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47 min Liverpool are dominating possession as they did for much of the first half.

46 min West Ham kick off from right to left. "I'm fairly sure that Bolo Zenden hit a penalty much like Diamante's in the 2004 League Cup Final v Bolton" says Tom Bason. "I seem to remember the referee afterwards (not sure who it was off the top of my head) saying that even if he'd noticed Zenden hitting it with both feet he wouldn't have disallowed it as it clearly wasn't intentional."

Half time: West Ham 2-2 Liverpool What an entertaining half that was: four goals two injuries a dodgy penalty and much else besides. See you in 10 minutes.

45+1 min In the build up to that goal Skrtel was correctly booked for a laughably inept hack at Hines 25 yards out. That led to a free-kick which was deflected for a corner which led to the goal.

GOAL! West Ham 2-2 Liverpool (Cole 45) Liverpool concede yet again from a set piece. A corner from the left is swung in towards the near post by Noble and Cole leaping above Carragher Torres and Skrtel six yards out flicks a very fine header past Reina and in at the unprotected far post. Another triumph for zonal marking.

GOAL! West Ham 1-2 Liverpool (Kuyt 42) Such a straightforward goal. Benayoun's outswinging corner from the right is flicked towards the far corner by the head of Gerrard 10 yards out and Kuyt pokes it in from a couple of yards. West Ham had nobody on that post and paid the price. Gerrard wheeled away like a man who'd cured baldness but even though it was going in anyway it's definitely Kuyt's goal.

38 min Hines appears to be pulled down by Skrtel as he is about to go through on goal but the referee waves play on. I think Skrtel is very very lucky there because had a foul been given it would probably have been a red card.

37 min "I am a Liverpool fan but what does Carragher have to do before people recognise how cynical he can be?" says Lois Venn. "He's had a poor match was beaten for pace and shoved Hines to the floor. How is that not a penalty? Just because it wasn't dangerous (ie a high tackle etc) doesn't make it ok. And this is how he responds to his earlier mistake. 2/10 for me and let's get Agger back." I agree about the cynicism. As much as I liked Carragher in his prime he has got away with murder in the area for a long time and his "it's a man's game" comments when he should have conceded at least one clear penalty at Everton in 2007-08 were risible in the extreme.

36 min Faubert is rightly booked for a cynical tug on Gerrard 25 yards out. The free-kick comes to nothing.

34 min Liverpool have been rattled by that goal and West Ham are enjoying a decent spell here. It was a very odd goal. I've seen that happen before - Denis Irwin did it against I think Southampton in 1994-95 - but has anyone ever seen an attacker penalised for it? You might argue it's against the spirit of the game to appeal as Liverpool did.

32 min "Is Carragher suddenly officially past it?" says Declan McKenzie. "Is he one of those players who goes from high class and super-solid to liability in the space of six months?" The ease with which he was beaten for the penalty was pretty embarrassing but I wouldn't write him off just yet.

31 min Carragher was booked for his part in the penalty and Parker has just been rightly booked for a bad late challenge on Insua.

GOAL! West Ham 1-1 Liverpool (Diamanti 29 pen) Controversy here: first with the award of the penalty and secondly with its execution. First things first. Hines completely beat Carragher for pace down the left side of the box and went down by the touchline after Carragher leaned into him with his left arm. It was a softish penalty but in my opinion definitely a penalty because Carragher did shove him. (Chris Waddle on ESPN disagrees.) It was taken by Diamanti who slipped as he went to strike it meaning that the ball went off his left foot onto his right and straight down the middle of goal as Reina dived out of the way. Liverpool complained furiously and they had a point because he clearly had two touches but the goal was given. Technically it should have been an indirect free-kick to Liverpool but Diamanti has scored on his home debut.

27 min West Ham have to make a second substitution: Kovac replaces Behrami who looks crestfallen. He's really struggling to hold back tears.

24 min Danny Gabbidon replaces Matthew Upson who injured himself during the Torres goal.

GOAL! West Ham 0-1 Liverpool (Torres 20) What a fantastic goal this is. As West Ham tried to clear their lines following that corner Torres received a pass from Insua on the left corner of the box one on one against Tomkins. He teased him one way and then the other with a couple of stepovers before zipping outside him and into the area. From there he homed in on goal and stabbed the ball high past Green at the near post. Green probably went down too soon; either way that was sensational centre-forward play.

19 min Kuyt wins the first corner of the game off the hands of the sliding Hines. Upson heads it clear.

17 min After Ilunga is dispossessed in his own box by Johnson Gerrard's chipped cross finds Torres with his back to goal at the near post. He takes it down smartly with his chest and swivels to lash the bouncing ball not far wide of the near post.

16 min Diamanti shoots wide from the edge of the penalty area.

15 min Reina saves from Glen Johnson. Diamanti played Faubert clear on the right and his first-time cross flew off Carlton Cole and towards Hines lurking at the far post six yards out. Just as he was shaping for a volley Johnson dived to head it back towards his own keeper who dived smartly to his right to gather the ball.

13 min "To Allan Casey those aren't the only choices - let's not forget the (almost always dire) 12pm college football games" says Tony Ling. "I love Saturday college football as much as the next fellow running on 4 hours sleep and typing out of one bloodshot eye but I think I'd rather watch Benayoun and Torres cut this West Ham defence into ribbons. Incidentally had I any more pull than "anonymous e-mailer on Guardian MBMs" I'd be at the head of a campaign to call American football "gridiron" in the States. It's by far a better name and a lot less well confusing and nonsensical."

11 min Insua runs off Diamanti onto a crisp pass from Mascherano and with Torres's off-the-ball run opening up the centre of the pitch he keeps going until he gets in within 25 yards of goal. Finally he has a pop but his low left-footed shot drifts a few yards wide of the far post.

10 min Liverpool are having loads of the ball with West Ham content to play like the away side. Torres's shot from the right of the box strikes the arm of Ilunga prompting a big shout for a penalty but Andre Marriner has none of it. I think that's a good decision because he was trying to get his hand out of the way.

7 min A big chance for Benayoun against his old club. Two great passes made it: first Gerrard's reverse ball to Torres on the edge of the box; then his lovely poke behind the defence for Benayoun running onto the ball from left to centre. He was maybe 12 yards out in line with the near post but his attempt to curl the ball into the far corner was easily saved by the plunging Green. Benayoun should have scored.

6 min "Out here in California I have a choice or West Ham vs Liverpool or Hot Wheels Battle Force 5" says Allan Casey. "Decisions decisions…"

5 min What a chance that was for West Ham.

3 min "Can all the knee-jerk naysayers who rushed to compare Liverpool's bench to Spurs' on the first day of the season have another look at the Liverpool bench now that pretty much all of Rafa's squad are finally fit?" says Chris Doyle. "That tired line got wheeled out every 30 seconds for about a week after the first game and it was only possible as people were apparently completely ignorant about Liverpool's squad and injuries. Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to say they're all world beaters (Degen is still there for frick's sake) but it's certainly not the major crisis it was made out to be." Good point well made. Next!

2 min Zavon Hines hits the post! Carragher dallied criminally on the edge of his own box and was dispossessed by Hines who then had a one-on-one against Reina - but passed it straight onto the face of the post from 10 yards. That is a pretty bad miss and cruel on a young kid making only his second league start.

1 min Liverpool in white kick off from right to left. They are currently seventh but will go third if they win by one goal and second if they win by two or more. West Ham currently 14th will move up three places should they win.

5.28pm Two minutes to kick off. Let's hope today's game gives us something as amusing as this.

Team news

West Ham (4-3-3) Green; Faubert Tomkins Upson Ilunga; Behrami Parker Noble; Diamanti Cole Hines.
Subs: Kurucz Gabbidon Dyer Kovac Spector Nouble Payne.

Liverpool (4-2-3-1) Reina; Johnson Carragher Skrtel Insua; Mascherano Lucas; Kuyt Gerrard Benayoun; Torres.
Subs: Cavalieri Riera Aurelio Kyrgiakos Babel Degen Dossena.

Referee Andre Marriner (W Midlan

Preamble Hello. The idea of a must-win league match in September might seem as big an oxymoron as the idea of a foxy moron but that's kind of how things are for Liverpool. If they fail to win this awkward match - West Ham's first at home since NawtyRumblegate on August 25 - they will probably be eight or nine points behind Chelsea by tomorrow night. Even this early in the season a three-game swing would be a lot to give to a side who have previously shown themselves to be remorseless front-runners. Bu5b5t you would have to fancy Liverpool to win here.