by Staff Writer
Saturday, 28th February 2026
A defensive disaster-class cost Nuno Espirito Santo's side the chance of taking any points from this afternoon's Premier League meeting at Anfield.
The Hammers, who had only won one of their last 58 meetings on the red side of Stanley Park were equally as good in an attacking sense, if not better than our hosts - a suggestion given credence by today's xG rating of 1.84 to Liverpool's 1.75.
However there were unwelcome echoes of the kind of defending witnessed during the Graham Potter era that led to the Hammers going into the half time interval 3-0 behind - which left far too much to do in the second half.
It look Liverpool just five minutes to open the scoring, through Hugo Ekitike - a lead doubled on 24 minutes with a header from Virgil Van Dyke, that may well not have stood if scored at the other end due to interference from a Liverpool player standing in an offside position.
That incident brushed over by VAR within a few seconds, Liverpool made it 3-0 and essentially put the game to bed two minutes ahead of the internal when Mac Allister fired into the roof of the net from the edge of the box from another set piece.
West Ham, who had created a number of goalscoring opportunities ahead of the break pulled one back through Tomas Soucek just three minutes after the restart. And although the Hammers continued to create the better chances, it was Liverpool who were to score the next goal, Gakpo getting on the scoresheet with 20 minutes of normal time remaining.
Still refusing to give in, West Ham continued to push forward and earned a second goal 15 minutes from time through Jarrod Bowen. However the last goal of the game was to go the home side's way, with Disasi turning the ball into his own net from close range.
And in order to rub salt into the travelling fans' wounds, some supporters had flags, clothing and cards relating to the 'No More BS!' campaign forcibly removed by stewards, presumably on the order of West Ham's board, as chairman David Sullivan and vice chair Karren Brady continue to wage war against their many thousands of detractors.
We'll have a full match report for you soon...
West Ham Utd: Hermansen, Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Disasi, Diouf (Mayers 90), Magassa (Adama 76), Fernandes, Soucek (Kanté 90), Bowen (c), Summerville, Castellanos
Unused subs: Areola, Walker-Peters, Scarles, Todibo, Kilman, Wilson
Goals: Soucek (49), Castellanos (75)
Booked: Magassa, Summerville
Liverpool: Alisson, Gomez (Frimpong 76), van Dijk (c), Konate, Kerkez, Gravenberch (Nyoni 86), Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Salah, Gakpo, Ekitike (Ngumoha 76)
Unused subs: Mamardashvili, Woodman, Robertson, Jones, Chiesa, Ramsay
Goals: Ekitike (6), van Dijk (24), Mac Allister (43), Gakpo (70), Disasi (og 83)
Booked: Gakpo, Szoboszlai
Possession: LFC 49%-51% WHUFC
Shots/on target: LFC 18/7-11/4 WHUFC
xG: LFC 1.75-1.84 WHUFC
Referee: Tim Robinson
Attendance: TBC
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