Brighton find themselves a HUGE 3 points and moving them up to 8th position however with other teams still to play. Man of The Match Danny Welbeck finds himself in the right place at the right time twice and gets himself a brace to win 2-1 against the holding champions. And for Liverpool it was not a good enough performance, they was out worked, outperformed and not good enough. It leaves them in 5th place but Chelsea to play and Brentford not far behind they should be worried about their UEFA Champions league chances with 7 games to go!
These two teams only faced each other just over a month ago where Liverpool outshone them at Anfield causing Brighton to be out of the FA cup. It was an absolute emphatic performance from Liverpool easing themselves into the fifth round of the FA cup with goals from Jones, Szobaszlai and Salah killing any chance of a Brighton spark. Playing out of position, Liverpool’s abnormal Right-back Curtis Jones got the ball rolling in the 42nd Minute with a close range finish after a pinpoint cross from the other full-back Milos Kerkez to open the game up. After the opener the home side cruised to scoring 3 by Szoboszlai scoring with a really powerful strike which seems like a weekly occurrence these days and then Salah finishes the Night at Anfield with a penalty in the 68th minute after a foul from Kadioglu. This time Brighton look to get revenge after being knocked out of the FA Cup by their opposition today while also still having an eye on the last European places.
Here is how the two teams lined up this afternoon:
Brighton & Hove Albion - 4-2-3-1
Goalkeeper: Verbruggen
Defenders: Wieffer, Van Hecke, Dunk (c), Kadioglu
Midfielders: Milner, GroB, Hinshelwood, Gomez, Minteh
Attackers: Welbeck
Bench: Steele (GK), De Cuyper, Boscagli, Veltman, Baleba, Ayari, Mitoma, Rutter, Kostoulas
Liverpool - 4-2-2-2
Goalkeeper: Marmadashvili
Defenders: Frimpong, Konate, Van dijk (c), Kerkez
Midfielders: Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai, Writz
Attackers: Ekitike, Gakpo
Bench: Woodman (GK), Ramsay, Gomez, Robertson, Jones, Nyoni, Ngumoha, Chiesa, Morrison
KICK OFF:
Liverpool Return to this diamond shaped formation which they played midweek vs Galatasary as they seek to win 3 points at the AMEX this Saturday lunchtime and hopefully for them score 4 again.
The game was kicked off 15 minutes later than the arranged time due to the traffic around the south coast area giving more time for the fans to arrive in the stadium. Even though Liverpool started on the front foot they recived more injury news that they didnt want to know about, their new summer signing with 17 goals and assists this season had to come off just after 7 minutes due to a very bad dead leg by the looks of things. Curtis Jones was the one to replace the French international moving Writz up front with Gakpo and Jones out wide on the left hand side.
BRIGHTON GO AHEAD:
Brighton took the lead first by none other than Danny Welbeck who converts their first shot of the game into a goal. A great leap at the back post following a great cross from Kadioglu to Gomez who headed the ball back across Liverpool's 18 yard box giving the Brighton striker no margin to miss a 2 yard header in front of goal. The goal mainly came from two costly mistakes by Liverpool; one made by the early substitution and one from Liverpool's Goal keeper and number 5 not being quite at it, a poor pass and a bad touch which gave the possession back to the home side. Additionally, Ibrahmia Konate once again illustrates he is not on it as he defends the ball into the box poorly by giving the Brighton striker to much room to easily head it into the Liverpool net. 1-0.
After the 14th minute strike from Danny Welbeck, Liverpool try to start finding their rhythm once again and create a lengthy spell attacking Brighton's defence.
LIVERPOOL EQUALISE:
This dangerous spell leads to Liverpool levelling up the game as kerkez scores using a stunning bit of intelligence after Lewis Dunk tries to head the ball backwards to his keeper after a long ball by Marmadashvili however, the Liverpool left-back pounces on the opportunity and gets in between the centre-half and keeper and then lobs it over the keeper silencing the Brighton crowd. Just 15 minutes later Liverpool vitally found their quick leveller 1-1.
After a great performance midweek from Kerkez he is delivering again in a massive game with not just a goal but a calming aura too, whoch a lot of people feared he lacked at the start of the season but he is starting to show why he was in many people's team of the season's last year around. Furthermore, that was the Liverpool's left-back second goal of the premier league season which was how many goals he scored for A.F.C. Bournemouth last year too.
Before finishing the first half down here on the south coast, Minteh finds himself having a shot inside the Liverpool box and causing the Keeper to make a out stretched save. This comes from him getting the better of Frimpong on a few occasions now and was a common occurrence for the rest of the game.
HALF TIME:
And that saw the rest of the half out on a sunny afternoon, Brighton 1-1 Liverpool.
You could say 1-1 is fair for that first half of football, Liverpool have had the majority of chances and possession but also while sloppy at the back giving brighton a few chances to be ahead in this game themselves. This sets up for a magnificent second half with both teams having a lot too play for. However Brighton have the second fewest amount of goals conceded in the second half of premier league games this season at 17. Arsenal are first of course on 14.
SECOND HALF KICKS OFF:
Welbeck starts the second half getting himself a yellow card for standing in front of Szobaszlai’s not threatening freekick. Liverpool fans trying to lead their team on by being extremely vocal after a big missed chance by Wieffer hinting their team to step up and reach the intensity they got to Wednesday night.
WELBECK DELIGHT:
After a lengthy check by VAR, Welbeck gets himself his second of the game after Minteh puts in a wonderful ball on the left hand side finding Hinshellwood who passes it across to Welbeck to tap it home. Brighton are back in front 2-1. VAR had a look at an Offside by Welbeck after the pass by Hinshelwood but he was onside, a really poor goal to concede for LFC.
Danny Wellbeck has now scored 12 goals this season making himself England’s Highest scorer in the premier league and I am sure Fabian Hurzeler and many more will be questioning why he was not selected in Thomas Tuchels recently announced 35 man squad for England. Additionally, that is now 4 goals in his last 5 games and putting another question out to the England manager should he be on his way to America in June?
LIVERPOOL NEED TO ANSWER:
Arne Slot not messing about after a good start to the second half for Brighton leading him to make his second substitution of the game.
Frimpong OFF, Rio Ngumoha ON.
Which is not a supprise as Frimpong has been struggling all afternoon up against Minteh. While Liverpool are missing a bit of threat up top, Jones moves to Right back.
Ngumoha made a lot of positive contributions to Liverpool's attack after coming on winning fouls, corners and causing big problems for Wieffer with magnificent trickery.
Liverpool under all sorts of pressure! Marmadashvill makes a crucial save in the 67th minute to keep Liverpool in the game after denying a goal from Minteh’s breakaway. Furthermore, in the heat in the moment Fabian Hurtzeler and Alexis Mac Allister find themselves booked.
Chiesa also comes on to make his 23rd Appearance this Premier league season and try and find Liverpool an equalizer which he hasn’t done since Matchweek 5 against Crystal Palace away from home.
We are unfortunately not going to see a Welbeck Hattrick as he Hurtzeler makes his second changes of the afternoon.
Welbeck OFF- Rutter ON
Hinshelwood OFF- Ayari ON
FULL TIME:
BRIGHTON 2-1 LIVERPOOL
And after defending incredibly well just like last week against Sunderland, Brighton have won again and it sets a statement for the opening game of the weekend about how competitive this league really is. It was a fourth win in five premier league games for Fabian Hurtzeler's side, who recorded an xG of 2.3 compared to their opponents 1.03. This game was really about how hard Brighton worked compared to Liverpool, their press was extraordinary and it shows, they ran over 5km more as a team than Liverpool this afternoon which is a problem Arne Slot will need to resolve.
Liverpool are now without a win in three premier league games, but cannot afford to let their heads drop, with so many important games on the horizon. Next up is their FA cup quarter-final against Manchester City, before their two-legged tie with reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.