Brighton were far superior after half-time and deservedly defeated Liverpool 2-1 at home, maintaining momentum in the Premier League.
The Seagulls have now won four of their last five league games, with the exception being a narrow loss to leaders Arsenal.
This run comes immediately after a six-game winless streak across all competitions – which included a loss to the Reds themselves.
As for Arne Slot’s men, they wasted the chance to momentarily reclaim fourth place from Aston Villa. Now, they could end up in sixth – with Brentford chasing European football in 7th as well.
Danny Welbeck was the hero at the Amex as he scored his 11th and 12th goals of the campaign.
How did Brighton beat Liverpool?
Defensive disasterclass from both sides
It was a deserved win and Brighton ultimately played very well, thoroughly outclassing Liverpool. But all three goals happened because of defensive breakdowns, individual errors or both.
The latter actually came first. The Reds gave the ball away unprompted twice in two consecutive attempts to initiate build-up.
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First with Curtis Jones and later with Ibrahima Konate. The Frenchman failed to control a Giorgi Mamardashvili pass near the touchline and let the ball go out for a throw-in. Welbeck opened his account for the afteroon immediately after that.
Then it was Brighton’s turn to gift Liverpool the chance of scoring. A long pass from the Georgian goalkeeper found Lewis Dunk, who purposely headed it back thinking there was only Bart Verbruggen behind him.
Milos Kerkez, however, smartly sneaked in behind the line and flicked it over Verbruggen and into the net to make it 1-1. Unluckily for the visitors, that was as good as it got. They didn’t have even a half-chance until the end of the game and failed to create anything dangerous.
But they weren’t done with the defensive collapses. This time it was the Seagulls’ left-back, Fedi Kadioglu, who read the situation perfectly and moved around inside, dragging Konate out of position.
This left the Reds with Ryan Gravenberch covering for him alongside Virgil van Dijk inside the box. Yankuba Minteh delivered a good cross that van Dijk failed to clear away before the ball found Jack Hinshelwood while Gravenberch never really acknowledged Welbeck, who tapped it into an empty net to give his side the win.
Seagulls’ dominant second half
Brighton played better throughout most of the match. The second half of the first half was when Liverpool were at their best and ended up equalising. But it was the Seagulls’ game to win.
They found some momentum after scoring both goals, which was curious. The guests reacted well to being ahead, first by keeping possession as a means to defend and frustrate the opposition, and then by looking to hit Liverpool on the counter later on.
But they did most of their damage in the second half. Not only did Brighton get better, but also limited the Reds a lot more.
Today they had their second most big chances (3) and their most shots on target (6) in a second half all season in the Premier League.
| Brighton Stats | 1st half | 2nd half |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 50% | 43% |
| Shots (on target) | 5 (1) | 11 (6) |
| Big chances | 2 | 3 |
| Touches in the opp box | 9 | 24 |
Meanwhile Liverpool did the exact opposite, falling off in every category except for possession.
| Liverpool Stats | 1st half | 2nd half |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 50% | 57% |
| Shots (on target) | 8 (3) | 4 (2) |
| Big chances | 1 | 0 |
| Touches in the opp box | 17 | 13 |
Brighton’s out-of-possession work did a lot of harm to Liverpool’s attempts of building up from the back. Fabian Hurzeler’s man-oriented press actually looked disjointed in the first few minutes. But it didn’t take long until he fixed things up.
Jack Hinshelwood’s role in their marking system is both impressive and underrated. He dictates whether they go into a 4-4-2 with him alongside Welbeck or into a deeper 4-5-1. He has such a work rate that sometimes it feels like he is in two places at once and the Seagulls marking in a 4-5-2.
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Arne Slot, on the other hand, set the Reds up in a hybrid press with zonal ‘rest marking’ and individual pressing. But their deeper blocks didn’t look solid at all, especially with a 4-1-3-2 offering space for wider opponents to receive and only one holding midfielder leaving the defence exposed.
They did looked better when going more aggressive, but it wasn’t enough. Another important component of Brighton’s win was Yankuba Minteh, who turned things up against Jeremie Frimpong in the second half and seemingly won every duel.
As for Liverpool, they failed to capitalise on the Champions League thrashing of Galatasaray midweek. They also can’t seem to catch a break from injuries, with Mo Salah already missing out on today’s loss and Hugo Ekitike picking up a knock just five minutes in.