West Ham United’s underwhelming start to the new season continued on Wednesday as they were dumped out of the League Cup by Liverpool.
The Reds were the bookmakers’ favourites to progress to the fourth-round and swept through courtesy of an emphatic 5-1 victory at Anfield.
The result has cranked up the pressure on under-fire manager Julen Lopetegui, who is failing to get a tune out of his expensively assembled squad.
The Hammers have failed to sparkle in the Premier League, picking up just four points from their opening five games of the campaign.
Despite their sticky start, the sportsbook attached to the Betpanda UK Crypto Casino believes Lopetegui will turn things around, rating West Ham as 20/1 shots to be relegated.
However, those odds could tumble if things do not improve soon. With that in mind, we look at four key talking points in the aftermath of last night’s game.
Lopetegui is kidding himself
Lopetegui engaged in a bit of ‘whataboutery’ after the game by claiming that Diogo Jota’s first-half equaliser for Liverpool should not have stood.
Cody Gakpo looked to be offside in the build-up, but VAR technology is not generally used in the League Cup until the final and the goal was allowed to stand.
While the West Ham manager may have had a point, his team still had plenty of time to put the setback behind them and produce a positive performance.
Lopetegui’s side failed miserably to match Liverpool after the break and he can have no complaints about the final scoreline.
Areola must return at Brentford
Goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski had a night to forget at Liverpool and he must be replaced by Alphonse Areola for the trip to Brentford on Saturday.
It made sense for Fabianski to start at Anfield following Areola’s recent injury, but he failed to cover himself in glory as the Reds ran riot.
His presence in goal had a knock-on effect on West Ham’s defence, with none of the quartet looking comfortable throughout the contest.
The 39-year-old is now well past his best and West Ham will be hoping Areola can avoid any further fitness issues as the season progresses.
Bowen leads by example
Jarrod Bowen was a rare bright spark for West Ham, working tirelessly to give the team an attacking outlet on their rare forays forward.
The captain showed pride in his performance – an example which midfielder Edson Alvarez would do well to follow when he next makes an appearance for the club.
Alvarez was woeful against Chelsea last weekend and followed up with another dreadful display against Liverpool’s vibrant midfield unit.
His sending off for a brainless challenge on Mohamed Salah was fully deserved and compounded West Ham’s misery on an extremely difficult night.
Moyes is not the answer for West Ham
West Ham fans were told to be ‘careful what you wish for’ when they were moaning about the style of play under former manager David Moyes.
The club’s decision to replace him with Lopetegui seemed to be a questionable move and the early signs have not been promising for the newly-appointed boss.
There has been talk that Moyes could be asked to return if things do not improve soon, but neither party has anything to gain even if it was on a temporary basis.
Lopetegui must be given time to get things right and the upcoming games against Brentford (A) and Ipswich Town (H) offer him a perfect opportunity to steady the ship.