The contrasting strengths of Liverpool and West Ham are reflected on the balance sheet, the team sheet and ultimately the score sheet. Arne Slot’s side improved their prospects of qualifying for the Champions League with a commanding victory at Anfield, underpinned by their newfound prowess at set pieces.
In the week Liverpool announced record overall revenue of £703m in their latest accounts, most of it ploughed back into the bank balances of a title-winning team, West Ham warned they will have to sell players this summer whether they avoid relegation or not having suffered a £104.2m loss in the same financial year. Their prospects of staying up appear increasing slim, despite Nuno Espírito Santo’s team impressing in flashes at Anfield.
This game was effectively over by half-time. As damning as that was for West Ham, and depressing for their short-changed fans, they still had hope of getting back into the contest before Alexis Mac Allister extinguished it in the 43rd minute. The midfielder’s brilliant volley was the third Liverpool goal to originate from a corner as Slot’s side continued their metamorphosis into the Premier League’s set-piece specialists.
Poor at defending them and scoring from them in the first half of the season, resulting in the departure of set-piece coach Aaron Briggs in December, Liverpool have now scored more set-piece goals than any other team in the division – excluding penalties – in 2026. West Ham were slow and weak defensively as Liverpool took their set-piece goals total to eight for the calendar year.
