West Ham United’s hopes of Premier League survival took a major hit on Saturday as Nuno Espirito Santo’s side lost 5-2 to Liverpool, a game which showed that the Hammers are their own worst enemy at times.
Hugo Ekitike and Virgil van Dijk scored the goals as Arne Slot’s side inflicted what could be a damaging Premier League defeat on West Ham United.
Who was West Ham’s most disappointing player vs Liverpool and why? 🤔
Taty Castellanos and other West Ham United players look dejected after Liverpool score their first goal against them in the Premier League clash on 28/02/2026.
Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images
Indeed, there are now only ten games left, and Nuno’s side remain in the bottom three of the Premier League table.
These are worrying times and, most gallingly of all, West Ham brought this latest defeat on themselves.
Here are five things Hammers News learned.
West Ham have dropped 20 points from winning positions this season, making life far more difficult for themselves in the relegation battle.
While that wasn’t the case on Saturday, the fact the two opening goals from set-pieces was hugely frustrating.
Nuno Espirito Santo looks on during West Ham's Premier League game against Liverpool.
Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images
The Irons were causing problems from open play, but such weak defending two early set pieces gave them an impossible task.
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Nottingham Forest and Tottenham let off the hook
West Ham are in a relegation battle alongside Nottingham Forest and Tottenham and a timid defensive performance at Anfield left them both sleep a little easier.
Even if neither pick up a positive result when they play this weekend, they will have not lost any ground on West Ham.
Nuno Espirito Santo looks on during West Ham's Premier League clash against Liverpool.
Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
With ten games left to go, the Irons are still in a worse position than any of their relegation rivals.
Though a game at Anfield might have been seen as something of a free hit, the manner of the defeat and ceding some of the momentum in the relegation battle is a huge disappointment.
West Ham’s first half woes continue
Wolves and Burnley – the two teams below the Irons in the table – are the only sides who have conceded more times than West Ham in the first half this season (21).
If Nuno’s plan is to soak up pressure and hit teams on the counter, then it’s not going to work if that dreadful first half record continues.
West Ham appear to love making problems for themselves. Losing to Liverpool is one thing, simply giving them the points is another matter entirely.
Lack of cutting edge costs West Ham again
Another huge frustration at Anfield was the number of missed chances, even aside from the goals they actually scored. Dinos Mavropanos could well have had two goals in the opening few minutes after crafting some fine opportunities from corners.
There was also a lack of end product from the likes of Jarrod Bowen, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Taty Castellanos – all of whom took the wrong decision in good areas at times.
Mads Hermansen reacts after Liverpool score their third goal against West Ham in their Premier League meeting on 28/02/2026.
Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
Though scoring might not have changed matters entirely on a sunny but miserable day at Anfield for the travelling supporters, missing chances is becoming something of a theme.
West Ham could have won games against Chelsea, Manchester United and Bournemouth had they had more cutting edge up front.
West Ham play their part in equalling unwanted Premier League record
What happened to West Ham United at Anfield on Saturday had only happened once before in Premier League history.
Indeed, they became only the second team to score from three corners in the first half of a Premier League game, after Manchester United did it against Leicester in 2016.
West Ham’s set-piece defending in that first half was almost historically bad, then.
Even after an improved second half display, there’s only so much a team can do when their defending from set-pieces had been so bad.
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