da stake casino： Aaron Cresswell proved to be a rare gem for West Ham United in their 2-1 loss to Liverpool on Saturday, with the defender the stand-out player in David Moyes’ visiting side.
da doce： Moyes entrusted Cresswell with once again serving as his left-sided centre-half at Anfield, in a role the 30-year-old full-back has now occupied in the east London outfit’s last six Premier League fixtures.
The Liverpool-born defender was unable to influence the scoring on Merseyside as he did with assists in victory over Leicester City and his side’s 3-3 draw at Tottenham Hotspur, but stood out for his defensive game up against the likes of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane.
Cresswell’s sublime efforts to hold off Mane proved key to preventing the Senegalese sensation from scoring his fifth goal of the Premier League season, too, as the 28-year-old found himself thwarted perfectly when otherwise presented with a glorious chance to bear down on Lukasz Fabianski’s net.
Moyes would have been delighted with the efforts put in by Cresswell at Liverpool this weekend, though knowing the £5.85million-rated ace deserves even greater praise having shrugged off a groin injury to feature at Anfield and maintain his 100% appearance record for the top-flight campaign.
Irons icon Trevor Sinclair will also have been vastly captivated by the display, having told talkSPORT (23/10, 09:20) of his surprise at how well the three-time England international had taken to his new position at centre-half.
“Would you have said at the start of the season that Cresswell would be a great left-sided defender? I wouldn’t. He’s gone in there and he looks so composed.”
Cresswell’s performance at Liverpool on Saturday deservedly secured the 30-year-old the highest match rating by a West Ham player from SofaScore, who marked the defender at 7.2 out of 10 – only Salah (7.4), Mane (7.3) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (7.3) scored higher of those who started.
The former Ipswich Town full-back warranted the Hammers’ Man of the Match rating thanks to recording five successful tackles, five clearances and four interceptions whilst he won all four of his aerial duels, six of his eight ground contests, committed zero fouls, took 62 touches and completed 75% of his 32 attempted passes.
Cresswell was further never dribbled past by one of Liverpool’s boisterous forward options, was fouled once, and picked out teammates with three of his seven attempted long balls.
AND in other news, West Ham’s injury nightmare will only amplify David Moyes’ regret on failing to sign an “extraordinary” hitman.