Liverpool grabbed three crucial points in the hunt for Champions League football on Wednesday. Jürgen Klopp’s team had a difficult visit to West Ham United, but eventually won a 1-2 win. Base customer Cody Gakpo was of great value by taking the 1-1. Chelsea spilled points for the eighth time in a row and are therefore still waiting for the first result under Frank Lampard.
West Ham United – Liverpool 1-2
With Gakpo and Virgil van Dijk kicking off, it was Liverpool that took the first hit. Twelve minutes were on the clock when Lucas Paqueta went for a walk, combined with Mikhail Antonio and fired brilliantly into the roof of the goal: 1-0 West Ham. Long could the Hammers not enjoying it though. Five minutes after Paqueta’s goal, Gakpo got too much time and space from the West Ham defense and aimed from a distance and with precision past Lukasz Fabianski: 1-1.
Cody Gakpooooo! ?? Gakpo with the equalizer for Liverpool visiting West Ham! ?? https://t.co/hNOf9TCefQ#ViaplaySportNL #ViaplayFootball pic.twitter.com/BKo2xubkoC
— Viaplay Sport Netherlands (@viaplaysportnl) April 26, 2023
Came right after the break the Reds free from fear. Jarrod Bowen trumped Van Dijk in one and hit, but was called back for offside. Liverpool had better luck moments later. Joël Matip was completely released at a corner and headed hard behind Fabianski: 1-2. Liverpool did not give it away and thus came to 53 points, six points from the coveted fourth place. It is currently occupied by Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United. West Ham, opponent of AZ in the semi-final of the Conference League, remains fourteenth.
Chelsea – Brentford 0-2
Things have not been going smoothly at Chelsea all season and the appointment of interim manager Lampard did not change that. Since Lampard’s entrance, four of the four games have been lost and on Wednesday it went wrong again early. César Azpilicueta extended a corner from Brentford just before half-time, which ended up behind his own goalkeeper Kepa: 0-1. It didn’t stop there. Twelve minutes before the end, Brentford striker Bryan Mbeumo dribbled in and fired the ball in via Thiago Silva untenable for Kepa: 0-2. Chelsea remains eleventh, with 39 points from 32 games. Stand with that the Blues closer to the relegation zone than European football.
| No. | Team | m | W | G | v | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 32 | 23 | 6 | 3 | 43 | 75 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 30 | 22 | 4 | 4 | 50 | 70 |
| 3 | Newcastle United | 31 | 16 | 11 | 4 | 29 | 59 |
| 4 | Manchester United | 30 | 18 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 59 |
| 5 | Aston Villa | 33 | 16 | 6 | 11 | 5 | 54 |
| 6 | Liverpool | 32 | 15 | 8 | 9 | 22 | 53 |
| 7 | Tottenham Hotspur | 32 | 16 | 5 | 11 | 7 | 53 |
| 8 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 30 | 14 | 7 | 9 | 15 | 49 |
| 9 | Brentford | 33 | 11 | 14 | 8 | 7 | 47 |
| 10 | Fulham | 32 | 13 | 6 | 13 | 1 | 45 |
| 11 | Chelsea | 32 | 10 | 9 | 13 | -5 | 39 |
| 12 | Crystal Palace | 33 | 9 | 10 | 14 | -11 | 37 |
| 13 | Wolverhampton W. | 33 | 10 | 7 | 16 | -15 | 37 |
| 14 | West Ham United | 32 | 9 | 7 | 16 | -9 | 34 |
| 15 | AFC Bournemouth | 32 | 9 | 6 | 17 | -32 | 33 |
| 16 | Leeds United | 33 | 7 | 9 | 17 | -21 | 30 |
| 17 | Nottingham Forest | 33 | 7 | 9 | 17 | -31 | 30 |
| 18 | Leicester City | 33 | 8 | 5 | 20 | -13 | 29 |
| 19 | Everton | 32 | 6 | 10 | 16 | -22 | 28 |
| 20 | Southampton | 32 | 6 | 6 | 20 | -29 | 24 |