West Ham vs Liverpool LIVE: Premier League result and final score as Reds slump continues in title race blow

3 mins: A half-chance for Liverpool at the end of that early spell. Elliott picks out Gravenberch at the back post, but his volley back across goal misses everyone. There were no Liverpool attackers following in.

2 mins: A good start from Liverpool, pinning West Ham on to the edge of their own box. Liverpool have conceded the first goal in 16 of their Premier League games so far this season, and will be looking to avoid that today.

Underway!

The players are making their way out at the London Stadium - kick-off is coming up next. A full house in east London as West Ham look to try and keep their European ambitions alive. For Liverpool, only a win will do if they are to remain in the title race.

Jurgen Klopp, speaking to TNT Sports before Liverpool vs West Ham:

“We have to show it on the pitch. Your motivation is to win the game you play and not think about anything else.

“Against a strong side, you can see the attacking threat of West Ham is a big one. We need to not get carried away, we need to be intense from the start and step-by-step we can get a real foot in the game and win it - it will be difficult.

“The only way you can change is by taking your chances. We have to play the football game, it is not that difficult the boys are brilliant and that is why we have the amount of points we have.”

There is a chorus that Jurgen Klopp is used to hearing in his homeland, writes Richard Jolly. But not about his sides; never about his sides. Until, amid the din at Goodison Park on Wednesday, the Liverpool was tempted to launch into a one-man rendition of an accusation. “In Germany, when the crowd is not happy with the team and they think they are not fighting enough, they sing a song, ‘wir wollen euch kampfen sehen’,” he said, acting as his own interpreter. “That translates into ‘we want to see you fight’.

“I was close to singing that! Never has one of my teams heard that ever. Never. I never heard them say my team didn’t fight because my team [always] went for it. And now ...wow ... how can that happen?” Some 36 hours have passed after the final whistle in Klopp’s last and worst Merseyside derby and, if his mood is more reflective, the underlying emotions remain the same. “I can’t remember ever being as disappointed and frustrated as I was after the Everton game,” he said.

Because the guarantee from a Klopp team tends to be a battling spirit. There is a reason why, during difficult spells, he says they have to “fight through” it. The work comes first, the fluency later. This season has been underpinned with evidence of fight: without it, Liverpool would not have kept coming from behind. But against Everton, in the 487th of what will prove 491 matches as Liverpool, there was no fight, none of the defining characteristics.

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The Premier League is heading for a classic title race, with Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal set for a three-way battle as we enter the final weeks of the season.

Or is it down to two? Liverpool’s defeat to Everton on Wednesday was the third time in four Premier League games in which Jurgen Klopp’s side have dropped points, and it all but eliminated Liverpool from the title race with just four games to go.

With City in action in the FA Cup semi-finals last weekend, both Arsenal and Liverpool were left with two games to play before City’s next Premier League fixture. Arsenal did their job, beating Wolves away and then thrashing Chelsea to move four points clear of Pep Guardiola’s side,

The champions another game in hand after thrashing Brighton on Thursday night, as Guardiola’s side aim to win a fourth league title in a row – a feat that has never been achieved in the history of English football, and the title is still in their hands.

So, with four weeks to go, which team has the best fixtures and who has the hardest run of games to end the season?

Arne Slot is set to become Liverpool’s next manager after they verbally agreed a compensation deal with Feyenoord for the Dutchman, Richard Jolly reports.

The 45-year-old, who won the Eredivisie last season and the Dutch Cup earlier this month, emerged as Liverpool’s first choice, with Jurgen Klopp giving his blessing to the appointment by praising Slot earlier on Friday.

Liverpool had entered into negotiations with Feyenoord this week as Slot, who signed a three-year contract extension last summer when he chose not to move to Tottenham, had a deal until 2026 in Rotterdam.

Slot had said on Thursday that he wanted to move to Anfield and believed he would be allowed to leave Feyenoord, stating: “It’s no secret I want to go to Liverpool. Now I am waiting for the clubs to reach an agreement. I am confident that will happen.”

Here are some photos of the players arriving at the London Stadium: