Liverpool produced the stereotypical recreation of two halves to mount an Anfield comeback and beat Brighton to maneuver prime of the Premier League as their two main rivals every misplaced.
Liverpool 2-1 Brighton
Premier League (10) | Anfield
November 2, 2024
Objectives: Gakpo 69′, Salah 71′; Kadioglu 14′
Sloppy begin and a few poor performers
Gradual passing, inaccurate passing. We’ve seen it earlier than and in pricey trend from the Reds, however much more final yr than this time period.
Just a few Reds on the day nonetheless didn’t actually get themselves out of that specific method: Alexis Mac Allister had certainly one of his worse days of the marketing campaign, and Trent Alexander-Arnold might need improved barely, however nowhere close to sufficient.
The previous Brighton man was off in his ball retention, picked up one yellow card and was a tad fortunate to not get one other with a second-half foul – it was no shock to see him eliminated.
Dominik Szoboszlai was maybe the opposite who got here into that class, lacking in motion when the midfield was swarmed first half and never in a position to affect issues after the break as we upped our recreation considerably.
One or two key starters too many being out of prime type on the day.
Slot must be taught the lesson of counter-attacks
It’s all properly and good that Arne Slot needs Liverpool to be completely dominant, management the ball and territory and never should endure a chaotic nature of matches – however typically, the opposite staff need precisely that.
And when they’re good at doing so, by being fierce in forcing turnovers, courageous in committing numbers ahead and speedy on the counter-attack, Liverpool should be taught to match it another time.
The management and poise we present when on prime in video games, when dealing with sides who don’t go all-out each time they get the ball and who usually are not as bodily dominant might be massively pleasing. However up to now this season, our potential to cope with groups who’re in our face proper from kick-off has been far much less spectacular.
Ipswich did it first half till they ran out of steam; Forest did the identical all recreation lengthy and beat us once we had been unable to boost our recreation.
Brighton are higher than each these sides at such a energetic, ball-winning transition recreation and the Reds had been fortunate to solely be one purpose down on the interval.
The second half was much better, sure, however we should be capable to react far faster to those conditions in future.
Ambiance lights as much as gas Anfield revival
A bit too flat, a bit too quiet, a bit to gradual to be lifted by something.
The house crowd didn’t have so much to cheer first half and didn’t do a lot of it to carry the gamers – however the second 45 minutes was a complete turnaround in each regards.
It has already been proven this season and this was one other effective instance: the squad react to the roar of the stands, and the followers likewise are in effective voice when the play is faster, extra intense and intent on assault.
From kick-off within the second half the fabled roar was positively again, however Pervis Estupinan most likely deserves a thanks word for actually lighting a fuse below the supporters when he tried to sq. off towards Trent Alexander-Arnold.
One other lesson for the brand new boss: Interact that fanbase on a Saturday afternoon!
Tremendous Slot subs have desired affect
If he has one or two issues nonetheless to select up after only some months on Merseyside, we noticed right here some nice recreation administration by Slot.
The primary sub was enforced, the subsequent had been obligatory – however all three of Slot’s first substitutions did precisely what was required of them to carry Liverpool’s stage of high quality and power.
Joe Gomez got here on for the injured Ibou Konate and produced a implausible exhibiting on the coronary heart of the defence, even nearly scoring his first purpose with a header (twice!).
Whereas he was glorious defensively, it was bringing Curtis Jones and Luis Diaz on, restoring some form however including attacking numbers, which was an early sufficient double sub from Slot that actually did the enterprise.
Jones, so spectacular of late, made a implausible surge to finally help Salah for the go-ahead purpose – then Wataru Endo got here on for a selected holding job and Conor Bradley noticed out the sport to double up down the wing.
Wonderful throughout, with Gomez the choose of the bunch forward of one other mature Jones exhibiting.
High of the desk!
That troublesome run of fixtures continues… and continues to yield wins.
There can’t be any getting carried away after we actually wanted to dig deep to discover a comeback win, however beating an excellent Brighton facet is one other massive end result to go alongside seeing off Chelsea, profitable in Leipzig and avoiding defeat at Arsenal.
And so as to add to the significance of as we speak’s three factors, it places the Reds again to the highest of the Premier League on a weekend when each title rivals, Arsenal and Man Metropolis, misplaced away from residence. Might this be a season-defining day?
Dropping factors on our personal turf would have felt like a large waste, in order a lot because it’s a giant win in isolation, it’s an ideal option to head into the final two matches earlier than the worldwide break towards Bayer Leverkusen and Aston Villa.
Liverpool 2-1 Brighton
