Liverpool Vs West Ham

FT Score:2-1

Goals: Fornals (10′) Salah (42′) P, Jota (85′)

31st of October 2020

Recent performances for both sides offered an exciting meeting at Anfield. The form of both teams suggested, West Ham on the up and Liverpool stalling, following less than impressive performances against Sheffield Utd and FC Midtjylland.

An early goal for the Hammers, following a weak Gomez clearance, only served to reinforce the doubts over our backline. However, 23-year-old defender Nat Phillips, who many believed was leaving Anfield this season; himself included, made his Premier League debut yesterday.

Phillips was joined by Trent Alexander Arnold in defence; who made his 100th Premier League appearance for Liverpool. What an achievement for the 22-year old, who becomes the fifth-youngest player to play 100 games for the Reds. And in that time, he has registered 77 wins-which no other outfield Premier League player has bettered in the 30 years of competition.

He had a wonderful performance yesterday, and alongside Nat Phillips made a steady start to the game. For me, Phillips just pips Trent, for the Man of the Match performance. The defender looks far more likely to swim than sink in this team.

Following the early West Ham goal, Liverpool struggled to find a route through their relentless defence. The Hammers closed off the spaces that Mane, Firmino, and Salah love to exploit, and at times the Reds attacks looked ponderous and predictable, except for two Fabianski errors; however this route to an equaliser looked unlikely.

As the game progressed, the Reds enjoyed a strong sense that opportunities will come; applying pressure through ball retention and constant probing. Just before halftime, Curtis Jones stroked a cross-field pass that found Salah in the box, and his dancing feet out foxed defender Masuaku who tapped the Egyptian’s right foot, and the referee pointed to the spot. From 12 yards, Salah is proven deadly, and he squared the game up at 1-1; just what Liverpool needed.

The second half followed a similar pattern to the first, the Reds seeking inroads to the Hammers defence, and the visitors making the occasional foray in the opposition territory. Klopp opted to deploy his replacements with Jota and Shaqiri, taking the places of Firmino and Jones. The pace of the forwards improved immediately; a rare West Ham attack had left them exposed, and the Reds streamed forwards; an interchange with Jota resulted in a scuffed shot by Mane bouncing back from Fabianski. The rebound found the Portuguese attacker, who thrashed the ball into the net……inevitably this season VAR entered the scene, and after a pitch-side review the goal was ruled off for a Mane foul.

Liverpool felt a shift in momentum and further good work, around the box by both Jota and Shaqiri seemed to un-nerve the West Ham defence. It was not a great surprise, that both players engineered a further chance that found Jota racing through one-on-one with Fabianski, this time VAR would not save the Hammers, 2-1 to Liverpool.

So, a Liverpool victory in the end, but the Reds continue to struggle in terms of the flowing football we enjoyed in last year’s championship season. But this team, have an relentless nature and grinding certainty about their purpose which seems to carry them through. The term ‘win ugly’ definitely applied to this performance, but for the first time this season, they sit on top of the Premier League, which is always a great sight for any real Red.

Tribute to Nobby Stiles

Finally, I wanted to end my match report today, by paying tribute to the legendary England star Nobby Stiles, who passed away on Friday at the age of 78.

Stiles is the seventh member of the England team, that started in the 1966 World Cup final against West Germany to pass away. He won 28 caps for England and played a pivotal role in neutralising Portuguese star Eusebio in the 1966 semi-final, before another fine showing in the dramatic 4-2 extra-time win over West Germany.

At club level, the World Cup winner won two English league titles and the 1968 European Cup during an illustrious 11-year career with Manchester United.

He made almost 400 appearances for the Red Devils between 1960 and 1971, going on to play for Middlesbrough and Preston North End before retiring 4 years later in 1975.

After retirement, he moved into management with Preston, and then West Bromwich Albion. And then in 1989, United asked him to return as a youth team coach, where we helped to develop Red Devils legends Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville.

After leaving Old Trafford in 1993, he moved away from the public spotlight as his health deteriorated. He suffered a minor stroke in 2010 and was then diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and prostate cancer.

Tributes have poured in from across the football community, since his passing, and a minute of silence is being observed across all Premier League games this weekend.

Put simply, he was a true English legend!

My thoughts are with his family and friends at this difficult time.

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