Liverpool returned to the Premier League’s summit with a 2-1 win over West Ham.

The defending champions endured a difficult start when Joe Gomez headed a clearance straight into Pablo Fornals’ path to fire a low shot past Alisson.

But Mohamed Salah pulled Jurgen Klopp’s side level from the penalty spot moments before the interval after being fouled by Arthur Masuaku.

Diogo Jota thought he had given the Reds a late second half lead when the turned the ball home after Lukasz Fabianski fumbled Sadio Mane’s shot.

However VAR saw the goal disallowed for Mane’s collision with the Hammers goalkeeper in the build-up to the Portuguese substitute’s comfortable strike.

Technology could not intervene in the final five minutes as Jota extended his tally to three goals in as many games from an exquisite Xherdan Shaqiri pass.

Here were the key talking points from Anfield:

Phillips makes case for the defence

 

Jurgen Klopp kept his cards close to his chest about Liverpool’s centre-back conundrum in light of successive injuries to Virgil van Dijk and Fabinho.

General consensus suggested that Rhys Williams would reprise the role of Joe Gomez’s stand-in partner following a midweek cameo against FC Midtjylland.

But Nat Phillips’ first-ever Premier League start vindicated his manager’s leap of faith against a Hammers side which tested the defender’s best qualities.

The 23-year-old produced a Man of the Match display by completely dominating aerial duels and providing a composed all-round performance.

A loan stint in the Bundesliga last season with Stuttgart clearly stood Phillips in good stead for a top-flight baptism of fire beneath the Anfield floodlights.

If Klopp was still deliberating which of Liverpool’s academy graduates merits the nod during Fabinho’s absence, the latest incumbent looks a far safer bet.

Reds faltering at both ends of the pitch

 

Ascending to the Premier League’s summit should be a cause for celebration but this victory still failed to mask a multitude of sins for Liverpool.

Pablo Fornals’ opener became the 15th goal that the hosts have conceded in their first seven games, and the malaise stretches back further than that.

Since clinching the title in highly emotional circumstances just four months ago, no Premier League outfit has shipped more goals than Liverpool.

History does not bode well with the last team to be crowned champions with such an abject concession rate being Sheffield Wednesday in 1928/29.

In attack, too, the numbers did not make pleasant reading with 25 minutes elapsing before an actual shot at West Ham’s goal was finally mustered.

Even that was not on target. A proficient effort only arrived mere minutes before half-time courtesy of Mohamed Salah’s successful penalty.

At both ends of the pitch, statistics do not paint Klopp’s side in a positive light.

Time to take Firmino out of firing line

 

Dislodging Liverpool’s established front line is a near-impossible challenge.

Several players have struggled to consistently break up the impressive attacking trident of Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino.

Diogo Jota, however, could succeed where the likes of Divock Origi and Takumi Minamino previously failed in usurping one of the Reds’ talismans.

As the ex-Wolves striker racked up his third goal in as many appearances, Firmino is struggling to justify his starring role for the reigning champions.

Not for the first time this season, the Brazilian cut a frustrating figure with the industriousness which was once a hallmark of his conspicuous by its absence.

More alarming than his end product was the off-the-ball work which made him such a vital cog alongside Salah’s marksmanship and Mane’s pace.

Jota’s current purple patch would ordinarily given Klopp a genuine selection headache but Firmino’s fall from grace makes a changing of the guard logical.

Super sub turns the tide again

 

Firmino was not the only home player who underwhelmed against West Ham.

From front to full-back, nothing seemed to be working. A languid affair threatened to hand David Moyes a rare point in his former Merseyside parish.

Unfortunately for the ex-Everton boss, Klopp’s in-game management ensured that his win-less run at Anfield would be extended to a dismal 17th attempt.

The double introduction of Jota and Shaqiri, in place of Firmino and Curtis Jones, sparked a fire in Liverpool which had been sorely lacking up until then.

Fittingly, the pair combined to settle this encounter as the Swiss international threaded an incisive pass that allowed Jota to plunder a third goal in a week.

With Shaqiri seemingly back in the form that led to him having a devastating impact two years ago, the super sub role again may have its benefits.