Liverpool moved a step closer to Champions League qualification with a rampant 4-0 win over West Ham.

Daniel Sturridge put the visitors ahead after Philippe Coutinho’s inch-perfect pass split the Hammers’ defence before the striker rounded Adrian and stroked home.

That advantage was doubled for the Reds when Coutinho reacted quickly to a well-struck volley by Georginio Wijnaldum cannoning back off the crossbar.

A second followed for the Brazilian as he waved through the hosts’ defence into space to slot before Divock Origi later wrapped things up with a drilled finish.

Here were the key talking points from the London Stadium:

Coutinho is still the Reds’ heartbeat

 

One perfect assist and two goals means the man of the match award was a no-brainer.

While he wasn’t the difference between the two sides, his magic in-between the lines was too much for a West Ham team, who played as though their holidays plans had been brought forward.

His most notable contribution to the first half was the sublime pass that sent Sturridge through, but in the first quarter of an hour of the second Liverpool were rampant – and Coutinho was at the heart of it all.

Performances such as these will only add to the summer transfer talk, but with a five-year contract only signed at the turn of the year, keeping hold of the playmaker for another year should be a foregone conclusion.

Sturridge back among the goals again

 

As expected, the injury-prone defender made his first start since New Year’s Day, and answered his critics with a goal that was vintage Sturridge.

An early ball from Coutinho split the West Ham rearguard and enabled the striker to round the keeper – scoring his seventh league goal of the season.

The bigger question remains if this will be the last significant thing he does in a Liverpool shirt or whether he can persuade Jurgen Klopp that he merits another chance to lead the Liverpool attack next season.

Klopp called the England striker’s performance as ‘brilliant’; it’s clear that the manager thinks of his no.15 as a talented player, but his long-term fitness might be the make-or-break factor in deciding how much longer he remains a Liverpool player.

Big response to a must-win game

 

The pressure was on Liverpool after Arsenal’s 4-1 win over Stoke City on Saturday, and anything less than returning from the capital with three points would have represented a disaster to their Champions’ League hopes.

This was the kind of response that Klopp and Reds fans would be proud of, as they took apart a side that had, in truth, very little left to play for this term – having secured their Premier League safety.

While the first half display might have seen the Reds’ playing with a little more left to give – the manager’s words stirred them in the second half, as they came out in the first and sealed the game by the hour mark.

Only Boro risk final day drama

 

Liverpool, it seems have done the hard work in beating difficult opposition on their own patch.

But Middlesbrough, a team in the bottom three and already relegated are exactly the type of team that has been their downfall this season.

The final game of the season should essentially be a foregone conclusion.

But it will promise to be another nail-biter for Reds fans, as fourth place and qualification for the Champions League remains pivotal to the summer transfer targets and the medium term ambitions of the club.

Goals from both Sturridge and Origi should give renewed confidence to a front line that has struggled for goals in recent weeks.