West Ham United defender Pablo Zabaleta says he believes his side were the master of their own downfall at the weekend by giving Liverpool front-three “too many chances” in front of goal.

The Reds’ trio of Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane – who have attracted many plaudits for their performances this season – were all the scoresheet in a 4-1 victory for Jurgen Klopp’s men at Anfield.

Emre Can notched the home side’s other goal, while Michail Antonio scored what proved to be a consolation strike for the Hammers.

And while Zabaleta was full-of-praise for Liverpool’s free-scoring forwards, the Argentine believes it was their own defending that ultimately let them down on the day.

“It was tough, Anfield is always a tough place to come,” Zabaleta said.

“They were better. I thought in the first half we were good, we had a good few chances, but in the second half we were not good enough.

“They are a team that are intense, they keep going forward and have quality up front.

“They are so direct and they make the runs in behind. They create chances playing that way and they can score goals. It is not only against West Ham – we have seen they can score more than two or three goals against top sides.

“Those three guys up front now are in a really good moment. They are difficult to play against. They don’t give a point of reference, they are so mobile. They are good players. In the second half we gave them too many chances.”