Liverpool leverage set-piece dominance in win over West Ham

Liverpool exploited West Ham United’s weakness at set pieces to secure a 5-2 win in their Premier League clash at Anfield on Saturday but the hosts did not have it all their own way as they struggled to shake off the relegation-threatened Londoners.

The win takes the Merseysiders up to fifth, level on 48 points with fourth-placed Manchester United, who play on Sunday. West Ham stay 18th on 25 points, two points off the safety zone.

Striker Hugo Ekitike gave Liverpool the lead in the fifth minute while captain Virgil van Dijk and midfielder Alexis Mac Allister also netted first-half goals, with all three strikes coming as a result of West Ham’s struggles to defend corners.

Tomas Soucek scored early in the second half to throw the visitors a lifeline and when Cody Gakpo extended the Liverpool lead to 4-1 in the 70th minute Valentin Castellanos pegged the home side back again five minutes later to keep the game alive.

Liverpool substitute Jeremie Frimpong finally killed the game off as a contest by forcing West Ham defender Axel Disasi to concede an own goal in the 82nd minute.

Xhaka the key as Sunderland snap losing streak

Sunderland manager Regis Le Bris hailed the return of his captain Granit Xhaka from injury after the Swiss midfielder helped halt a three-match losing streak in Saturday’s 1-1 Premier League draw at Bournemouth.

Xhaka missed five games with an ankle injury, sitting out defeats by West Ham United, Arsenal and Liverpool, and made only a late substitute appearance in a 3-1 loss to Fulham on his return.

Back in the starting lineup, he wasted little time reasserting himself – marshalling the midfield, barking instructions and nudging teammates into position as Sunderland kept Bournemouth at bay until Evanilson’s superb equaliser.

“It’s important (Xhaka’s return) because he sets the tone. He’s a good player, first of all. So in this position, the number six, when you have a player of this quality, it helps definitely,” Le Bris told TNT Sports.

“He’s really composed. For the confidence of the young lads, I think it’s important. He can set the tone as well, the standards. So he’s so important for us.”

Xhaka’s appearance was cut short after Tyler Adams caught the Sunderland skipper on his ankle, earning a yellow card.

Clearly in pain, Xhaka was withdrawn in the 76th minute as Sunderland held on for a point and defender Dan Ballard underlined the captain’s influence.

“We’ve missed him of late and we’ve had our toughest run of the season,” Ballard told BBC.

“To have a natural leader like that come into the team is great. It was important to bounce back. I think we’ve done that today.