West Ham have revealed their dirty little secret, they spent ALL WEEK trying to stop Virgil van Dijk from scoring at set pieces.
Didn’t work, did it?
Mateus Fernandes dropped the bombshell after Liverpool put THREE goals past the Hammers from dead ball situations in Saturday’s 5-2 demolition job at Anfield . Van Dijk got one of them, heading home the champions’ second of the day in a first half masterclass .
Here’s the crazy bit, that made it SEVEN consecutive Premier League goals from non penalty set pieces for the Reds. The longest run by ANY side in the competition’s history .
FERNANDES’ CONFESSION
“Frustrating because we played really well in the first half,” the Portuguese midfielder told Sky Sports through gritted teeth.
“We conceded three goals from set pieces. These are the details when you play against these big teams. The small details are the difference.”
Then came the admission that’ll have West Ham fans tearing their hair out.
“Three set pieces, we worked this week about Van Dijk. We tried our best and this is football.”
They knew exactly what was coming. They’d spent days on the training ground figuring out how to stop it. And Van Dijk still scored. Still dominated. Still made them look ordinary.
VVD’S GOLDEN RUN
The big man is absolutely on fire at the moment. Six goal contributions in his last eight appearances for Liverpool . Three goals, three assists, not bad for a centre half .
That header against West Ham was his 33rd goal in 358 games for the Reds . And at 34, he’s showing absolutely no signs of slowing down.
Suddenly Arne Slot’s side are the most dangerous set piece team in the country. After years of being a bit meh from corners and free kicks, they’ve caught up with the modern trend that’s been dominating football this season.
Some might moan about the time taken, the VAR checks, the endless delays. But Liverpool are laughing all the way to the title.
WHAT IT MEANS
This wasn’t just a win, it was a statement. Liverpool are top, they’re flying, and they’ve got weapons from everywhere now.
Open play? Sorted. Set pieces? Absolutely lethal. And when you’ve got Van Dijk steaming in at the back post, there’s not much anyone can do about it.
Even when they spend all week working on stopping him
