Despite a poor first half, Liverpool turned things around to beat West Ham 3-1 thanks to Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota.
It was a clash of well-prepared sides at Anfield as Liverpool hosted West Ham after they both won in the Europa League on Thursday.
And the first real chance fell to the guests when Lucas Paqueta’s cross found an unmarked Tomáš Souček inside the box. However, the Czech midfielder saw his header well caught by Alisson.
Liverpool earned a penalty in the 15th minute when Mohamed Salah was fouled by Nayef Aguerde. The Egypt international stepped up and headed home from 12 yards.
However, the Hammers equalized on the stroke of half-time when Jarrod Bowen got in front of Virgil van Dijk and acrobatically headed home.
Liverpool got back in front on the hour mark when Darwin Nunez netted completely against the run of play.
Jürgen Klopp’s men secured the points with five minutes remaining when Diogo Jota headed them in from close range.
Liverpool player ratings (4-3-3)
GK: Alisson Becker – 7/10 – Made a stunning save in the opening five minutes.
RB: Joe Gomez – 5/10 – Caught out by an alarming number of crosses which came into the box.
CB: Joel Matip – 5/10 – Fell asleep a few times when West Ham fired the ball into the box.
CB: Virgil van Dijk – 6/10 – Beaten by Bowen for the equaliser. Bagged an assist for Liverpool’s third though.
LB: Andrew Robertson – 6/10 – Ran up and down the left flank in the way only he can do.
CM: Dominik Szoboszlai – 7/10 – He’s so good, isn’t he? Szoboszlai once again didn’t put a foot wrong in the middle of the park.
CM: Alexis Mac Allister – 8/10 – Playing deeper than he was perhaps expected to early in his Liverpool career, but he still found a way to pop up with a brilliant assist for the winning goal on Sunday.
CM: Curtis Jones – 6/10 – An industrious performance from the Scouse midfielder.
RW: Mohamed Salah – 8/10 – Won a penalty and then thumped it home.
ST: Darwin Nunez – 7/10 – Missed a brilliant chance and then quickly made amends by scoring a brilliant goal. His runs in behind were an issue for West Ham on the day.
LW: Luis Diaz – 6/10 – The quietest of Liverpool’s front three but still showed flashes of what he’s capable of.
Substitutes
SUB: Ryan Gravenberch (77′ for Jones) – 6/10
SUB: Cody Gakpo (82′ for Nunez) – N/A
SUB: Diogo Jota (82′ for Diaz) – 7/10 – Came on and scored again. It’s hard to imagine that he’ll be on the bench next week.
SUB: Wataru Endo (88′ for Mac Allister) – N/A
Subs not used: Kelleher (GK), Tsimikas, Quansah, Konate, Elliott
Manager
Jurgen Klopp – 7/10 – The Liverpool manager has seemingly worked out his early season midfield conundrum, and his team are really firing on all cylinders right now as a result.