West Ham vs Liverpool result: Five things we learned as Mohamed Salah closes the gap

Liverpool earned a 3-1 win over West Ham in the Premier League on Sunday thanks in particular to a Mohamed Salah brace.

The Reds dominated most of the encounter, though chances were at a premium in the first half with the Hammers keeping a tight back line and being kept deep in their own half.

After the break, Liverpool lifted their game somewhat and Divock Origi hammered an effort into the side-netting, while Michail Antonio spurned the Hammers’ best chance as he fired wide from the edge of the area - minutes before Mohamed Salah turned infield and found the far corner to give Liverpool the lead.

READ MORE: Liverpool in talks to sign Preston’s Davies

Salah’s second came at the end of a counter-attack from a West Ham corner, before the teams swapped late close-range goals, Gini Wijnaldum making it three before Craig Dawson netted off a corner. Here are five things we learned as the Reds moved back into third in the table.

West Ham’s winning run ends

The Hammers came into this fixture having won four league games on the spin, a fine run of form which had briefly lifted them to fourth last week.

Ten wins for the campaign was already the equal of what they achieved last year - and adds weight to just what an improvement David Moyes has managed in 2020/21.

Here, they never truly came close to adding to that good run.

They were somewhat passive, rarely had control of the midfield zone and hardly tested Alisson’s shot-stopping, which hasn’t been at its best in recent weeks. A disappointing end to the win streak, though of course not a terrible result in isolation.

Full-backs’ form

Recently, Liverpool’s woeful run of results had coincided with a number of players being well below their best - notably the full-back pair of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson.

The duo are such an important outlet that any drop-off in end product from them would have a big knock-on effect on scoring and chance creation, and the England international in particular has had an extremely difficult season.

Over the past couple of matches, Alexander-Arnold has gradually been on the comeback trail, with his confidence taking a big upward turn as soon as he hit the back of the net against Spurs.

The No. 66 was involved in the build-up for both Salah goals, playing the pass prior to the assist in each case.

Centre-back chatter

The ongoing theme of Liverpool’s last few months has been the rotating cast at centre-back.

With Fabinho and Joel Matip both on the injured list now, as well as regular pair Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez, Nat Phillips got the nod to partner captain Jordan Henderson in yet another makeshift line-up in that area of the pitch.

Phillips played well, showing his aerial prowess and attention to covering behind, but it was off-pitch the headlines were generated - Goal.com’s Neil Jones among those reporting during the match that the Reds are in discussions over a £2million move for Preston’s Ben Davies.

There’s no doubt the Reds need cover and depth in the position, but Phillips did his hopes of staying involved no harm in this 90 minutes.

Salah firing on all cylinders

Mohamed Salah was on the fringes for a while, but worked himself into the game and had a hugely telling impact.

He was back to form against Spurs and Man United in the cup, and here got his rewards in victory with a clinical brace.

The first he made himself, the second owed much to his brilliant first touch and coolness under pressure. Salah remains the league’s top scorer and played a big role when he was the only one of the usual ‘big three’ lining up in the Reds’ attack.

Champions League chasers

Liverpool went into the game one place and two points ahead of the hammers, occupying the coveted fourth place in the table.

The Reds themselves will have ambitions to look higher than that, but need consistency in results before looking much further than third-placed Leicester, who lost again before this fixture kicked off.

Job done in that regard: the Reds are back above the Foxes and into third, a point behind Man United after a five-point swing in their respective tallies over the past few days.

As for West Ham, if they get any European football for next season at all it would be a massive and unexpected bonus, so they won’t be too concerned about losing ground on fourth place at all.