{"id":639141,"date":"2024-04-28T05:05:29","date_gmt":"2024-04-28T09:05:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=639141"},"modified":"2024-04-28T05:05:29","modified_gmt":"2024-04-28T09:05:29","slug":"five-things-learnt-liverpool-west-ham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2024\/04\/28\/five-things-learnt-liverpool-west-ham\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Things We Learnt From Liverpool Drawing to West Ham Including a Huge Defensive Weakness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Liverpool drew 2-2 at the London Stadium to West Ham, on April 27. Yet another disappointing result gives us\u00a0<\/span>a lot<\/span>\u00a0to analyse on this current Liverpool side. Here are the five things that we learnt.<\/span><\/p>\n

Five Things We Learnt From Liverpool Drawing to West Ham<\/span><\/h2>\n

Liverpool Cannot Defend Set Pieces and Crosses<\/h3>\n

Jurgen Klopp\u2019s side conceded two goals away at Everton and two\u00a0<\/span>goals away<\/span>\u00a0at West Ham. All four of these came from crosses.<\/span><\/p>\n

Three were\u00a0<\/span>headers,<\/span>\u00a0and three set pieces, highlighting a\u00a0<\/span>key<\/span>\u00a0weakness for the Reds.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read More:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>\u2018Here We Go\u2019: Liverpool Set To Appoint \u2018Tactical Vanguard\u2019 Manager In \u20ac15m\u00a0<\/span>Transfer<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

The worst was Dominic Calvert-Lewin\u2019s goal to make it 2-0 to the Toffees. The defence, particularly Trent Alexander-Arnold, allowed him a free header at the back post from point-blank range.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, Jarrod Bowen\u2019s headed goal from the penalty spot was almost as bad. Allowing a 5-foot 9-inch winger to score, barely jumping, from such a distance is defensive incompetence. The team\u00a0<\/span>were caught out<\/span>\u00a0– as\u00a0<\/span>the corner was taken<\/span> short quickly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Premier League is Now a Two-Horse Race<\/h3>\n

If it wasn\u2019t\u00a0<\/span>certain<\/span>\u00a0before, it\u2019s all but confirmed now.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite some calling this the\u00a0<\/span>greatest<\/span>\u00a0Premier League title race ever, it seems that Liverpool have dropped out, with Manchester City still to play five matches.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Reds have to play Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa, and Wolves: three very tricky\u00a0<\/span>teams<\/span>\u00a0each with a potential (less likely for Wolves) European spot to play for.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read More:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>\u2018Conversations Took Place\u2019: Liverpool Discover Transfer Price for Bundesliga Defender With \u2018World-Class Potential\u2019<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, City are\u00a0<\/span>one point ahead<\/span><\/a>\u00a0with two games in hand, and Arsenal two points ahead with one game in hand. Liverpool went from favourites with the best run-in to third place with the worst fixtures.<\/span><\/p>\n

More Refereeing Incompetence?<\/span><\/h3>\n

During Liverpool vs West Ham, Alphonse Areola caught a cross in the 88th minute and suffered a knock\u00a0<\/span>in the process<\/span>. Thinking\u00a0<\/span>a foul had been given<\/span>\u00a0– the Frenchman dropped the ball, ready to take a free-kick.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cody Gakpo pro-actively chased the ball down, knowing the referee had not stopped play. Just before the Dutchman would\u2019ve tapped the ball into an empty net, Anthony Taylor blew his whistle – despite\u00a0<\/span>there being<\/span>\u00a0no actual reason to.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read More:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Liverpool Snubbed By Serie A Manager Who \u2018Outplayed Guardiola\u2019<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

This<\/span>\u00a0is yet another example of referees failing to uphold the\u00a0<\/span>laws of the game<\/span>\u00a0in fear of criticism for soft decisions. Just weeks ago, we saw Glenn Nyberg fail to penalise Gabriel Magalhaes for a handball in the box when he did not realise that David Raya had already taken his goal kick.<\/span><\/p>\n

Luis Diaz Is Currently Liverpool\u2019s Best Forward<\/span><\/h3>\n

Diaz has been Liverpool\u2019s best player in the last two matches – though he hasn\u2019t had many to compete with.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLucho\u201d has been the most threatening attacker: nobody else has shown any tempo or directness.<\/span><\/p>\n

Diaz created an incredible seven chances in this match, including an assist for Andy Robertson.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read More:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>\u2018Got A Knock\u2019: Liverpool Confirm \u2018So Valuable\u2019 Star To Miss Key Matches In Title Run-In<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Darwin Nunez has been missing great chances, Mohamed Salah has been increasingly uninvolved, and Diogo Jota has been in and out of the side. Cody Gakpo is the only one to come close, but his performances have perhaps looked better due to our expectations for him.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jurgen Klopp Trusts Jarell Quansah<\/span><\/h3>\n

Quansah has started two of the last three (all in the league) with Ibrahima Konate on the bench. The Frenchman was\u00a0<\/span>surely<\/span>\u00a0fit enough to play, but Klopp trusted the England U21\u00a0<\/span>star enough<\/span>\u00a0to give him a rest.<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve seen this happen a lot this season, but to see it continue consistently into the most vital period\u00a0<\/span>of the season<\/span>\u00a0proves that Klopp has faith in Quansah.<\/span><\/p>\n

And rightly so. Quansah has been outstanding when he has played, reaching similar levels to Konate. The ex-Bristol Rovers loanee will be a vital asset to Arne Slot, who\u00a0<\/span>is\u00a0<\/span>set<\/span>\u00a0to take over<\/span><\/a>\u00a0next season.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Liverpool drew 2-2 at the London Stadium to West Ham, on April 27. Yet another disappointing result gives us\u00a0a lot\u00a0to analyse on this current Liverpool side. Here are the five things that we learnt. Five Things We Learnt From Liverpool Drawing to West Ham Liverpool Cannot Defend Set Pieces and Crosses Jurgen Klopp\u2019s side conceded […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4784,"featured_media":632193,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16,3,27],"tags":[3626,31690,126,8859],"class_list":["post-639141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-liverpool","category-premier-league","category-west-ham","tag-analysis","tag-jarell-quansah","tag-jurgen-klopp","tag-luis-diaz"],"modified_by":"Ricky Carroll, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4784"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=639141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/632193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=639141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=639141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=639141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}