Even Arne Slot had some sympathy for Nuno Espirito Santo and West Ham United after a 5-2 Liverpool victory which flattered the reigning Premier League champions at Anfield.
Just seven days earlier, West Ham recorded an XG of 2.87 against AFC Bournemouth. While mustering 20 shots at the visitors’ goal, no team has recorded a higher ‘expected goals’ tally without finding the net since 2022.
Tomas Soucek and Taty Castellanos did, at least, get themselves on the scoresheet at Anfield. For the second week in a row, though, West Ham United won the ‘XG’ battle but not the game.
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Nuno Espirito Santo felt the Hammers were unlucky to end the match three goals behind their hosts.
Even Arne Slot, his team leapfrogging Chelsea into fifth, accepts that the fortune was on Liverpool’s side. Especially during a first-half in which Jarrod Bowen, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Tomas Soucek all missed great chances.
Arne Slot says set-pieces were crucial as Liverpool beat West Ham United
On another day, West Ham might have walked down the tunnel a goal or two in front. As it was, Hugo Ekitike, Virgil van Dijk and Alexis Mac Allister took full advantage of some dreadful set-piece defending. That was the biggest frustration from Nuno’s perspective.
He and his coaching staff have devoted countless hours to fixing the Achilles heel which dogged Graham Potter. And, after conceding only four set-piece goals in 15 games, here came three in 45 minutes.
Virgil van Dijk celebrates during Liverpool v West Ham United - Premier League
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“So many times we have been on the opposite side where we deserved so, so, so much more and then there was a set-piece goal conceded. I don’t think we deserved to be 3-0 up at half-time on open play,” a gracious Slot told reporters.
“In all the other games we played, we had a lot of set-pieces and we struggled a long time to score from them. We had our chances and knew things would go back to normality. This is what is happening now. We are still making chances but now they go in. All of a sudden, things look much nicer.
“From open play, I don’t think it was our best game of the season. Set-pieces can make a massive difference.”
Slot says 3-0 half-time lead was not ‘fair’ on Nuno’s Hammers
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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.
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Just to add to the sense of frustration among the visiting fans, Cody Gakpo scored Liverpool’s fourth with a heavily deflected effort. Mads Hermansen had kept the Hammers in the game with some fine stops, but he was helpless to prevent either that or Axel Disasi’s late own goal.
“They scored for 3-1 [through Soucek], then I think we had the chance for 4-1 with Cody Gakpo,” Slot adds. “It took a while before we scored the 4-1, which was scored by Cody as well. They came back to 4-2, and we were having our chances again.
“So, it was never under real threat, but I could feel the nervousness in the stadium. That makes sense because so many times this season we’ve given away a very comfortable lead completely unnecessarily.
“The main thing to take is we scored three goals from set-pieces. Maybe you can argue a fourth because the one from Cody was a bit later on after the set piece. That can make a big difference in the game, I don’t think 3-0 at half-time was a fair reflection of the run of play.”
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