Chris Sutton accuses Liverpool stars of thinking West Ham 'whipping boys' in title blunder

That is the view of ex-Chelsea striker Chris Sutton, who has accused the Reds on complacency.

Liverpool were lucky to escape east London with a point on Monday night as they were outplayed by the Hammers.

Sadio Mane gave the Reds the lead after the officials failed to spot an offside.

But Michail Antonio hit back minutes later with a well-taken strike.

West Ham wasted numerous chances to put the game to bed as Liverpool struggled to get close to their opponents’ goal.

And Sutton reckons Liverpool’s recent results over West Ham – including two 4-0 wins and two 4-1 wins since 2017 – prove they were complacent yesterday.

“The aggregate result in this fixture was 16-2 in the last four games, so Liverpool would have come into this fixture thinking ‘these are our whipping boys’,” Sutton said on 5Live.

“To come away with a point they maybe didn’t deserve, they will have lost confidence.

“They have not been convincing and the juggernaut of Man City chasing them is ominous.

“They have to go away and look at themselves at the top of the table and grow their confidence because this isn’t a sprint for the title yet.”

Next up for Liverpool is a home tie against Bournemouth on Saturday before the last international break of the season.

They then face Bayern Munich in the Champions League, before a trip to Manchester United.

And Sutton is worried the Reds may take time to get over this performance.

“Is this Liverpool’s blip?” he asked.

“They have to recover quickly because Man City did look ominous against Arsenal and you can see them pushing Liverpool all the way in the next few weeks.”

He added: “The worrying thing for Liverpool is that they conceded from a set-piece, which can happen, but then they made the same mistakes twice again in the first half.

“It looks like they lacked a bit of leadership.

“You don’t expect City to not cope with the pressure and you expect them to keep thundering on in the same way.”

source: express.co.uk