West Ham 3-1 Liverpool

by Amar Azam, at the Boleyn Ground

For a side that made such progress under Brendan Rodgers last season, the current campaign has thus far proved that for all his efforts over the summer, his Liverpool squad may struggle to repeat what they achieved.

At times, his side were thrilling, near unplayable. They are far from that at the moment. Their performance against Tottenham Hotspur last month may have shown they are still capable of flashes of brilliance. In the home defeat to Aston Villa last week, however, they were woeful.

In this, their third defeat in five matches, they fared little better. There is no doubting that West Ham United deserved this win.

Sam Allardyce’s side were two goals ahead within seven minutes, through Winston Reid and Diafra Sakho.

Liverpool’s players were simply unable to match the energy and work-rate of their opponents, and though they pulled a goal back in the first half, through the ever impressive Raheem Sterling, West Ham sealed the victory late on when substitute Morgan Amalfitano capped off a breakaway move.

“There is a new expectation at the club,” said Rodgers. “Teams have always wanted to beat us but we are even more of a rival now. We have to deal with it.”

He added: “The group has come such a long way. The level expected now has grown. But we have to be able to cope with that and at the moment we’re not.”

With Liverpool missing the creative force that is Daniel Sturridge, they are without their principal striker.

Mario Balotelli has still to find his feet, and following a frustrating performance, it is clear that he still has a suspect temperament.

He picked up a yellow card for a tangle with West Ham goalkeeper Adrian. On the evidence of this display, Liverpool need Sturridge back fast.

West Ham boss Sam Allardyce was pleased with a result that saw them leapfrog Liverpool in the league. He said: “Our higher pressing game was the reason we dominated Liverpool so much in the first half and to score two goals in that early period really stunned the Liverpool players.”

Liverpool welcome Middlesbrough in the League Cup tomorrow before next weekend’s crucial derby against Everton. West Ham travel to Manchester United next week.