Rice absence
News of Declan Rice's absence broke early on Saturday morning with West Ham fans hopeful it was a false rumour doing the rounds. Unfortunately, it turned out to be true with the midfielder feeling unwell from Thursday onwards and unable to train at the back end of the week.
The midfielder underwent a late medical assessment on Saturday with a view to a private flight to Liverpool if he was deemed fit to play but the illness prevented him from making the trip. With Sevilla away in the Europa League last-16 on Thursday no risks were taken with Rice and the England man now faces a race to recover in time for the first-leg.
The positive news is the illness is not covid related and with a few day's rest, Rice is expected to be fine for the European match.
In his absence, Nikola Vlasic came into the side with Manuel Lanzini dropping into a deeper role alongside Tomas Soucek. As well as Lanzini played he is clearly no replacement for Rice and the sooner the 23-year-old can return, the better for West Ham.
Message to Kral
Ahead of the match the question mark in central midfield was over Soucek rather than Rice after the Czech Republic captain suffered a nasty cut to his face against Southampton.
On Friday, the midfielder was training with a huge bandage wrapped around the wound and with the stitches just above his eye there was a worry heading the ball could open up the cut again.
In the end, he was passed fit to play and as mentioned above it was Rice who missed out. With Soucek a doubt Moyes was asked if it presented an opportunity for Alex Kral to step into the team and prove himself.
Instead of answering that question, Moyes said: "Really we could do with Mark Noble being back. He tweaked his knee in shooting practice. I'm hoping Nobe could be back."
Before adding: "Alex [Kral] has had one or two opportunities, not as many maybe as he would have liked, but we can only go on what we see."
That Moyes chose to go with Lanzini in a deeper role and a wounded Soucek suggests that Kral is a long way from the team and is unlikely to see much more action in a Hammers shirt.
Antonio display
Michail Antonio forced Alisson into two low saves inside the first 25 minutes and looked a threat throughout. He had a third effort in the first half which he took first time when a little composure would have seen him have a far greater chance of scoring.
However, the fact he was getting shots off and into scoring positions is a fantastic sign following a poor run of form. His goal in midweek against Southampton was his first since January 1 and seems to have boosted his confidence.
The striker did well against the superb Virgil van Dijk and had the better of Ibrahima Konate. With a crucial Europa League game coming up a fit and firing Antonio will be vital to the Hammers chances and the signs were positive at Anfield yesterday, even if he was wasteful in the second period.
Costly mistakes
It was a tale of three errors for West Ham at Anfield. First Lukasz Fabianski was indecisive when it came to Trent Alexander-Arnold's cross come shot, then Pablo Fornals seemed to have too much time when one-on-one with Alisson and finally the Hammers best player Manuel Lanzini blazed over from close range.
Fabianski's decision, or lack of one, left Sadio Mane with the simplest of tap-ins as the goalkeeper neither committed to intercepting the ball nor wait on his line and reacting to the shot. It was a shame for the Pole as he had made an excellent early save from Mohamed Salah and looked in control every time Liverpool got a cross into the box.
At the other end of the field, Fornals was the guilty party when he bore down on Alisson, the keeper did well and stood tall for a long time but Fornals should have scored. His little dink was too high and lacked power, giving Alexander-Arnold a chance to clear that should never have been there.
Lanzini had been excellent for West Ham both in his deep-lying role and when pushed into the No.10 slot but his display will be overshadowed by an awful miss in the second half. With the goal gaping, Alisson already committed and Alexander-Arnold prone on the floor, the Argentine somehow skied his effort.
The positives for the Hammers are that they created chances against a superb Liverpool side and once they can find their cutting edge, results are bound to follow.
Diop's second job
Issa Diop was an unused substitute but still had a role to play during the game. Shortly after Said Benrahma's introduction to the game the manager was trying to get some important information onto the Algerian.
His body language suggested he wanted the mercurial attacker to isolate Alexander-Arnold and get at him one-on-one, however, Benrahma clearly could not understand Moyes. Despite sign language and shouting from the boss, Benrahma was left none the wiser.
Step up Diop, West Ham's unofficial translator. He bounded from the bench and stood next to his manager and translated the instructions into French with Benrahma instantly acknowledging the message and giving his manager a nod of agreement.
Nobody had asked Diop to get involved but he was alive to the situation despite sitting on the bench and showed his willingness to help the team by taking the simple but important decision to help out. It is only a small thing but is a sign of a team player.
