Liverpool 1-0 West Ham: Nunez header gives Reds narrow win

Liverpool secured a second 1-0 win in the space of a few days after beating West Ham in the Premier League on Wednesday.

Darwin Nunez's first-half header was enough to seal the points for Jurgen Klopp's men, his first goal at Anfield for his new club.

West Ham were second best for most of the game but will still be disappointed to leave empty-handed after Jarrod Bowen saw a penalty saved by Alisson just before the break.

It ends a run of five games without defeat for David Moyes' team, while Liverpool followed up their impressive victory over Manchester City on Sunday.

The first chance of note came in the 15th minute when a long pass from Thiago Alcantara found Nunez, whose fierce 25-yard strike was tipped over by Lukasz Fabianski.

But the Uruguayan was not to be denied seven minutes later as he ran onto Kostas Tsimikas' pinpoint left-wing delivery to head past the despairing Fabianski into the far corner of the net.

Liverpool almost scored again when Nunez rattled the post from the edge of the box but nearly had their lead wiped out just before half-time.

Bowen was felled in the box by Joe Gomez, only for Alisson to save the England international's resulting penalty low to his right.

Jordan Henderson and Roberto Firmino went close to adding to the hosts' lead in the second half, while Kurt Zouma hit his own crossbar with an attempted block.

West Ham could have snatched a late equaliser when the ball fell kindly for Tomas Soucek in front of goal, only for substitute James Milner to deflect it off target and ultimately seal the win for Liverpool.

What does it mean? – Another nervy outing for the Reds

Liverpool are very much in the territory of 'a win is a win' even at this early stage of the campaign, heading into this game 14 points behind leaders Arsenal.

Despite being the better team overall, it still ended up being a laboured victory for Klopp's side, whose inability to put the game to bed only encouraged their opponents as the game wore on.

Moyes will be pleased with his team's performance, but it is now 18 Premier League games at Anfield without a win for him (D6 L12). Only the Scot himself has managed more away games against an opponent without ever winning in the competition (18 vs both Arsenal and Chelsea).

Nunez rises to the occasion

It has been a slow start to Nunez's Liverpool career, but every time he plays he continues to be involved heavily.

The former Benfica man spent just 56 minutes on the pitch but had six shots at goal, scoring once from an expected goals rate of 0.3.

Rice is no pudding

West Ham's captain had an impressive game, even in defeat, playing a big role in his team's second-half performance.

Rice won possession 11 times, three more than anyone else from either team, and made 76 accurate passes out of 80 (95 per cent), with only Liverpool counterpart Henderson (80 from 95) making more.

What's next?

Liverpool travel to Nottingham Forest on Saturday, while West Ham host Bournemouth on Monday.