Liverpool beginning to play within themselves as pressure of Premier League title race builds

LONDON STADIUM — The pressure was on for Liverpool. Virgil van Dijk spoke about it in the aftermath of their 1-1 draw with Leicester last week, striking a gentle note of caution in his call for supporters to be “very patient” after a cagey game. Jurgen Klopp alluded to it in his pre-match press conference, talking about fans getting “a bit nervous” in their desperation to win their first league title for 29 years.

With Manchester City breezing past Arsenal on Sunday, Liverpool’s lead at the top of the table had been cut to two points ahead of their Monday night kick off against West Ham at the London Stadium. Liverpool fans have seen title challenges collapse before and naturally feel sick at the thought of it happening again.

As it turned out, Van Dijk had warned supporters to be patient with good reason. Two minutes in, Javier Hernandez was allowed to swivel in from the left and curl just past Alisson’s far post. On the 10-minute mark, a failed clearance from James Milner – once more deployed as an improvised right-back – teed up Aaron Cresswell to send a rocket screaming past the same part of the goalframe. Not long afterwards, Alisson was forced into a diving save to keep out Hernandez from range after his back four had backed off almost as far as the advertising boards.

A different West Ham

This was a very different West Ham side to the one which had capitulated to a 4-0 loss at Anfield on the opening day of the season, kicking off Liverpool’s title chase. The line-up might have changed – Robert Snodgrass in for the sidelined Jack Wilshere and Hernandez in for the injured Marko Arnautovic along with a reshuffle in defence – but so too has the confidence of the team and their sense of cohesion, all for the better.

Manuel Pellegrini’s side edged the first half and, after going behind to a beautiful turn-and-finish from Sadio Mane which should never have stood thanks to an offside assist from Milner, soon equalised through a neat free kick routine which saw Mark Noble subtly block off Naby Keita as marker and Michail Antonio dash in behind to rifle into the back of the net.

Pressure so often comes from within and, on a night when the away end were fully supportive, Liverpool seemed to be playing inside themselves at times. While their passing game featured more triangles than a low-ability school music group – hands up if that was your group at school too, and be honest now – their final ball so often drifted into the empty space where a man should have been running and the clear-cut chances they did create were ably handled by Lukasz Fabianski in goal.

Anderson’s transformative effect

Of all the players who have transformed West Ham from early relegation candidates to tricky customers in the mid table, Felipe Anderson deserves the most credit. It was no surprise that he registered the assist for Antonio’s goal: his set-piece deliveries were wickedly precise all game, not least when he pinged a ball onto the unmarked head of Declan Rice last in the first-half only for his teammate to balloon his effort over the crossbar. Anderson could have gone clean through with a gleeful backheel at one point were it not for the clinging arms of Joel Matip, who hauled him down for a booking and extinguished the danger.

Liverpool, in the end, had nobody who caused quite so much trouble, though Mane and Mohamed Salah had their moments. With another 1-1 draw under their belts and their lead at the top of the table reduced to just three points, Jurgen Klopp’s side desperately need to settle things down with a win against Bournemouth at the weekend. Meanwhile, their fans will need to continue drawing from a deep, deep well of patience.