West Ham 2 - 2 Liverpool

West Ham: Bowen 41’, Antonio 77’
Liverpool: Robertson 48’, Soucek (OG) 65’

Pre-Match

This is a make it or break game for Liverpool’s title challenge. Jürgen Klopp has made some changes to the team that crumbled against Everton midweek. Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez, Ibrahima Konate, and Dominik Szoboszlai are all on the bench. Jarell Quansah, Cody Gakpo, Ryan Gravenberch, and Harvey Elliott in the line up instead.

First Half

Liverpool started off the game well. A counter attack from the Reds ended when Trent Alexander-Arnold couldn’t quite get his foot around the pass to Diaz. However, it’s still a promising sign that the Reds are at least awake for this early kick-off.

A few minutes later, Elliott gets his chance at first blood, but his header hit the side netting. This match has so far cleared the low bar of being better than the one against Everton, but they need to score some goals to make that matter.

Liverpool thought they had a penalty shout. Would have been one for Gakpo being brought down in the box. However, the flag went up on the play from earlier in the move. Luis Diaz was offside. So that chance went begging. Though the match was pretty low impact in the first 30 minutes or so, all of the half-chances and nearly-theres have been from Liverpool. They just couldn’t put any of them away, which is concerning. As if the universe wanted to prove me right, Diaz hit the post and yet another opportunity went begging.

Should be no surprise to anyone who’s ever watched a football game, then, that West Ham snuck an undeserved goal right before halftime. Young Quansah gave the ball away in a dangerous area. Alisson saved the ensuing shot but couldn’t do the same for the corner that followed. West Ham went into the tunnel up 1-0.

Second Half

The good news was that whatever Klopp said to the team at halftime worked. They came out swinging as soon as the whistle blew. Gravenberch started them off with an audacious shot that went over the net. Then moments later, it’s Andy Robertson, of all people, who evened the score at only 48 minutes.

Robertson had taken control down that left side, controlling the play and almost initiating several good crosses into the box in a flurry of attacks. West Ham defended it, but Liverpool regained possession and went again. Diaz drew the attention down that wing, and Robertson took the opportunity to move into the box. Diaz slid him the ball, and the goal was a tame close range effort, but it did the job. Excited to report that Liverpool Football Club appear to have remembered how to play football.

The Reds forced several consecutive corners following a chance for Gravenberch, however none of them hit the mark. This is still a marked improvement from the last 120 minutes of football proceeding it.

Gravenberch tried another long distance shot that goes wide of the net. However, it earned them a corner. The resulting corner had Gakpo trying one on. It would have gone wide, but it crashed against one of the many defenders crowding the goal to beat Areola and put the Reds ahead.

75 minutes into the match and Klopp still hadn’t made any substitutions to bring in any of the heavy hitters sitting on the bench. That might have been to their detriment, as Antonio heads in a West Ham equalizer moments before Salah, Nunez, and Joe Gomez all make their entrances. Alexander-Arnold, Wataru Endo, and Diaz all make way for the trio.

Final Thoughts

Well, that happened. Liverpool have lost another two points and probably any slim chance at the title.