West Ham were so close, yet so far, from grabbing something from Anfield on Monday night.
With less than half an hour of play left, the Hammers led 2-1 through goals from Issa Diop and Pablo Fornals.
Liverpool struggled to put their opponent to the sword and it looked as though the Irons were in with a genuine chance of pulling off a famous victory. This Reds team, though, is not one to be underestimated, as we have seen on so many occasions this campaign – they ended up winning 3-2 to grab their 18th successive Premier League victory.
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This clash saw Jeremy Ngakia named in the starting line-up for just the second time in his career – incidentally, he made his debut against Liverpool in the first clash between the two sides earlier this season.
Whilst aged just 19, he didn’t look out of his place despite defending against African Player of the Year Sadio Mane. The teenager made a game-high seven tackles, whilst he also prevailed in 11 out of his 18 duels as well.
There is bound to plenty of fanfare surrounding his performance, but it is worth remembering that there have been plenty of players who have shone early on in their careers, only to drift away out of the spotlight soon after.
Here, we take a look at three players who haved failed to live up to early expectations.
Federico Macheda
Few have made such an impact at Manchester United in a short amount of time as Italian striker Federico Macheda.
As the Red Devils were chasing the the Premier League title in 2008/09, the then 18-year-old was handed his debut from the bench against Aston Villa. The game was finely poised, and a draw would have seen Liverpool close the gap to just two points at the top.
Cristiano Ronaldo may have scored twice in that match, but it was the young striker who made the headlines, curling in a stoppage time winner to give his side all three points.
He would make three more appearances under Alex Ferguson that season, scoring one more and adding an assist. He looked as if he had a bright future ahead of him, but that, arguably, is as good as it got for Macheda. He would go on to make just 32 more appearances for the 20-time English champions, with him adding only three goals.
Instead, he made a number of loan moves, which included spells at Sampdoria, QPR, VfB Stuttgart, Doncaster, Birmingham and Cardiff, before moving to the Bluebirds on a free transfer. He was also loaned out there, to Nottingham Forest, before he was released.
He now appears to be enjoying a slight resurgence in Greece with Panathinaikos, where he has scored 20 leagues goals across this season and last. Despite that recent success, though, he is still a cautionary tale of too much expectation too young.
Tom Davies
Pep Guardiola may have won two Premier League titles and picked up 198 points in two campaigns, but there was a time when it looked like he would never hit those heights.
During the 2016/17 season, his first in England, Manchester City had plenty of problems, losing six matches in the top flight on their way to a third-placed finish.
There were several eye-catching results that term, but arguably the most shocking was the Citizens’ 4-0 defeat away at Everton. The Toffees were irresistible in that match, and Tom Davies, who was making just his third-ever league start for the Goodison Park outfit, was the star of the show. The then 18-year-old was on the scoresheet as he put in a stunning play in the middle of the park.
We are still waiting for the Liverpudlian to back that up, though. He appeared in 24 league matches that term, and then 33 in the one after that, but during 2018/19 he featured just 16 times.
He has played 19 league games this season, but has still found himself in and out of the side under both Marco Silva and Carlo Ancelotti. He is still just 21 and remains a Premier League player, but as Everton target Champions League football with the investment of Farhad Moshiri he needs to make sure he does not get left behind.
Reece Oxford
Reece Oxford had already made history by becoming the youngest ever West Ham player after appearing in a Europa League match, before being named in the starting line-up for the Hammers’ game against Arsenal on the opening day of the 2015/16 season – he then became his team’s youngest-ever Premier League player as well.
Playing in defensive midfield despite being a centre-back by trade, the then 16-year-old helped his side keep a clean sheet at the Emirates Stadium against one of England’s biggest clubs.
The likes of Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla were quiet on the day, in part down to Oxford’s solid display in the centre of the park.
Surprisingly, he would make just one more start that season in the league, in the very next game against Leicester.
He was still just a boy, though – surely he would become a regular in the years to come?
Unfortunately for him, the answer would be no – after making 12 appearances in all competitions, he played just five more matches for the Irons. He failed to impress in loan spells at Reading and Borussia Monchengladbach, before making a temporary switch to Augsburg in the Bundesliga. They obviously saw enough to part with £2.7m, but he has since started just two matches in the German top tier.
Like Davies, he is now just 21, but he needs to be careful about dropping down even further and becoming another tale of unfulfilled promise.