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Liverpool have now won six of their past seven games in all competitions At a glance Liverpool score five goals in Premier League game for first time this season Hugo Ekitike, Virgil van Dijk and Alexis Mac Allister put Reds 3-0 up at break Tomas Soucek and Taty Castellanos net for visitors in second half Cody Gakpo and Axel Disasi own goal complete scoring for hosts Liverpool leapfrog Chelsea with win; West Ham remain in relegation zone PLAYER RATER A clinical Liverpool performance helped them beat battling West Ham in the Premier League and move level on points with fourth-placed Manchester United. The hosts were 3-0 up at the break thanks to goals from Hugo Ekitike, Virgil van Dijk and Alexis Mac Allister. West Ham pulled one back early in the second half through Tomas Soucek before Cody Gakpo restored Liverpool's three-goal lead in the 70th minute. Nuno Espirito Santo's side scored again through Taty Castellanos, but an Axel Disasi own goal ensured Liverpool hit five goals in a league game for the first time this season. All three of the Reds' first-half goals came from set-pieces - with Arne Slot's side now leading the table in 2026 when it comes to goals from set-plays (excluding penalties). In the fifth minute, Ryan Gravenberch teed up Ekitike, who finished smartly to beat Mads Hermansen at the near post for his 16th goal of the season. West Ham threatened to equalise, but against the run of play Liverpool doubled their advantage when Van Dijk headed in Dominik Szoboszlai's corner. The visitors failed to take advantage of Liverpool's complacency with Konstantinos Mavropanos, Jarrod Bowen and Soucek all wasting chances. And just before half-time, Mac Allister's superb volley took a deflection and ended in the back of the net. That was the cue for sections of the travelling support to head for the exits. From there, Liverpool should have put the game to bed - but they struggled to exert control on proceedings. West Ham gave themselves a lifeline early in the second half when Soucek got on the end of a delightful delivery from El Hadji Malick Diouf. Gakpo then made up for missing a sitter when his deflected effort left Hermansen with no chance, to calm the nerves inside Anfield. Castellanos scored West Ham's second to give the visitors hope again, but Jeremie Frimpong's cross was deflected in by Disasi to complete the scoring. Liverpool move above Chelsea - who play leaders Arsenal on Sunday - into fifth, while West Ham remain 18th, two points behind Nottingham Forest. Have your say on Liverpool's performance What did you make of West Ham's display? This video can not be played Slot happy to be on right side of 'important' set-pieces Perhaps the most impressive aspect from a Liverpool perspective was the fact they virtually put this game to bed in the first half. That has been a rarity this season. Though they did make it hard from themselves, losing the ball carelessly on a number of occasions, there can be few complaints when you score five in a game. Liverpool were far from brilliant - but Slot's men were clinical and, for the first time this season, they scored three goals in the first half of a league game. Before this game, you had to go back to 13 December for the last time Liverpool scored a goal before the 41st minute in a league game at Anfield. But they were 2-0 up after 24 minutes on Saturday - and ended up scoring five in a Premier League match for the first time since they beat Tottenham in April to clinch the title last season. Four of the five goals involved some kind of deflection, but they all count the same. In terms of goals from set-pieces (excluding penalties), Liverpool were joint-bottom between the start of the season and 31 December. But in 2026 they are leading the league - with eight set-piece goals so far this year. Slot will also have been encouraged to see Joe Gomez start at right-back and the return of Frimpong from injury, but Mohamed Salah remains without a league goal in his past 10 games. This video can not be played 'A lot of positives' despite 'frustrating' loss - Nuno West Ham will travel back to London and wonder how this game ended 5-2. For what it is worth, the final x G tally was 1. 75 for Liverpool and 1. 84 for the Hammers. Nuno's side played well in phases, but simply did not win the key moments - and it is hard to have many excuses when you concede five goals. But West Ham, who were unbeaten in February until this defeat, will take some solace from the fact they gave Liverpool a much better game than the scoreline suggested. Nuno suggested as much in his post-match comments, saying: "It is hard to explain, maybe it is absurd to say it is a good performance when you lose 5-2. "But there are a lot of positives, a lot of negatives too. .. we really made mistakes from set-pieces. "Saying it is a good performance maybe sounds really silly, but it is what I saw. But we go home with a poor result. " In a week where the Hammers confirmed they will need to sell players this summer even if they avoid relegation, after revealing a £104. 2m loss for the last financial year, this was ultimately a damaging defeat. And the sight of some travelling supporters heading for the exits before half-time summed up the bleakness of their situation. West Ham are in serious danger of going down - but there is still time to turn things around. Liverpool travel to Wolves on Tuesday (20: 15 GMT) while West Ham visit Fulham on Wednesday (19: 30). After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users. Comments can not be loaded To load Comments you need to enable Java Script in your browser Last Updated 28th February 2026 at 18: 18 Please Note: All times UK. Tables are subject to change. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made. Manager: Arne Slot Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Manager: Nuno Espírito Santo Formation: 4 - 5 - 1 Manager: Arne Slot Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Manager: Nuno Espírito Santo Formation: 4 - 5 - 1 Liverpool Liverpool West Ham West Ham United High chance of scoring Medium chance of scoring Low chance of scoring Dominant period Match momentum measures the swing of the match by comparing each team’s threat to see who is more likely to score within that minute. The momentum value is the difference between each team’s most dangerous moment, or team threat, in that minute. Match momentum measures the swing of the match by comparing each team’s threat to see who is more likely to score within that minute. The momentum value is the difference between each team’s most dangerous moment, or team threat, in that minute. 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West Ham have won just one of their last 52 away league games against Liverpool (D12 L39), beating them 3-0 in August 2015 under Slaven Bilic. West Ham have lost 26 of their 29 Premier League away games against the previous season’s champions (W1 D2), with their only victory coming at Manchester United in December 2001. Liverpool have won their last two Premier League games by a 1-0 scoreline. They’ve not won three in a row without conceding since Arne Slot’s first three in charge of the club last season, while they last had three consecutive 1-0 wins in a season in their opening three games of 2013-14. Liverpool lost 3-0 against 19th placed Nottingham Forest in November – only in 1992-93 have they lost two Premier League home games against sides starting the day in the relegation zone (vs Arsenal and Wimbledon). West Ham have won 11 points from their last six Premier League games (W3 D2 L1), as many as they had from their previous 18 (W2 D5 L11). Liverpool’s Premier League games have seen more goals scored in the 90th minute (including stoppage time) than any other side this season (13 – F7 A6). Nine of these goals have altered the result of the match, with the Reds scoring three winners (D2 L4). 59% of West Ham’s Premier League goals this season have come in the first half, the highest share in the division (19/32). Meanwhile, Liverpool have scored the lowest share of their goals in the opening 45 minutes this term (31% - 13/42). West Ham boss Nuno Espírito Santo has lost more Premier League games against Liverpool than any other opponent (8). However, his only win against the Reds came at Anfield against Arne Slot last season, winning 1-0 with Nottingham Forest. Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai has had more shots from outside the box than any other player in the Premier League this season (37). Three of his four goals this term have also been from distance, the joint-highest percentage of any player to score more than twice (75%, level with Anton Stach). Attempt missed. Ryan Gravenberch (Liverpool) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Rio Ngumoha. Attempt missed. Crysencio Summerville (West Ham United) right footed shot from the centre of the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Valentín Castellanos. Crysencio Summerville (West Ham United) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. Jeremie Frimpong (Liverpool) wins a free kick on the right wing. Foul by Crysencio Summerville (West Ham United). Attempt blocked. Cody Gakpo (Liverpool) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Dominik Szoboszlai. Attempt missed. Tomás Soucek (West Ham United) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Substitution, Liverpool. Jeremie Frimpong replaces Joe Gomez. Substitution, Liverpool. Rio Ngumoha replaces Hugo Ekitiké. Substitution, West Ham United. Adama Traoré replaces Soungoutou Magassa. Goal! Liverpool 4, West Ham United 2. Valentín Castellanos (West Ham United) header from the left side of the six yard box to the top left corner. Assisted by Jarrod Bowen with a cross following a corner. Corner, West Ham United. Conceded by Alisson Becker. Attempt saved. Crysencio Summerville (West Ham United) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal by Alisson Becker (Liverpool). Assisted by El Hadji Malick Diouf. Ibrahima Konaté (Liverpool) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Valentín Castellanos (West Ham United). Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Valentín Castellanos (West Ham United). Goal! Liverpool 4, West Ham United 1. Cody Gakpo (Liverpool) right footed shot from the left side of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Hugo Ekitiké. Corner, Liverpool. Conceded by Crysencio Summerville. Milos Kerkez (Liverpool) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Copyright © 2026 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.