Arne Slot prediction comes true as Liverpool panic short-lived - 5 talking points vs West Ham

Liverpool took a big step in the right direction by beating West Ham United, with Dominik Szoboszlai and the Reds' set-pieces both very good. This is what we spotted at Anfield.

Liverpool's players celebrate Hugo Ekitike's opener against West Ham.(Image: Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

ANFIELD, LIVERPOOL // Liverpool scored five goals without looking particularly convincing against West Ham, giving itself a major boost in the race for the Champions League spots.

Hugo Ekitike and Virgil van Dijk put Liverpool in a commanding position in the first half, with the Reds performing at a much greater intensity than last weekend at Nottingham Forest. Alexis Mac Allister made it three before the break, getting on the scoresheet for the second successive fixture.

Tomas Soucek gave West Ham a glimmer of hope and the Reds panicked for a while before Cody Gakpo restored the three-goal advantage and Taty Castellanos cut it back again. Here are the five things Liverpool.com spotted as the game unfolded.

Set-pieces prove the difference

Liverpool caused itself all sorts of problems at Nottingham Forest last time, somehow winning when it was utterly abject in the first 45 minutes, in particular.

This time, it made no mistake with a similarly slow and ponderous execution of the game plan to gain a lead. Led by Dominik Szoboszlai, Liverpool was much stronger from the off, and earned itself an advantage that it wasn't going to squander.

There were moments of fortune when Liverpool switched off — Alisson Becker and Ryan Gravenberch were both guilty of that — but Arne Slot would equally be quick to note the impact that set-pieces made.

Virgil van Dijk made it 2-0 to Liverpool in the first half. (Image: Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

Liverpool's first came after a dead ball, while the second was directly as a result of Szoboszlai swinging in a dangerous cross from a corner and the third from Salah's cross.

Since the turn of the year, no Premier League team has scored more from set-pieces than Liverpool. Just as Arne Slot predicted even before set-piece coach Aaron Briggs moved on, things would inevitably turn the corner on that front.

It is no coincidence that results have started to turn and that the margin for error in games is larger. That is exactly how it played out here, with the overall performance from Liverpool still needing work.

Joe Gomez proves his worth

At right-back, Arne Slot has Jeremie Frimpong back available — albeit only available off the bench here — and he has tried the likes of Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones there. Here, though, Joe Gomez was trusted to come in.

It was the logical call and though Frimpong should be able to start again soon, Gomez is another strong option. Up against the tricky Crysensio Summerville, he defended well and attempted to make a difference in the final third too.

If you asked Gomez, his favorite position would be in the center. He showed again here, though, that he can fill in at full-back. When fit, he is as good a solution as any.

Joe Gomez jokes with some teammates during a Liverpool training session.(Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

Clinical Liverpool in strange game

Without the injured Florian Wirtz, Liverpool looked completely devoid of anything remotely like creativity against Nottingham Forest last weekend. This time, it could only improve on that front.

In the end, it did by some distance, though West Ham was also atrocious at the back at times. Szoboszai was the chief creator in the number 10 role, while Ekitike came to life for a while and set-pieces, as mentioned, played a big role.

There is still much more required from Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah out wide, but Liverpool did not need them at their best here, even if they will do in the future. They remain an issue to address, but not as glaring a concern on a day like this.

Panic shows work still to do

Given it was 3-0 at the break, West Ham could easily have given up hope of getting anything. But with Liverpool far from in its peak form at the moment, Nuno Espirito Santo sensed a shock was possible.

Soucek's goal a couple of minutes after the restart only deepened that thinking and then pretty much everyone in a red jersey started to panic. The difference compared to previous games this season was that Liverpool played badly for a spell but already had a lead. In other circumstances, this could have been a different outcome.

West Ham couldn't really argue that it deserved something from the match, but Liverpool gave it every chance. Sloppy passing and silly decision-making could have proven far more costly than they did. Here, it was clinical and the panic proved short-lived. In future, the Reds might need to ensure they have a similar lead.

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot will be looking to guide Liverpool into the top four(Image: 2026 Simon Stacpoole/Offside)

Champions League boost

With Chelsea playing a tricky-looking game against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday and Manchester United facing the rare prospect of playing twice in a week, the next couple of games are a chance to make up some ground.

Liverpool knew that there was no margin for error. Only a win here would be enough to move into the Champions League places, however temporary that proves to be this weekend.

That explains the fast start that Liverpool was able to put into action. Though it drifted a bit after that and then seemed to panic for a spell, it got the job done with something to spare.

Chelsea has a very tough run of games coming up and Liverpool, on paper at least, should be able to establish a gap ahead of the run-in. Here, the Reds took the first step towards doing so, even if it was far from convincing.