West Ham end Liverpool’s streak! How did Tomas Soucek do in the match?

The possible future co-owner of West Ham, Daniel Křetínský, also visited the London Stadium. It was rumoured in the media that it was at this match that he could be officially introduced as the new co-owner of the Hammers. In the end it didn’t happen, but he didn’t miss the show! West Ham defeated the until then almost unbeatable Liverpool, who had not tasted defeat for twenty-five games in a row.

The Hammers won 3-2 in a great game and jumped to the third place in the Premier League. They have the same number of points as second-placed Manchester City and are only 3 points behind leaders Chelsea. Can West Ham write the fairy tale that Leicester City wrote?

It’s too early to tell, but both Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal have made no secret of the fact that their dream is to win a trophy with the Hammers. And why not? The Hammers are proving that they can succeed with their approach to the game.

However, only Tomáš Souček was in the starting line-up. Both Vladimír Coufal and Alex Král started on the substitutes’ bench. The right-back came on in the 84th minute and Král did not get on the pitch.

Interestingly, David Moyes’ charges also beat the Reds in the number of expected goals. West Ham (1.23) 3-2 (1.11) Liverpool.

The performance of the Hammers was also praised by legendary English forward Gary Lineker. “West Ham are a really good side.”

The performance of Tomáš Souček

The prestigious statistics site WhoScored rated the Czech midfielder even slightly better than his star teammate Declan Rice (6.67). Soucek received a 6.87 rating for his performance. In the match he had 46 touches with the ball, his passing success rate was around 70% and he won 5 header duels.

This is the most ever of any player in the match, Liverpool stopper Joel Matip had the same number of aerial duels won.

Tomas Soucek was especially valid for the Hammers in defensive work. He won the ball once in a personal duel, intercepted Liverpool’s pass three times and kicked the ball away 6 times in a dangerous situation. The Czech national captain also fouled 4 times and saw a yellow card for one foul.

Source: WhoScored, Gary Lineker, The xG Philosophy