Liverpool lost ground in the title race as struggling West Ham earned a hard-fought point at Anfield. The reds were looking to recover from their shock defeat to Bournemouth last week and things got off to a bright start as Adam Lallana put the reds in front in the 5th minute after Sadio Mané’s brilliant work on the wing. West Ham slowly but surely begun to threaten going forward and they were rewarded for their efforts when Dimitri Payet curled in a trademark free kick. Questions will once again be asked about Loris Karius after the keeper got a strong hand on the free kick but failed to keep it out.
The hammers completed the turn around when a long ball over the top wrong footed Joel Matip and released Michail Antonio to poke past Karius and put West ham ahead on the 38th minute. Liverpool pushed hard to get the equaliser and Firmino almost put the hosts level after his header bounced off the woodwork. Klopp’s team talk clearly had the desired effect as got the equaliser within 2 minutes of the restart. More questionable goalkeeping was on display today as Randolph spilled a Mané cross into the path of Divock Origi and the young Belgian tapped in his fourth goal in as many games for Liverpool.
Liverpool piled on the pressure on West Ham to find the winner and Wijnaldum had a good chance to put Liverpool ahead soon after but his shot on the turn went just wide. The Dutchman was involved in another opportunity as he pulled the ball back for Mané from the right hand side but the effort was blocked by Nordtveit. Randolph made up for his earlier error with a magnificent save from Jordan Henderson’s long-range strike. The Liverpool skipper was aiming to find the top corner much like he did at Stamford Bridge, but Randolph’s outstretched arm kept it out. Klopp’s men missed more chances with Clyne smashing over from inside the box and Reid blocking an effort from Milner.
Despite going behind, Klopp will once again feel like it’s a case of points dropped from his side as they now trail leaders Chelsea by six points. Liverpool had 68% possession in the game and had 59 touches in the oppositions box (their highest tally this season). West Ham however only had 5 such touches (their lowest this campaign) but were happy to sit back and hit Liverpool on the break. Both teams are in action On Wednesday with Liverpool travelling to Middlesbrough, While West Ham host Burnley at the London Stadium.
