Unlucky West Ham stay rooted to the bottom of the first division after losing at Anfield to an early goal by Liverpool's Dean Saunders.
But Liverpool's injury jinx was yet to strike again, Ronnie Whelan failing to make the line-up after his FA Cup comeback on Sunday, while fellow Republic of Ireland international midfielder Ray Houghton limped off after just 16 minutes.
Liverpool took the lead after three minutes, youngster Jamie Redknapp unleashing a fierce long range shot which Hammers' keeper Ludek Miklosko could only beat down. Striker Saunders pounced to slot home the loose ball.
Liverpool continued to enjoy most of the possession, but determined West Ham made sure Bruce Grobbelaar was the busier keeper in the lively first half.
He saved brilliantly from Martin Allen and Kevin Keen, and parried Mike Small's low shot for full back Rob Jones to complete the clearance by hammering accurately into touch across the face of his goal.
But the first half's most spectacular save came from Miklosko, palming a vicious angled shot by Steve McManaman up and away after 36 minutes.
It took Liverpool until the 69th minute to trouble the keeper again, Mike Marsh driving straight into his midriff.
After 77 minutes Ronnie Rosenthal, on less than a minute as substitute for John Barnes, raced on to Michael Thomas' fine pass and fired in a shot which Miklosko parried well. McManaman tried to curl the rebound into the far top corner, but Miklosko acted brilliantly, hurling himself to his left to pluck the ball out of the air.
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