Adam Lallana gave the hosts an early lead before the Hammers hit back through Dimitri Payet and Michail Antonio, to head into half time with a 2-1 advantage.
But Divock Origi’s equaliser minutes into the second half ensured both sides shared a point in what was an enthralling encounter on Merseyside.
The result leaves Jurgen Klopp’s men six points behind league leaders Chelsea, while West Ham moved out of the bottom three to ease the pressure on under-fire manager Slaven Bilic.
Liverpool opened the scoring with only five minutes played when Lallana expertly finished from 10-yards out.
Sadio Mane embarked on a mazy run before clipping in a low cross for Lallana to control and smash the ball into the far corner. It was just the start the Reds were calling for, following last week’s embarrassing collapse at Bournemouth.
But the atmosphere took a turn for the worse when West Ham levelled the scores through Payet just before the half-hour mark.
The free-kick specialist composed himself before taking a number of strides to hit a dipping effort. The attempt was far from unstoppable, with the ball’s low trajectory surprisingly beating the Liverpool wall and their goalkeeper Loris Karius, who allowed the strike to edge past his outstretched hand.
Just 1o minutes later, the Hammers grabbed a second, and it was once again Karius who would come under scrutiny for his hesitation in goal.
Haavard Nordtveit’s angled driven pass looped off the head of Jordan Henderson, leaving Joel Matip stranded in the Liverpool defence. Antonio raced through on goal, but Karius opted to hold his line instead of confronting the West Ham man, before weakly poking an effort into the net.
Much to Bilic’s frustration, the Hammers gifted the home side an equaliser minutes into the second half, with Liverpool next to profit from a goalkeeping mishap.
Mane floated in a harmless cross that should have been easily collected by Darren Randolph, but the Irish international somehow let the ball escape his grasp, leaving Divock Origi with the opportunity to restore parity for his side.
Liverpool were pushing for a winner as they sought to keep in touch with league leaders Chelsea.
The hosts looked at their fluid best, with Georginio Wijnaldum going close to finding a crucial third goal. Roberto Firmino released Lallana on the right side of the penalty area before delivering a delightful cut-back, but a last ditch block prevented Wijnaldum bulging the net.
And Klopp’s side came even closer with 20 minutes to play, as Henderson produced an outstanding curling effort from 30-yards out.
Henderson shaped up for what would have been a mirror-image of his goal against Chelsea earlier in the season, with the ball heading into the top right corner. But Randolph redeemed himself with an outstanding flick save to tip the effort over the crossbar.
The clock was edging closer to full time, with the sense of desperation growing around Anfield in search for a winner.
Liverpool produced another lovely flowing move in the closing stages, as Nathaniel Clyne, Mane and Lallana linked up to great effect. Clyne was teed up by Lallana on the edge of the box, but the fullback blazed his effort over to leave his side with a point rather than all three.
