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West Ham 0-2 Liverpool: Slot’s quest to survive as Liverpool boss will go on another gameweek as his £100m men inspire victory
Will Castleat the London StadiumSunday 30 November 2025 17:17 GMTComments
CloseArne Slot is determined to stay as Liverpool's boss
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Arne Slot was facing a doomsday scenario had he left London with a 10th loss in 13 games. Inspired in different ways by his £100m entities, his fight to survive at Liverpool will go on at least another gameweek.
With every game at the moment comes the risk of a new low for the reigning Premier League champions. The Reds came to the London Stadium on their worst run since 1952/53 and had also lost each of their last five away league games in the capital. Slot needed a change of fortunes on almost every front, and he received just that reprieve against relegation-threatened West Ham. A full recovery is not guaranteed - but this is proof that Slot’s reign isn’t yet untenable.
“Relief,” Slot said, asked on his prevailing emotion when Cody Gakpo fired in Liverpool’s second in stoppage-time to make their lead unassailable.
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The Dutchman has to be bold to lead such a seismic turnaround. Decisions like benching Mohamed Salah for the first time in the Premier League since April 2024 could be the making of his second coming, but may spark his demise if they backfire. Fortunately for Slot, his big call to drop the club’s deified but off-the-pace talisman aged well.
Though no Salah, Liverpool had a new sense of life through Florian Wirtz. The German, having been absent for last week’s pair of catastrophic performances through injury, looked revatilised out there - almost as if a quick reset was exactly what he needed to start playing to a level even resembling his price tag.
“After a very positive performance from Florian, I can acknowledge that but I also want to emphasise the team performance was much better,” Slot said, downplaying the importance of individuals in his team’s triumph. But there was no denying his quality.
Playing centrally with Dominik Szoboszlai out on the right, everything was going through him, providing the early attacking impetus and - crucially - giving Alexander Isak some sort of service, albeit to mixed results at first.
open image in galleryFlorian Wirtz was at the heart of Liverpool’s best play (Adam Davy/PA Wire)The Swede has five goals in five against the Hammers and would have had his sixth if not for the goalkeeping heroics of Alphonse Areola, who produced a cat-like stop to deny Isak’s acrobatic effort from close range. His other spurned attempts were more to do his own shortcomings, blazing a shot inside the box high and wide despite being under little pressure in an act of finishing not akin to English football’s most expensive player.
But for all his positives, it was his fellow bank-breaker who was kicking himself at half-time, spurning the best chance of the game after Cody Gakpo put it on a plate for him with the knockback. Missed opportunities like that will make people forget about wider progress, and Slot was frustrated by repetition of Liverpool’s wastefulness in front of goal.
Slot’s side nevertheless managed to survive a first half of Premier League football without conceding a goal for only the second time since 20 September. Now was time for Liverpool to take charge, a scenario that has grown increasingly rare, and that they did through their nine-figure summer signings.
Isak will take the headlines, side-footing a first-time finish into the near-corner before Areola to snatch his first Premier League goal in a Liverpool shirt and end a two-month drought in all competitions. But it was the work of Wirtz that deserves the plaudits. He showed patience and game IQ to hold ball up on the edge of the area, waiting for the gap in West Ham’s line to be created that allowed him to slip it through to Gakpo in the box, who set up Isak to score.
open image in galleryAlexander Isak broke the deadlock for Liverpool - his first Premier League goal for the club (PA Wire)Wirtz’s exemplary contribution was very much in fitting with his performance, while Isak took the glory in a moment. The Swede was then immediately subbed off for Hugo Ekitike, with Slot ceremoniously ending his outing on a high.
Liverpool had the advantage, but now came the daunting challenge of maintaining their clean sheet. Just once since their seven-game winning run at the start of the season have the Reds kept a clean sheet in the Premier League; against Aston Villa, their only win since September.
They were aided in this pursuit by the idiocracy of Hammers maestro Lucas Paqueta, whose incessant appealing in the face of referee Darren England saw him shown two yellow cards within a matter of seconds of each other. But even reduced to 10-men, West Ham came inches from a late equaliser as Jarrod Bowen flashed his curling effort past the top corner. Slot was relieved that, for once, his team didn’t concede the first major chance that came the opposition’s way. “Again, we couldn’t score our first chances but the good thing was that for the first time in many, many, many games, the first chance of the opponent didn’t go in as well. The best thing was it was their only chance and it came after 90 minutes,” he said.
open image in galleryArne Slot was pleased that his side didn’t concede the first big chance they faced (Getty Images)Cody Gakpo rubber-stamped Liverpool’s victory in stoppage time, settling any final nerves as Slot’s name bellowed out from the away end. For now, Liverpool fans still support their manager. “It tells you that this club is always together, even more in the difficult moments,” Slot said.
But goodwill can shift in an instant. If this road is to end at recovery, Liverpool need to ensure they don’t fall back into the same degenerative patterns. With Slot straddling a cliff-face, he has taken a step in the right direction.
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