Liverpool 5-2 West Ham
by James Nalton
at Anfield 

LIVERPOOL fully embraced the game of set pieces that is today’s Premier League in a 5-2 win against West Ham on Saturday.

Arne Slot himself admitted that this wasn’t the best his team have played in general play, and that they have previously failed to get results in games where he believes they have played much better than this.

But the premier set-piece league being as it is, Liverpool’s effectiveness from dead-ball situations in attack made for a convincing scoreline.

“In my opinion, we’ve played better this season,” Slot said after the game. “We played okay to good, but it wasn’t our best game of the season. 

“We’ve played better when we’ve lost and played better when we’ve conceded set-pieces.”

All three of Liverpool’s first-half goals came from corner situations. The first, scored by Hugo Ekitike within the opening five minutes, set the tone.

Though it didn’t come directly from the cross from the corner, it was still worked around that set-piece formation, as Ryan Gravenberch threaded a ball through to the striker after West Ham failed to clear.

Liverpool almost conceded from a similar situation shortly after, with the defensive side of their set-piece play apparently not matching the attacking one.

But as Konstantinos Mavropanos fired his shot over, Virgil van Dijk made no mistake with the next chance at the other end, heading in Dominik Szoboszlai’s corner with apparent ease. 

The third came just before halftime when Alexis Mac Allister volleyed home after Mohamed Salah’s corner was headed on by Van Dijk and diverted his way by Ekitike. The ball didn’t touch the ground between the corner kick and finding the back of the net.

Despite the three-goal lead, without the set-piece advantage, Liverpool may have been struggling as they have in other games this season.

Arsenal have shown this year how important that advantage is, and getting the edge in this area of the game has proved key in 2025/26.

While Liverpool were not as good as the scoreline suggested, West Ham were not as bad. They missed some good chances and eventually scored twice, through second-half goals from Tomas Soucek and Valentin Castellanos.

Liverpool had some joy in open play as West Ham pushed for the equaliser. They replied to both the visitors’ goals, first through Cody Gakpo, and then when Jeremie Frimpong’s cross deflected in off Axel Disasi.

But as far as the set-piece play goes, having had the worst record at attacking set pieces at the start of the season, Slot’s side are now well and truly in on the act and lead the way for goals from such situations in 2026.

In the game of set pieces for Liverpool, there is no middle ground.