Humbled West Ham United end year with heavy home defeat

After stringing together a four-match unbeaten stretch, the wheels well and truly came off the Hammers wagon at London Stadium, where the ruthless Reds cruised to a comfortable 5-0 victory.

“We had done well during the month of December but this has been a big disappointment and a tough day for ourselves and our fans,” admitted Julen Lopetegui following the Merseysiders’ miserable mauling of his side.

“But we didn’t deserve any more from the game.

“Liverpool are currently one of the best teams in the world but we can do better and we must compete better in these kinds of matches.”

Luckless Lucas Paquetá slipped in the act of shooting during the opening exchanges, but Hammers keeper Alphonse Areola soon became the busiest player on the pitch as Liverpool always looked most likely to break the deadlock.

Indeed, the recalled Luis Diaz eventually put the visitors ahead on the half-hour mark after the ball fortuitously broke back to him off both Konstantinos Mavropanos and Vladimír Coufal on the edge of the Hammers area.

Mohammed Kudus then rocked the base of the right-hand upright ahead of Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah netting a quickfire double just before the break.

“During the opening ten minutes we had one clear chance and we were unlucky with their first goal,” added head coach Lopetegui.

“Then, there was a key moment when we hit the post because that was our best chance to draw level.

“We have to take advantage of those situations because Liverpool then destroyed us in 15 minutes and when it is 3-0 at half-time, it becomes very difficult for everyone after that.”

Despite shuffling his pack at the interval and introducing a third central defender in Jean-Clair Todibo plus striker Niclas Füllkrug at the expense of Edson Álvarez and Coufal, the Hammers were still out-fought and out-thought during the second period.

Within ten minutes of the restart, Trent Alexander-Arnold had added a fourth with a deflected 20-yarder before substitute Diogo Jota completed the job with Liverpool’s fifth goal in the closing stages.

After beating Wolverhampton Wanderers (2-1) and drawing with AFC Bournemouth (1-1) and Brighton & Hove Albion (1-1), before winning at Southampton (1-0) on Boxing Day, it was a case of four steps forward and five back with this dire defensive display.

Lopetegui said: “Of course, we are worried about conceding all the goals that we have but Liverpool have now won 12 and drawn two of their 14 away matches this season.

“We have to accept this result and make sure that we do better as we look forward to our next challenge.”

The task does not get any easier, though, given the Hammers start 2025 with a tricky trip to Manchester City on Saturday (3pm).