West Ham fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat against Liverpool on Wednesday night but there was plenty of promise about David Moyes' side, who could have easily taken a point at Anfield.

Darwin Nunez's first-half header proved enough for Jurgen Klopp's side to take the three points, with Jarrod Bowen also seeing a penalty saved on the evening.

While there were plenty of disappointing performers in Merseyside, one man who can escape with a lot of credit was Declan Rice, as he was awarded the man of the match award on Amazon Prime's coverage.

As per SofaScore, the England international would earn a superb 7.7/10 rating for his performance, which was only bettered by Liverpool stopper Alisson and full-back Aaron Cresswell.

During the 90 minutes, Rice would complete 75/80 passes to register an incredible 95% pass accuracy, with only Jordan Henderson playing more passes on the night, while he also registered a supremely high 94 touches of the ball.

Considering the West Ham captain has averaged 58.5 passes and an 89.9% success rate in the Premier League so far this season, it is clear that he was at his best against Liverpool, which is even more impressive when you consider that the Hammers were expected to have a lot less of the ball than usual against such strong opposition.

Rice also created one big chance and completed eight out of nine long balls, with his excellent range of passing clear to see against the Reds, in what was a hugely consistent display by the 23-year-old.

He also contributed two clearances and two blocks, which again was an increase on his season average, emphasising just how good he was at Anfield, with 90min journalist Toby Cudworth describing him as "utterly sensational" after the game.

Considering that only Cresswell and Lukasz Fabianski would also earn above a 7/10 rating from SofaScore last night, it seems clear that Rice was let down by his teammates, as his performance didn't deserve to be on the losing side.

 

While Moyes and West Ham fans will be desperate for Rice to be a one-club man and follow in the footsteps of Mark Noble, Wednesday night perhaps reinforced that the England international is destined for greater things.