West Ham 1-1 Liverpool: Reds suffer second draw in a week

Premier League
Monday 04 February 2019 - 8:00 pm
Olympic Stadium
West Ham1
1Liverpool
Show Match Events
22'Mane ⚽️
⚽️ Antonio28'
54' Matip
69'↔️ Lallana off, Shaqiri on
74'↔️ Firmino off, Origi on
Noble off, Carroll on ↔️78'
Hernández off, Obiang on ↔️78'
Felipe Anderson off, Masuaka on ↔️90'
Possession %
2773
Total Shots
1310
Shots on Target
25
Shots Blocked
42
Offside
13
Hide Match Events

Liverpool dropped two points away at West Ham United but remain at the top of the Premier League.

Man City dropped three points last week, but Liverpool have dropped a total of four points in two consecutive 1-1 draws. City thus narrowing the gap by a point.

Sadio Mane gave Liverpool the lead shortly after the 20 minute mark when he calmly dispatched a pass from an offside James Milner, before a defensive set-piece lapse just six minutes later saw Antonio hold off Naby Keita and fire past Alisson.

The reds were already in trouble before the game kicked off as James Milner travelled separately from the squad to the game due to illness.  It was also confirmed that Jordan Henderson and Dejan Lovren would miss out with minor muscle injuries.  With Gini Wijnaldum suffering a recurrence of a knee complaint - Milner was the man pencilled in to be tonight's right back.

The trio of Fabinho, Keita and a rare start for Adam Lallana made for an unusual looking LFC midfield.

Liverpool stuttered to get any pace to their passing and West Ham elected to test Alisson at the earliest opportunity, with Hernandez driving a shot wide of the reds goal.

Naby Keita's first half performance in particular left a lot to be desired - his Liverpool career yet to hit the level we were expecting.  Too often he chose the wrong pass, or dwelled on the ball a moment too long.  Meanwhile Adam Lallana was struggling to link up with Mo Salah down the right, with the pair combining to cede possession on a number of occasions.  But it was some nice skill from Lallana that eventually helped Liverpool into a lead.

He twisted and turned to release James Milner, who was a yard offside, who then fed the ball across into the area for Mane to score his third goal in three games.

But Liverpool's lead wouldn't last long.

The reds conceded a free kick and just like against Leicester last week they were made to pay.  A training ground routine saw the ball flicked to Antonio, Keita failed to react, and the West Ham forward slotted in for his fourth goal in five games against Liverpool.

It was a below-par half from the reds.

Liverpool improved in the second half - ball retention and speed of play was much better, but the final ball quality and spark was still missing.  The reds took too many touches, or a poor touch, but did enjoy a decent spell in the middle of the second half with two quick fire chances from Mo Salah and an ambitious driving run from Andy Robertson.

Roberto Firmino and Adam Lallana were hauled off as the half progressed.  Sub Shaqiri offered little extra adventure but Divock Origi did hold the ball up well at times as the reds pushed for a winner.  The Belgian had a late late chance to win the game but replays suggested he was offside before Fabianski saved his effort.

Man City will likely move ahead of the reds on goal difference when they beat Everton on Wednesday night before Liverpool return to action on Saturday at home to Bournemouth.

With Liverpool and Man City dropping points over the past week it has opened the door slightly to Spurs, who are now just 5 points behind Liverpool and 2 points behind Man City, as the title race enters the last third of the season.

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