Liverpool remains top after claiming a point from yesterdays game to take them to 62 points for the season however it brings Manchester City within just 3 and they could actually jump ahead via their superior goal difference should they win their midweek game against Everton. For the second game in a row, Liverpool has dropped points against sides outside the top 6. Both times in 1-1 draws after taking the lead. It is a trend that is worrying Liverpool fans who so desperately want to see their side win the league and with 13 games left to play, they can not really afford many more slip-ups if that is to happen.
It was announced before the game that West Ham would be without their main striker Marko Arnoutovic who'd failed to recover from the injury sustained against Wolves and so there were no major surprises in Manuel Pelligrinis line-up. Liverpool's team sheet was a bit different to what people were expecting though as Klopp was forced into making a number of last minute changes due to injuries the day before the game. Jordan Henderson and Gini Wijnaldum were both expected to play but became unavailable while James Milner was going to be left out due to suffering from a virus but started at right back when those dropped out. Joel Matip maintained his place alongside Van Dijk as Dejan Lovren wasn't quite ready to return. In midfield, Naby Keita also maintained his place alongside Fabinho and they were joined by Adam Lallana who was starting a league game for the first time since October.
The build-up for the game had been far from ideal and from the early moments in the game, it looked like it may be a bad night for Liverpool. West Ham started out looking much sharper and managed to forge a great chance to take the lead when the ball came to Javier Hernandez inside the area but the former Man United forward hit his shot wide. For the opening 20 minutes, it was pretty end-to-end but while Liverpool's attacks all seemed to fizzle out with no serious threat to Fabianski in goal for The Hammers the attacks coming towards Alisson were much more dangerous. Aaron Creswell came close with a long-range strike while Hernandez forced a stop from Liverpool's keeper from just outside the box.
Despite West Ham looking the sharper team and most likely to score it was actually Liverpool who got the first goal of the game, though it is a controversial goal and one that would have been ruled out had VAR been available. Adam Lallana was on the ball right on the edge of the pitch, with Snodgrass and Creswell closing him down it seemed he had run into a dead end. But with a really nice bit of skill, he managed to twist and turn then flick the ball past them both giving it to James Milner who had made an underlapping run forward. Milner played the ball into the box towards Sadio Mane who gathered it on his left while turning and striking the ball into the net with his right foot. It was a great goal from a technical standpoint and a nice finish by Mane however when Lallana played the ball to Milner to create the goal Milner was a few yards offside. The linesman was right in front of the action, however, possibly dazzled by Lallana's sparkling feet he did not raise his flag and the goal was allowed to stand.
I was hopeful that getting the slice of luck and scoring a goal against the run of play may have given the players a lift and they'd then go on to score a few more. But it seemed to have the opposite effect and for the next few minutes following the goal Liverpool players looked even more sluggish than ever. Liverpool's attacks were now beginning to fizzle out before they had even begun with multiple errors causing them to give the ball away to West Ham even before they'd taken it across the halfway line. After several sloppy mistakes giving the ball away, Liverpool finally paid the price when one of them forced into committing a foul around 40 yards from goal to halt a West Ham counter. Liverpool defended it with a really high line like they have done so often this season and has usually always lead to them catching their opponents in an offside trap. West Ham had been preparing for this though and came up with a routine they'd clearly prepared on the training ground. Anderson shaped like he was going to play a sweeping cross over to the far side but instead rolled a straight pass along the floor into an empty area where Michail Antonio had run into. Keita saw it develop but was blocked off by Noble meaning he could not get back in time to prevent Antonio from placing the ball into the bottom corner of the net past a bemused Alisson to bring the score level.
Following the equaliser the game continued in the same vein, Liverpool had a half chance when Robertson swung a low cross in but couldn't find a Liverpool player to finish it off. West Ham had a golden opportunity to take the lead at the end of the first half when from another set piece, Declan Rice found himself with a free header right in front of the Liverpool goal but directed it over the bar. Into the second half, Liverpool perked up slightly in terms of keeping possession and having more control of the game however still were unable to create many good chances to score. Sadio Mane looked quite lively and desperate to get another goal however his fellow forwards Mo Salah and Firmino looked really below par. Salah was limited to a couple of tame shots from outside the area and never seemed able to shake off his markers while Firmino uncharacteristically gave the ball away with virtually every touch he had.
West Ham had another chance to punish Liverpool once more when Anderson caused mayhem when bringing the ball into the Liverpool penalty area, after a couple of deflections the chance fell to Mark Noble to strike it from close range but the ball sailed over the bar. Jurgen Klopp tried to shake things up by bringing on Shaqiri and later Origi but neither had much of an impact. Origi has already played a big hand in this title race with his late winner against Everton in the Merseyside Derby and could have done so once again when Keita lobbed a ball over the top to him inside the West Ham box, the Belgian striker brought it under control but couldn't connect with his shot and it was easily stopped by Fabianski. It was a big miss and one that he should have buried however replays would then show that he was offside as the ball was played, which would have been extremely cruel on West Ham if they had suffered a loss due to two offside goals.
Overall it was a really dismal performance by Liverpool who didn't look at all like a team competing for a league title, the injuries during the build-up to the game no doubt played a big part in that however critics will point to the fact that we have just had an entire month with the transfer window open when Liverpool could have bought players to help bolster the squad, but that's an issue I may talk about in another post. Liverpool still sit top of the league and so it is far from the end of the world, up next they host Bournemouth at Anfield next Saturday where they hope to get back to winning ways.