October 31, 2020, Anfield, Liverpool, UK | Liverpool ran out 2-1 winners after a hard-fought match with West Ham United.
The headlines leading up to this match in the Premier League focused largely on injuries. Virgil van Dijk’s injury has left Herr Klopp with a key player to replace and seemingly everybody who could replace him falling foul of the injury bug.
Speaking about the challenge of replacing van Dijk amidst the fixture pile-up, Klopp told reporters in his pre-match press conference, “I realized long ago that life is a challenge. This is a challenge 100%…Problems are only there to find a solution for. I see the challenge in the situation and I see there’s opportunity.”
“We play football games every three days so this will stay a challenge…We will deal with the situation and make the best of it.”
Likewise, West Ham United are missing the excellent Michail Antonio, who has been in sparkling form since Project Restart scoring 11 goals, the most by any player in that time.
He picked up a hamstring injury in their 1-1 draw with Manchester City and will be sorely missed as West Ham’s most defense-menacing, goal-scoring threat.
To make matters worse for West Ham, he loves a game against Liverpool. He’s faced the Reds 6 times and scored 5 goals.
While the Merseysiders are the better team, injuries notwithstanding, the Hammers are more than capable of beating anybody of their day, something they proved in their highly impressive 3-0 away win over Leicester City, their tremendous 3-3 comeback against Tottenham, and their plucky draw with Manchester City.
Coming into the season, Hammers fans would have been worried that a relegation battle may have been on the cards, but recent performances and results have put those fears to bed for now.
David Moyes has this team playing with an identity and little fear, so much so that a comfortable mid-table finish with faint hopes of Europe seems a more accurate prediction for the remainder of this campaign.
Starting Lineups:
Liverpool Starting XI: Alisson (GK), Alexander-Arnold, Phillips, Gomez, Robertson, Henderson(c), Wijnaldum, Jones, Mane, Firmino, Salah
Subs: Adrian, Minamino, Milner, Jota, R. Williams, N. Williams, Shaqiri
West Ham Starting XI: Fabianski (GK), Coufal, Balbuena, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Masuaku, Rice(c), Soucek, Fornals, Bowen, Haller
Subs: Randolph, Diop, Fredericks, Yarmolenko, Snodgrass, Lanzini, Benrahma
Here are your key takeaways from the match:
Consistent Salah on Pace for Golden Boot
Even though this match won’t likely make Mohammed Salah’s career highlight reel, he now has 7 goals in 7 games and trails Heung-min-Son, currently on 8 goals, in the race for the Golden Boot.
His assured penalty toward the end of the first half gave Liverpool the momentum heading into half time and really changed the complexion of the match going forward.
More from Analysis
- Unlocking the Transfer Market Value of Evan Ferguson: A Comprehensive Analysis
- Unveiling the Strategy: How Marc Cucurella Fits in Manchester United’s Game Plan
- Are Manchester United title favourites with Hojlund signing?
- Premier League players who could win UEFA Nations League this year
- Promoted Team Preview: Vincent Kompany’s Burnley look to surprise
Salah was most certainly the beneficiary of a moment of madness from West Ham defender Arthur Masuaku, but he still needed to step up and finish the job from the spot.
His confidence from those situations should be sky-high, having converted a penalty in the UEFA Champions League midweek and having converted his last 12 of 13 attempts since joining Liverpool.
Penalty aside, Salah was not his fearsome best on this occasion. He made a few bad decisions in the final third, for example trying to find Mane through the crowded middle when the better option would have been to play in a streaking Jota to his left.
But these games happen, especially when the opposition sets up very defensively as West Ham did.
This season, however, Salah is finding a way to deliver game-changing moments with the one or two clear chances he gets in tight games. Luckily for Liverpool, the injury bug hasn’t affected the fearsome front three, and Liverpool supporters will be hoping it stays that way. An injury to Salah and prospects for this campaign would look much different.
Jota Proving a Liverpool Bargain
Diogo Jota made it three goals in seven days to continue his terrific form in front of goal. His transfer likely came as a surprise to most Liverpool supporters, but he’s proving that Michael Edwards and the backroom transfer gurus at Liverpool have delivered another masterstroke.
Perhaps Jota’s greatest strength lies in his natural ability to find space and use his close control in and around defenders, and this was on display almost immediately after he came on for Firmino at the 70-minute mark.
He really takes up such wonderful positions as indicated by the fact that almost all of his 5 goals for the Reds so far have been one-on-one with the keeper or a tap in at the far post. The man knows how to find the space that hurts opponents.
After having a goal denied by VAR for a foul in the buildup by Sadio Mane, his composed finish past Fabianski following Xherdan Shaqiri’s sumptuous threaded pass secured all three points for Klopp’s men in red.
Nathaniel Phillips Delivers on his Debut
A Premier League debut for Nathaniel Phillips answered the question that Liverpool fans had been asking since Fabinho pulled up with a hamstring tweak in their Champions League fixture Tuesday—who is going to start alongside Joe Gomez in defense?
While Rhys Williams had a good game against FC Midtjylland, the debut for Phillips made sense. He’s good in the air and composed on the ball. At 23-years-old he offers more experience than Rhys Williams, who at 19-years-old, still lacks solid first-team experience.
Phillips didn’t hurt his chances to continue pairing with Gomez for the foreseeable future with an aggressive yet composed display. It seemed clear that Sebastian Haller was told before the match to pressurize Phillips in the hopes that West Ham might capitalize on a mistake. Phillips, however, bullied Haller until he was hauled off, and readily responded to every question asked of him by West Ham.
Gomez, on the hand, was responsible for the bad clearance that led to Pablo Fornals’ tidy finish, which simply goes to show what a good display this was for a debut. Nat Phillips probably didn’t start the season thinking his game time would come in the Liverpool starting XI, but his performance today might result in just that.