Alisson Becker and Darwin Nunez were the shining lights as Liverpool beat West Ham United 1-0 on Wednesday night.
Liverpool did well to build on Sunday’s win over defending Champions Manchester City and grind out another important result at home, this time beating West Ham United.
Darwin Nunez scored the only goal of the game in the first half to hand his side all three points. The win takes Liverpool up to seventh in the league table, with 16 points from ten matches.
The Reds will now hope to close in on the top four in the coming weeks now. As for West Ham, they are 13th with 11 points so far. Here at The Hard Tackle we look at how both sets of players fared on the night.
Liverpool
Alisson Becker: 9/10
The Brazilian goalkeeper has been Liverpool’s player of the season so far, and he was outstanding against West Ham. Alisson pulled off important saves from time to time and saved Jarrod Bowen’s penalty to give Liverpool a much-needed win.
54% – Alisson has only conceded seven of the 13 penalties he has faced in the Premier League (54% – 2 saved, 4 off target), the lowest percentage of any goalkeeper to face at least ten spot-kicks in the competition. Expert. pic.twitter.com/DNYGSx6NmW
— OptaJoao (@OptaJoao) October 19, 2022
Trent Alexander-Arnold: 6/10
Alexander-Arnold returned to the starting lineup after missing out against Manchester City. The England international had a decent outing against West Ham but struggled towards the end of the game. James Milner bailed him out when Said Benrahma seemed to have gotten the better of him.
Joe Gomez: 4/10
Gomez did exceedingly well against Manchester City, and he was handed the starting berth against West Ham as well. However, he produced an abysmal performance on the night. The English defender struggled with his decision making and gave away a penalty, which Alisson saved.
Virgil van Dijk: 8/10
The Dutchman seems to have returned to his best once again. He was impeccable at the back and held the back four together. His decision making and last ditch tackles were vital to Liverpool preserving the clean sheet, especially in the second half when West Ham were dominating the game.
Kostas Tsimikas: 7/10
Tsimikas started ahead of Andrew Robertson and looked quite impressive. He was solid at the back and created the goalscoring opportunity for Darwin Nunez as the Uruguayan scored his first goal at Anfield.
Thiago Alcantara: 8/10
The Spanish international was Liverpool’s best midfielder on the night, and the Reds struggled after he was taken off. Thiago helped Liverpool control the game and created opportunities for his teammates with his long range passing.
Jordan Henderson: 6/10
An indifferent display from the Liverpool captain. Henderson played if safe for most of the game. The experienced campaigner has not been at his best for a while now, and it seems like he is past his peak now.
Fabio Carvalho: 6.5/10
The young attacking midfielder was handed a start here after the injuries to Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota. Carvalho worked hard during his stay on the pitch and tried to create chances with his link-up play and movement. He took on the West Ham defenders and added some directness to Liverpool’s play.
Mohamed Salah: 6/10
The Egyptian international had a subdued performance by his standards. Salah did not get too many chances to get on the scoresheet, but he could have created a few for his teammates. His decision making in the final third seemed off.
Roberto Firmino: 6/10
Firmino worked hard and linked up well with the midfield and the attack. He seems to have gone off the boil after hitting a purple patch. Overall, his performance was satisfactory. The Brazilian will be hoping to get back to scoring goals soon.
Darwin Nunez: 9/10
The Uruguayan striker, the player to watch in our preview, was handed a start against West Ham, and he created all sorts of problems for the Hammers in the first half. Nunez scored the opening goal of the game and tested Lukasz Fabianski a number of times. He managed to hit the crossbar with an explosive effort. Was taken off early on in the first half with a hamstring strain.
Darwin Nunez clocked a top speed of 38km/h vs West Ham, beating Kyle Walker's record of 37.802 km/h in June 2020.
Speed. ⚡️💨 pic.twitter.com/NAHA4xEu5D
— Anything Liverpool (@AnythingLFC_) October 19, 2022
SUBSTITUTES
Harvey Elliott: 5/10
Elliott was brought on to add some creativity and fresh legs in the second half. He did not make much of an impact as the rest of the team struggled to regain control of the game.
Fabinho: 6/10
Did well to break up play from time to time and help out the defenders as West Ham piled on some late pressure.
James Milner: N/A
Produced a vital block late on to help grind out the win.
Curtis Jones: N/A
Barely made an impact after coming on.
Andrew Robertson: N/A
Helped shore up the back line and calmed things down.
West Ham United
Lukasz Fabianski: 7/10
The West Ham goalkeeper was tested time and again, and he did well to thwart the Liverpool attack for prolonged spells. Overall, a solid performance from the experienced goalkeeper.
Ben Johnson: 5/10
Deployed in the right back role, Johnson did reasonably well defensively. But he was caught out of position in the first half and allowed too much time to Tsimikas to cross in for Nunez’ opener.
Kurt Zouma: 5/10
The Frenchman had a decent game in the second half, but he struggled in the first half and was guilty of losing his man for the opening goal. He could have done better to deny Darwin Nunez a free header of the ball.
Thilo Kehrer: 3/10
The German had a night to forget. His positioning was suspect for the goal scored by Nunez. And he was caught out of possession as Salah went clean through on goal only to be denied by Fabianski.
Aaron Cresswell: 5/10
The West Ham defender was pretty effective going forward but not his best game in terms of defending. He was caught out of position at times and left space in behind for the likes of Salah to exploit.
Flynn Downes: 6.5/10
Downes was handed his first league start at Anfield, and he did not disappoint. He created chances for his teammates and worked hard thought out. Downes pressed the Liverpool players into mistakes. Overall, an impressive showing.
Tomas Soucek: 6/10
Soucek put in a real shift defensively and could have grabbed a late equaliser only to be denied by Alisson. An impressive performance from the Czech Republic international.
Declan Rice: 7.5/10
Rice was West Ham’s best player on the night. He did well defensively and drove his team forward with surging runs. Won the ball in Liverpool’s half and initiated counter-attacks for the Hammers. A solid display from the England international.
Declan Rice’s game by numbers vs. Liverpool:
95% pass accuracy
93 touches
19 final third passes completed [ 🥇]
11 ball recoveries [ 🥇 ]
8/9 long balls completed
2 chances created
1 big chance createdOutstanding. 👏🏼 pic.twitter.com/C1ZGkOQPZD
— Dan Woffenden (@danwoff98) October 19, 2022
Jarrod Bowen: 6/10
Bowen worked hard off the ball and seemed composed on it. He helped create chances for his teammates, but he will be disappointed with the penalty miss which could have sealed a vital draw for his side.
Pablo Fornals: 4/10
The attacking midfielder had a poor outing and he failed to make any impact in the final third. Had to be taken off in the second half.
Gianluca Scamacca: 4/10
Scamacca completed his first 90 minutes for West Ham, but it was a poor performance from the Italian. He was anonymous throughout the game and barely caused any problems for Liverpool’s back four.
SUBSTITUTES
Said Benrahma: 6/10
Injected some much needed creativity and flair to the side. Caused all sorts of problems for Trent Alexander-Arnold with his trickery after coming on.
Michail Antonio: N/A
Barely had any impact on the game after coming on. Was expected to add pace and directness to the West Ham attack late on in the game.
