Liverpool manager Arne Slot said his team has performed better this season even in losses, emphasizing the growing influence of set-pieces following Saturday’s 5-2 victory over West Ham.

For only the second time in Premier League history, a team scored three times from first-half corners, with Hugo Ekitike, Virgil van Dijk, and Alexis Mac Allister giving the champions a strong lead.

This continues a recent pattern: Van Dijk also scored from corners against Sunderland and Bournemouth, Ibrahima Konate found the net in a 4-1 win over Newcastle, and Dominik Szoboszlai’s free-kick opened the scoring in a 2-1 defeat to Manchester City.

Liverpool have dramatically improved in set-piece effectiveness, moving from the worst in the Premier League in goal difference from set-pieces at the end of 2025 to the best so far in 2026.

“Very pleasing because that’s the reason we won, and also because people said ‘well played.’ In my view, we’ve played even better when we lost or conceded from set-pieces,” Slot said.

“In the first half of the season, almost every set-piece we conceded went in. Now, we start scoring from set-pieces, and everything looks brighter compared to before.”

Although Liverpool dismissed set-piece coach Aaron Briggs at the end of last year, Slot downplayed the impact of that change.

“We created many chances early in the season that didn’t go in. Maybe a few small tweaks defensively and offensively—our setup is slightly different—but the main reason is that things have returned to normal,” he added.

The win lifted Liverpool to fifth place, putting them in strong contention for next season’s Champions League, as top-five placement is nearly certain to qualify due to English teams’ strong European performances this season.