Graeme Souness left red faced over ‘no sparkle’ Liverpool criticism during West Ham win
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West Ham v Liverpool: Match in pictures
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Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness was left red faced by Liverpool’s attackers after their 3-1 defeat of West Ham on Sunday. Two goals from Mohamed Salah and a Georginio Wijnaldum strike handed the Reds three crucial Premier League points.
With Sadio Mane injured and Roberto Firmino on the bench, manager Jurgen Klopp selected Xherdan Shaqiri and Divock Origi alongside Salah up front.
It was a cagy first-half, with the Reds mustering just one shot on target before the interval and the front three struggling to link up.
But it was all change after half-time, with Liverpool blowing West Ham away to collect the win.
Shaqiri, Origi and Salah looked a different beast after the break, and had perhaps heard Souness’ half-time analysis.
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After that poor first-half from Liverpool’s perspective, Souness blasted their front three.
“The back four have been good, the midfield have done the job properly but there has been no sparkle up front,” Souness said.
“This is what separates a great team from a good team. They’ve got nothing up front. I’m sorry, Origi and Shaqiri… Salah’s up there on his own.
“We’re used to Mane taking people on, Firmino sliding clever balls in. What you’re getting is what I expected from the other two – not a lot.”
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Jurgen Klopp brought on Curtis Jones for James Milner three minutes before the hour mark and he made an immediate impact.
Jones linked up with Salah before the Egyptian curled a trademark finish past Lukas Fabinanski to hand the visitors the lead.
Then it was Shaqiri’s turn to leave Souness red-faced, as he collected Trent Alexander-Arnold’s long pass before sending a ball into the box for Salah to complete a perfectly-executed counter-attack.
Firmino came off the bench late on to set up Wijnaldum who sealed the win after a brilliant team move.
Souness admitted his mistake after the match, branding Liverpool as ‘fabulous’.
“I thought Liverpool were fabulous… they were a bit slow in the first half and there was no sparkle,” he told Sky Sports.
“They only had one of their main men up front and boy did he produce in the second half. They were two truly world-class goals.
“If ever there was a time for West Ham to beat Liverpool, it was today. They went into the game with four wins, but the storm never came.
“West Ham were just happy to go along with how the game went but with a makeshift team, I thought Liverpool were fabulous.”