West Ham United player ratings v Liverpool: Fabianski outstanding
West Ham travelled to Anfield to face Liverpool in the Premier League on Wednesday night (19 October) looking to pick up their first win at this venue since 2015.
David Moyes has made three changes to the side that drew 1-1 against Southampton in their previous game.
Darwin Nunez scored in the first half for the Reds, while Jarrod Bowen missed a penalty as the Reds won 1-0 on the night.
West Ham Zone rated the players below out of 10.
Lukasz Fabianski – 8
In the first half, he produced a stunning save to deny Darwin Nunez who tried to score from a first-time volley. He had no chance to save Nunez’s header but produced another brilliant save to deny the same player shortly afterwards.
While Liverpool didn’t test him enough in the second half, he did show his class by quickly closing down Salah. He is arguably the best performer for the Hammers. He was sensational.
Ben Johnson – 6
Brilliant in the first half. It did really well to keep Tsimikas and Carvalho in check and joined the attack at every possible opportunity. Produced some fantastic crosses from the right-hand side, and
Aaron Cresswell – 5
It was always going to be tough for him to tackle both Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold. Both the players enjoyed enough room from his side, with Cresswell failing to close them down when needed.
Thilo Kehrer – 5
He was average at best, misplaced some of his passes, and probably should have been better to prevent Nunez from directing his header.
Kurt Zouma – 5
He really struggled against Nunez upfront. The Frenchman mistimed his jump for the first goal, and Nunez got the better of him with a turn and managed to hit the post. Nearly scored an own goal and injured himself in the process.
Pablo Fornals – 2
Was he at all there on the pitch? He neither barged forward nor kept possession. In the first half, he had zero influence on the game. Moyes took him off after 60 minutes.
Flynn Downes – 7
Attempted to score towards the end of the first half, but couldn’t connect it properly. He was lively in the first half, and linked up well with Bowen. He could have done better with pressing in the second half, but nevertheless, he was really impressive on his Premier League debut.
Declan Rice – 7
Liverpool were expected to dominate on their home turf, and Rice mainly dropped deep to do defensive duties. Tried to influence the game in the second half, but his movement was restricted once Fabinho came on. He made an important block to deny Salah in the dying moments of the game.
Tomas Soucek – 6
As usual, he was the midfield fulcrum and tried to win the battle against the likes of Henderson and Thiago. He gave away a ball cheaply in the second half from behind Roberto Firmino nearly scored. Should have scored from close range in the closing minutes of the second half.
Jarrod Bowen – 6
Looked lively in the first half but missed a glorious opportunity to equalise as he missed a penalty. Made a superb block to deny Harvey Elliot, showcasing his defensive abilities as well. Found Soucek with a clever ball in the box but James Milner made a great block.
Gianluca Scamacca – 3
He hardly made touches in the first half, and didn’t get any service from his fellow teammates. He just wandered around the box but didn’t get any clear-cut opportunities. He could have dropped down and involved in build-up play, but that’s not his strength anyway.
He looked slightly better when Antonio came on, but It was a really shocking performance from him. Got a great opportunity to score, and he wasted it by hitting wide, and then couldn’t direct a free header on target either.
Substitute:
Said Benrahma – (on for Fornals, 60th min) – 7
Michail Antonio – (on for Downes, 73rd min) – 6