Liverpool up to second after thumping West Ham

Liverpool moved up to second place in the Premier League after beating West Ham United 4-1 at Anfield on Saturday afternoon.

Guy Demel turned into his own net to give the Reds the lead three minutes before break, before Mamadou Sakho doubled their advantage with his first goal for the club two minutes after the restart.

Martin Skrtel then scored his second own in a week to pull one back for the visitors on sixty-six minutes; only for top scorer Luis Suarez to restore Liverpool’s two goal lead fifteen minutes later.

Hammers’ defender Joey O’Brien then netted the third own-goal of the game to put the result beyond doubt, and see Brendan Rogers’ men leapfrog Chelsea, who lost at Stoke City, into second place.

The club are now five points behind leaders Arsenal, who drew with Everton yesterday afternoon, ahead of the Reds trip to Tottenham Hotspur next Sunday.

However, Brendan Rodgers’ will be without inspirational captain Steven Gerrard, who has been ruled out for up to six weeks with a hamstring injury.

The midfielder limped ten minutes into the second half on Saturday’s victory, and was replaced by Lucas, who is likely to return to the starting line-up at White Hart Lane.