Liverpool Return To Winning Ways at West Ham with 2-0 Victory

Anfield Index Post-Match Content - OUT NOW

Nov 30, 2025

Liverpool supporters will have travelled south feeling this was a test of nerve as much as quality, and the team delivered with a performance built on purpose rather than fuss. The choice to leave Mohamed Salah on the bench could have backfired had Liverpool conceded another early goal, yet the players treated it as a cue to take responsibility. They kept the ball, kept their shape, and trusted that the Hammers’ door would eventually open.

Isak had been waiting for a moment to ease the pressure. When it arrived, he handled it with the assurance of a striker who knows the value of staying patient. Wirtz found Gakpo down the left, Gakpo found the cutback, and Isak placed his finish with a calmness that felt overdue. It was the touch of a forward ready to contribute far more. His withdrawal straight after the goal raised eyebrows, but it never harmed Liverpool’s rhythm.

Wirtz knitted the game together with absolute authority, completing almost every pass he attempted, winning his duels, carrying the ball with purpose, and showing the awareness that helped carve out the move for Isak’s finish.

Gakpo, who seemed to have forgotten how to control the ball most of the afternoon, came close to doubling the lead through Ekitike, then finished the job himself in stoppage time after Areola lost track of his angles. It was a nice reward for a player who, while struggling on the ball, worked hard between the lines and refused to let West Ham settle.

Special mention to Konate and Van Dijk, who looked assured, and Gomez for bringing much-needed balance to the right.

West Ham offered flurries, Bowen in particular, but Paqueta’s sending off dragged any lingering life from their chase. Liverpool held firm, played the smarter football, and looked like a side beginning to understand the authority required to stay in the race for a Champions League spot.

There was also a moment for reflection. Before kick-off, West Ham honoured Billy Bonds, a figure I remember as the outlier of my youth, a fierce professional who kept playing well into his forties. A fine football man, and may he rest in peace.

Post-Match Podcasts

Dave Hendrick and Trev Downey are joined by Karl Matchett on Post-Match RAW to discuss Liverpool’s 2-0 win in the Premier League away to West Ham - Listen Now