5 Talking Points from Liverpool vs Brighton
Losing ‘streak’ ends
Liverpool entered the game following back to back losses against Manchester City in the league and the Wolves in the FA Cup. Despite the many LFC haters hoping this was the beginning of the end, Liverpool went back to work and earned a deserved 3 points from a tough away game. In reality, it was a close game lost to another title contender in an away game and a FA cup match where we fielded a makeshift roster resulting in another close defeat. This doomsday scenario was more brought up by the sports media and the hopeful opponent fans… nothing to see here kids, move on… move out of the way as we extend the lead to seven points
Fabinho does well at CB
With 3 out of our 4 CBs injured, Liverpool had no option but to roll the dice with Fabinho at CB who did extremely well. As Klopp mentioned in the press conference, he did not face an opponent that was an attacking force but Brighton still tried to pick on Fabinho by trying to play balls to Murray on Fabinho’s side. He coped well and to many was the man of the match due to his outstanding effort
Salah.. the two season wonder
Liverpool struggled to open up a very organized defense in the first half. They changed things up by dropping off Salah more so he could go at Brighton with the ball and it made a world of difference. There was more space available and Brighton lost their defensive shape when collapsing to slow down Salah. He created the penalty from nothing with his great controlled dribble and finished the penalty off with great poise. Now with 14 goals for the season, he is in a three-way tie for top scorer in the league.
Another clean sheet and maturity
Despite injuries and players playing out of position, the defense continues to deliver. With the leadership of VVD and hard play of Robertson, Liverpool notched out another clean sheet for Alisson who did not have much to do all game. Trent’s pregame injury was concerning knowing with Clyne on loan, Gomez injured, Fabinho playing as CB, it was back to Milner until Trent showed that he could play through the pain. TAA was definitely not as mobile as he would like to be and it showed when pushing forward but he was still terrific defensively. 13 Clean sheets now for Liverpool. Who knew we would have so many 1-0 wins this year?!! Klopp kept using the word ‘maturity’ in his post-game press conference. This team definitely showed it in this game by being patient, taking their time and not getting frustrated against a well-organized defense. Patient and mature gameplay might not be fun to watch at times but it is what creates a championship winning side.
Back to you City!
Liverpool took care of business and grabbed the three points. It was not pretty but I definitely did not expect an easy game against a Brighton team who does not concede a lot in the league and are good against top teams at home. In fact, Liverpool just handed their first shutout at home since March. With the lead back to 7 points, the pressure is back on City to keep pace. Playing against a Wolves team who stole points from them earlier in the year, Manchester City will know that anything less than a win puts them 2 full games behind Liverpool with 16 games to go. Especially with the next two Premier League fixtures having Liverpool playing at Anfield and City traveling away.