Published on 12:00 AM, September 21, 2014

Hammer blow for L'pool

Hammer blow for L'pool

Liverpool suffered a surprise 3-1 loss away to West Ham on Saturday as fresh questions were raised about whether they have the defence required to win the Premier League title.
Brendan Rodgers's side were 2-0 down inside seven minutes at Upton Park.
Poor defending by Liverpool -- who've now lost three of their five league games this season -- saw the visitors fail to deal with James Tomkins's knock down and Winston Reid turned the ball in to put the Hammers 1-0 up in the second minute.
And the London side doubled their lead minutes later when Senegal forward Diafra Sakho's intended cross beat everyone, including Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet.
But Liverpool remain a potent attacking force and England winger Raheem Sterling pulled a goal back with an unstoppable shot from inside the box in the 26th minute after Mario Balotelli's initial effort was blocked.
However, substitute Morgan Amalfitano made the game safe for Sam Allardyce's West Ham side two minutes from time when he latched on to former Liverpool winger Stewart Downing's through-ball before finding the far corner.
Earlier, Arsenal stopped Aston Villa going top of the table courtesy of a 3-0 win, with the much-criticised Mesut Ozil on target.
Villa had conceded just one league goal in their previous four league matches but all that changed as Arsenal fired in three inside four minutes at Villa Park.
Ozil put the Gunners in front in the 32nd minute and former Manchester United striker Danny Welbeck scored his first Arsenal goal two minutes later before Villa's Aly Cissokho turned the ball into his own net.