Was there anything to worry about?
Of course there wasn’t!
On a very warm Sunday afternoon, the Reds prevailed 4-0 winners against if we’re being honest, a very poor West Ham side.
Nonetheless it wasn’t all as easy as the scoreline suggests.
In the first 20 minutes, we looked sloppy in possession, very slow on the ball and felt it was going to be another day of James Milner cutting inside on his right foot and floating ineffective crosses in.
Sam Byram went close for the hosts dragging wide after finding himself in acres of space coming from the right hand side.
However, after 35 minutes the deadlock was broken, Philippe Coutinho playing in a new deeper role, played a killer through ball to Daniel Sturridge who took it around the keeper after a few step overs before tapping into the empty net.
All seemed well with Liverpool looking happy to take a 1-0 lead into the break and re-energize but truth be told in the 43rd minute, West Ham should have been level.
A corner sent to the back post deflected off Dejan Lovren into the path of Andre Ayew who was yards out. Whilst it looked harder to miss, Ayew hit the post TWICE, seconds of one another and we can count ourselves very lucky that we went into the ahead. Again set pieces proving to be something we can’t handle.
Liverpool, unchanged from the first-half, immediately started to put the pressure on the hosts, calling on the West Ham keeper Adrian to pull off a string of fine saves in the opening minutes of the half.
The second goal finally came when Gini Wijnaldum nearly threw his name in the hat for goal of the season! A West Ham defender headed the ball clear and he unleashed a thunderous volley against the crossbar and bounced back into play. Whilst many Reds, including myself, were still in awe, the ‘Little Magician’ that is Coutinho ensured that th awe was short-lived, working some space for himself to unleash a strike on his right foot, sliding the shot into the bottom left corner, 2-0.
The third goal of the afternoon’s contest, I suppose we could class ourselves again a little lucky, as Wijnaldum clearly handled the ball taking it away from the attacker in the box. Whilst West Ham dwelled on the handball and were slow getting back, Liverpool countered, with the ball finding Coutinho. He danced his way through into the box before excellently powering home past the helpless Adrian. 3-0
By then the contest was over and Liverpool even managed to go and get a fourth, after a quick piece of footwork from Sturridge and a mis-hit shot from Wijnaldum, Origi was able to tap in from a few yards.
Origi later on in the game really should have went from goal scorer to creator. With him and Sturridge two-on-one against James Collins, and a lay off seeming obvious to make the tie 5-0, Origi decided to take the shot on himself and get his name on the scoresheet twice, much to the displeasure of Sturridge.
Overall, it was a fantastic day at the office for the Reds, a clean sheet, four goals and a fit and firing Daniel Sturridge. The win leaves Liverpool four points ahead of Arsenal, meaning one more win and those famous nights will return to Anfield, along with some big name signings, hopefully!
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