LONDON, England (AFP) — Liverpool suffered a surprise 3-1 loss away to West Ham yesterday as fresh questions were raised about whether they have the defence required to win the Premier League.

Brendan Rodgers’s side were 2-0 down inside seven minutes at Upton Park.

Poor defending by Liverpool — who’ve now lost three of their five league games — saw the visitors fail to deal with James Tomkins’s knock down and Winston Reid turned the ball in to put the Hammers 1-0 up in the second minute.

The London side doubled their lead five minutes later when Senegal forward Diafra Sakho’s intended cross beat everyone, including Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet.

Defensive errors cost Liverpool the title when they finished runners-up to Manchester City last term.

But they remain a potent attacking force and England winger Raheem Sterling pulled a goal back with an unstoppable shot from inside the box in the 26th minute after Mario Balotelli’s initial effort was blocked.

However, substitute Morgan Amalfitano made the game safe for Sam Allardyce’s side two minutes from time when he latched on to former Liverpool winger Stewart Downing’s through ball before finding the far corner.

“We knew this would be a tough game but we were 2-0 down before we started,” Liverpool manager Rodgers told the BBC. “We’re nowhere near the levels we expect to be at.”

With Liverpool having played in the Champions League in midweek, Hammers boss Allardyce was delighted by his side’s start.

“Liverpool had played in the Champions League for the first time in five years which is tiring and we wanted to start as quickly as we can,” Allardyce said.

“We said let’s not let them control the tempo and press their back players. It worked brilliantly.”

Arsenal stopped Aston Villa going top of the table courtesy of a 3-0 win, with the much-criticised Mesut Ozil on target as the Gunners scored three goals inside four minutes at Villa Park.

Ozil put the Gunners in front in the 32nd minute and former Manchester United striker Danny Welbeck scored his first Arsenal goal two minutes later before Villa’s Aly Cissokho turned the ball into his own net.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger had been forced to again defend Germany World Cup winner Ozil, a club record £42-million (US$76-million) signing from Real Madrid last term, after his uninspiring display in the Gunners’ 2-0 Champions League defeat at Borussia Dortmund in midweek.

But, played in by Welbeck, he made no mistake with a side-foot chance to put Arsenal ahead yesterday.

Minutes later, the roles were reversed when Ozil’s cross found Welbeck, whose shot found the roof of the net.

Kieran Gibbs’s cross-shot was then turned into his own net by Cissokho.

Arsenal moved to within a point of second-placed Southampton and Villa in third spot and three adrift of leaders Chelsea who go to Manchester City today.

“I never considered leaving Ozil out,” said Wenger. “He showed as well he can perform when under scrutiny.”

Villa were hit with a sickness bug before kick-off and manager Paul Lambert said: “To play Arsenal you need everyone fit.”

Newcastle moved off the bottom and eased the pressure on manager Alan Pardew by coming from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at home to Hull, with substitute Papiss Cisse scoring both the Magpies’ goals inside the final 15 minutes.

Nikica Jelavic put Hull ahead with an acrobatic effort from 15 yards out early in the second half before Senegal midfielder Mohamed Diame doubled the lead in the 68th minute with a brilliant 25-yard shot.

“I am very proud to be manager of this club and I will fight to keep it,” said Pardew.

Southampton went second with a 1-0 away win to a Swansea side who had to play more than half the match a man down after Ivory Coast striker Wilfried Bony was sent off.

Bony was shown a red card in the 39th minute when he fouled Southampton’s Maya Yoshida — his second bookable offence.

But it took until 10 minutes before time for Southampton to make their numerical advantage count thanks to substitute Victor Wanyama’s first goal for the Saints.

QPR and Stoke shared the points in a 2-2 draw at Loftus Road, while honours were also even in the goalless stalemate between Burnley and Sunderland.

Today, Manchester United will go in search of their first away league win under manager Louis van Gaal, at Leicester, while Tottenham Hotspur take on bottom club West Bromwich Albion and Everton face Crystal Palace.