Liverpool 5-2 West Ham: Arne Slot explains how Reds broke Premier League set-piece record

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has explained how his side were able to break a Premier League set-piece record in Saturday's 5-2 win over West Ham United.

The Reds had no fewer than three first-half corner goals to thank for their demolition of the Irons, as Hugo Ekitike, Virgil van Dijk and Alexis Mac Allister all found the back of the net from dead-ball situations in front of the Kop.

Prior to the visit of Nuno Espirito Santo's side, Liverpool had also netted from set-plays against Manchester City, Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United and totalled seven straight goals from corners or free kicks.

The Reds have now set a new record for the longest run of consecutive Premier League goals from corners or free kicks, which was snapped when Cody Gakpo struck the Reds' fourth before a late Axel Disasi own goal.

The reigning champions have also scored more set-piece goals than any other team in the Premier League in 2026 - even more than renowned specialists Arsenal - and Slot was asked about his side's set-piece turnaround in his post-game press conference.

Liverpool 5-2 West Ham: Arne Slot discusses "small" changes to set-piece details

"Things went back to normal, mainly, because I just said that we’ve created quite a lot of chances in the first half of the season that constantly did not go in, or too many times did not go in with being unlucky," Slot replied.

"We were a lot of times very close. And even today we conceded the set-piece, they scored one and they could have scored a second one in the first half – that would have been the first one, but you know what I mean.

"Maybe one or two small details have changed defensively and offensively, I think we are set up slightly, slightly different. But the biggest reason is that things go back to normal. There was a period of time that we were 23 goals behind Arsenal in set-pieces, including penalties, by the way.

"And we’re still not only three goals away from them but we’ve closed the gap a little bit. Although you never know what can happen this weekend with Arsenal because I wouldn’t be surprised if they scored three from set-pieces this weekend as well."

Liverpool's dead-ball revival has coincided with the departure of former set-piece coach Aaron Briggs, who left his post at the end of December amid a damning set of statistics.

The Reds had conceded 12 set-piece Premier League goals in 2025-26 by the time Briggs departed, while also registering just 0.24 set-piece goals per game during his time at the club.

Liverpool 5-2 West Ham: Arne Slot misses out on clean sheet streak

While Saturday was primarily a day of celebration for Liverpool, the Reds' defensive vulnerabilities denied them the chance to keep a third straight clean sheet in the top flight.

Slot's side had shut out Sunderland and Nottingham Forest before the visit of West Ham, who made things somewhat interesting on Saturday thanks to efforts from Tomas Soucek and Taty Castellanos.

As a result, Liverpool have still not won three straight Premier League games without conceding since Slot's first three in charge against Ipswich Town, Brentford and Manchester United last season.

The Reds are also still outside the top four in the Premier League table in spite of Saturday's success, as Manchester United - who now have a game in hand - have a marginally superior goal difference.

Slot also issued a Florian Wirtz injury update post-match, as Liverpool gear up for back-to-back meetings with Wolverhampton Wanderers in the league and FA Cup.