Nonetheless, the chance creation in the Liverpool team was back to its best - it was apparent that The Reds felt confident. But in front of goal, they wasted their chances. Kehrer cleared the ball as far as Nunez as the two went to battle again, but the ensuing shot crashed off the left post with 40 minutes on the clock.
It was a chance that Liverpool were almost made to rue at the close of the first half.
After Joe Gomez threw himself into a challenge against Jarod Bowen, a lengthy VAR check brandished the Hammers with a penalty. As he has done on many occasions, though, Alisson spared Liverpool's blushes with a save to his right.
The first half came to a timely end for Liverpool, who could have been in more trouble had West Ham made the most of a free header in the box from a corner moments after.
While Liverpool, especially Thiago and Nunez, had the freedom of the field to samba into a healthy lead, The Hammers held on, giving themselves a lifeline to build on in the second period.
-
Second half
While the first half ended with chances going in favour of the visitors, after the break, the game had opened up for both teams to enjoy space in behind. Downes had made a noticeable improvement after halftime and looked more energetic, but it was The Reds that probed the goal first.
A mixup in the West Ham defence gave Alexander-Arnold space to pick up the ball on the byline and cut it in towards Nunez, but The Hammers cleared.
Nunez failed to end his night with more than just a goal after Henderson's inviting ball found the Uruguayan again, and as predicted, his blazing shot missed the target. Afterwards, he was stripped from the field in a three-man substitution for Klopp.
But the strike made way for Liverpool's dominance as West Ham struggled to get out of their half, and Firmino's next shot was deflected agonisingly wide with just under 30 minutes to go.
The home side's attacking players all shared a wealth of chances to give Liverpool a two-goal cushion. And the Brazilian couldn't direct his header from the corner away from Fabianski minutes later, adding to frustration that goals seemed to be hard to come by for The Reds.
Nunez had five chances; Salah had three, and Firmino highlighted that third time is lucky is just an old wives tale having blasted his third attempt wayward.
Liverpool couldn't get out of second gear as their guests made their evening difficult. While chances were few and far between, they did conjure an opportunity among the red traffic themselves with 20 minutes to play.
After Rice's hopeful ball into the box gained impressive airtime, Gomez was slow to react, letting Benrahma swing his boot at it. Alisson, positioned perfectly, was unfazed by the opportunity.
Struggling to find the all-important second goal, Kurt Zouma nearly added catharsis to the Liverpool lead as his outstretched block on Henderson's cross narrowly missed his own goal, touching the crossbar on its way out for a corner.
Up the other end of the pitch, a counterattack following the corner was wasted by a Gianluca Scamacca urgency that was unnecessary had he looked up and analysed his options, with Michail Antonio waiting for the cross.
The theme of the game was a lack of goals. While both teams had their chances, Liverpool looked most likely, but they just couldn't seize their opportunities to add comfort to their lead.
A late equaliser looked all but confirmed in the 85th minute when Bowen was found through a squared pass in the six-yard box. Henderson and Alexander-Arnold were beaten, but James Milner produced a magnificent block to keep his side millimetres ahead.
But Liverpool held on for their third successive victory, moving them up to seventh in the Premier League table, despite showing a lack of composure in front of the goal.
-
Player of the match - Declan Rice
Naturally, the winning side would normally pick up Player of the Match. But as Liverpool were so wasteful, and in the grand scheme of things, their defence wasn't tested all that much, tonight's award must go to the omnipresent stamina of Declan Rice.
With 13 successful passes in the final third, a 95% pass accuracy, and 11 recoveries, he touched every blade of grass for his team, captaining them to a near-miss defeat at the home of a team on the up again.
