West Ham– Liverpool: Liverpool End The Year With A Hammering (0-5)

West Ham may have had ambitious intentions to press Liverpool in their own half and play out from the back, but they fell victim to Liverpool’s deadly forward line as Mohamed Salah, Luis Díaz, and Cody Gakpo all got on the first-half scoresheet in a comfortable Liverpool win.

Tactical analysis and match report by Josh Manley.

West Ham had managed to string together a four-game unbeaten run prior to this match, with wins over Wolves and Southampton, plus draws against Bournemouth and Brighton. Liverpool meanwhile have continued to run ahead at top of the table, with their recent goal-fest at Tottenham Hotspur followed up on Boxing Day by a 3-1 win over Leicester City.

The home side lined up in a 4-3-3 shape, with Vladimír Coufal, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Maximilian Kilman, and Aaron Wan-Bissaka as the back four. Lucas Paquetá was alongside Edson Álvarez and Carlos Soler in midfield, while Mohammed Kudus and Emerson Palmieri played wide either side of Jarrod Bowen.  

Arne Slot’s side once again lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with a back four of Trent-Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez, Virgil van Dijk, and Andrew Robertson. Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister were the double-pivot, with Curtis Jones ahead of them due to Dominik Szoboszlai’s suspension. Mohamed Salah, Luis Díaz, and Cody Gakpo once again formed the frontline.

Liverpool’s lethal forwards

Despite the fact that Liverpool . . .