Jamie Carragher thinks two Liverpool players should have been taken off at half-time against West Ham

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Liverpool took a surprisingly comfortable lead into the half-time break against West Ham on Sunday.

With title rivals Arsenal and Chelsea not in action until the coming days the Reds knew they could capitalise.

And capitalise they absolutely did at the London Stadium. Coming up against a West Ham side in decent form for the first time under Julen Lopetegui, Liverpool were ruthless.

Goals from Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo and – inevitably – Mohamed Salah put Arne Slot’s team three goals to the good.

It could have even been more, with Salah and Curtis Jones forcing Alphonse Areola into a couple of excellent saves.

And with much of the work done during the opening 45 minutes, Jamie Carragher urged the Liverpool head coach to make a couple of changes.

Arne Slot urged to prevent suspensions

Slot only made one change to the Liverpool XI which beat Leicester on Boxing Day.

It’s likely that the Dutchman would have played Dominik Szoboszlai, but the Hungarian picked up an unnecessary booking against the Foxes and was ruled out through suspension.

As a result, Slot had little choice but to go with Ryan Gravenberch yet again in the Liverpool midfield. Gravenberch himself started the game one booking away from missing next week’s clash with United.

But after seeing the Reds race into an early lead, Carragher urged the Liverpool boss to take the 22-year-old off at half-time, along with Gakpo, who was in an identical situation.

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“Gravenberch & Gakpo off at ht please Arne,” Carragher wrote on X, alongside a yellow square emoji.

Slot chose to keep the pair on, but withdrew both just before the hour mark, with Liverpool having gotten themselves a fourth goal.

Joe Gomez likely to miss Man United match

Gakpo and Gravenberch will both likely line up for Liverpool’s game with United at Anfield next Sunday.

The forward got another goal at West Ham, while the midfielder was just as dominant as ever.

But while Slot will have each of his Dutchman to pick from, he was given a blow against the Hammers as Joe Gomez went down with an injury.

It looks like a hamstring problem for Gomez, who will now likely miss out on the United game.

Disappointing news for Slot and Liverpool, but with Gakpo and Gravenberch having escaped unscathed it could have been so much worse.