Chalien Dantes/Contributor

Alexander Isak finally announced himself in a Liverpool shirt, scoring his first Premier League goal for the club after his record £125m switch from Newcastle on Sunday (November 30), as Arne Slot’s men snapped a painful run of defeats with a well-earned win away to West Ham United.

Liverpool stepped onto the pitch carrying the weight of nine losses in their previous twelve matches, but played with a freedom that had been missing for weeks.

Slot made a bold call by leaving Mohamed Salah out of a league starting line up for the first time since April 2024, and his decision immediately lifted the team’s tempo. Florian Wirtz thrived in the space behind the forwards, pulling West Ham apart.

After a 310-minute drought, Isak broke through on the hour, latching onto a precise cross from Cody Gakpo and firing in a crisp half volley to give Liverpool the goal they had been crying out for.

West Ham’s frustration only grew. With six minutes left, Lucas Paqueta talked himself into two fast yellow cards for dissent as the crowd groaned in disbelief. Down to ten men, the hosts were punished again in stoppage time when Gakpo capped off his strong performance with a composed finish to make it 2-0.

The victory lifts Liverpool to eighth in the table, suddenly just three points away from the top four.