Liverpool grew larger in Brighton’s rearview mirror with a 2-0 win at Anfield on Sunday.
Goals from Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak handed Brighton a second loss of the season as Liverpool moved one point back of the Seagulls.
- Florian Wirtz shot deflected in by Pascal Gross for own goal.
- Wirtz and Bradley Barcola team up to set up Alexander Isak goals four minutes later.
- Yasin Ayari’s snakebit day in front of goal as he misses from 15 yards, then snaps post.
- Ferdi Kadioglu subs off with injury in first 10 minutes.
- Wirtz twists ankle in 50/50 challenge, then returns to game.
- Brighton finish day in third place, five points back of first place and one ahead of Liverpool (Current Premier League table)
- Seagulls next play Man City in the League Cup (Wednesday) and Premier League (Saturday), both at the Etihad Stadium.
- Liverpool host Chelsea on Wednesday in the League Cup, then Arsenal in the PL at 11:30am ET Sunday.
Nice to finally win a PL game at Anfield? “We needed this win at home to celebrate with supporters. We started really aggressive. We needed this start because we had been coming from behind lately.”
“Fourth win in a row — this obviously feels good. We have to keep going but I’m liking a lot of the things I’m seeing. Good performances from the players. They are helping each other. We are playing together with collectiveness.”
On Florian Wirtz: “It doesn’t matter if the ball is deflected or not, you know that he has scored the goal. In the end with Flo and most of the players it’s not about the numbers. Unfortunately he had to leave the pitch with a small twist of the ankle. With playing every three days [it’s a lot]. ... I don’t know if it’s even an injury. He wasn’t feeling 100%.”
On the second goal and Barcola: “We had good match-ups offensively against defenders with the speed that he has. It was a matter of winning the duels because of his speed against the back line.”
Disappointed? “Of course. We know it’s a tough place to go but we came here with the belief that we could win. Unfortunately we didn’t. The first 20-30 minutes we made mistakes and gave them too many chances. The second half of the first half and the second half was much better from us. But we were fighting an uphill battle.”
Much better in second half? “The second half we had more control. We were cleaner in the position and took it more simple. We got in good positions but unfortunately today we could not finish. They defended the crosses well, which is a big strength of ours.”
Positives from the loss? “Even in today’s performance there are loads of positives to take. First of all we showed great togetherness. You go down 2-0 it’s not easy but we stuck together. We showed some good spells of possession. We just need to look back at our mistakes [and fix them].”
Thoughts on the game: “It was a missed opportunity. Everyone felt that we could definitely take something from this game. In the end we made two easy mistakes to give them presents to score goals. We kept going, we kept trying, and they defended well in the box. If you focus on us, we did everything. We have to avoid easy mistakes. We had chances but we didn’t have the luck on our side today.”
“We had the big chance with Yasin in the first minutes. If this goes in I think the game is completely different. We have to learn we don’t have to chase the game after 20 minutes. We lost a little bit of our structure. We have to analyze and do better.”
Can you take positives from this? “Of course we have to take the positives. On the other side we have to get an understanding to keep our level in everything we’re doing. We have to avoid easy mistakes if we want to win here. We came here to win, everyone saw this, and you could feel it in the stadium that it was definitely the case.”
Thoughts on the game: “We had the right mentality today to go into this game especially in the first half or 30 minutes we were on top of the them. Really good in the duels, also creating lots of chances. Leading 2-0 is really good to go into half and we defended really well.”
On Liverpool’s second goal: “It’s really enjoyable. Many things weren’t so good in the last month so I’m even happier that it’s going well at the moment. We’re on a good way to get where we want to be. We should keep going like that.”
On picking up a knock in the second half: “I think it should be alright. It’s not too bad but I don’t know much yet. We still have to check it but I think it’s not going to take long.”
Finally a home win for grateful suppporters: “It’s been way too long and it’s a great way to do it against an in-form to it and the way we did it with a clean sheet. Delighted.”
On his goal: “We had a lot of chances first half where we won the ball and counter. Bradley’s done superb and for me it’s just about being in the right place to finish it off.”
Finding their footing this season: “Today especially the performance was really good, really solid against a really good team. First half is really what we want to be about with intensity and winning balls.”
Florian Wirtz had an awkward moment around the hour mark, conceding a dangerous free kick to Diego Gomez and hurting himself in the process.
Wirtz was on the pitch getting treatment for some time but re-entered the game after the required minute off the pitch.
An incisive dribble from Maxim De Cuyper nearly gave Brighton a high xG chance, and Liverpool tore forward in the other direction with Cody Gakpo slicing a shot across goal and wide of the frame.
Chema Andres is walking off quite gingerly as the Spanish defensive midfielder sees his day end in the 54th minute.
Malick Yalcouye takes his place in a decidedly more attacking switch.
Olivier Boscaglia is removed in favor of Jack Hinshelwood in an attack-minded move.
Brighton lead in possession and xG, with shot attempts even at nine, and they maraud up the right flank to win an early set piece.
Liverpool caught fire and could’ve scored 4-5 goals during the patch that saw them go up 2-0 through Wirtz and Isak.
Brighton have done a lot of good things since making it out of the woods but the final ball has too often been inaccurate.
The Seagulls are alive but have a lot of work to do while dealing with heavier legs than their hosts, whose European game was at home and 48 hours earlier than Brighton’s trip to Czechia.
This time Yasin Ayari hits the post pretty squarely as Alisson could only watch the hit and hope gain hope.
Brighton have looked a lot better since weathering Liverpool’s quest to make it three quick goals. A goal before the break would be massive for the fate of this game.
Alexander Isak’s got another goal as Boscagli’s clearing attempt strikes Barcola right on the chest.
Barcola glides down the right and crosses a bounding ball toward Isak, who turns it past Verbruggen.
2-0, 22'.
Ronald Araujo wins a physical challenge then keeps the ball after being fouled himself.
HIs pass is blocked onto the path of Florian Wirtz, who slams a hard shot toward goal and it turns off Pascal Gross and beats Bart Verbruggen.
Will it be an o.g. or a Wirtz goal? It’s 1-0, and Gakpo soon has a good chance that is saved well by the stretching palm of Verbruggen.
Diego Gomez sends Pascal Gross into the Liverpool box and the German could shoot the ball.
Alisson might’ve thought so, too, as evidenced by his reaction to Yasin Ayari getting a cutback, but the Swede blazes over the bar.
0-0, 15'.
Ferdi Kadioglu is in some discomfort with an upper leg/hip ailment as Brighton look like they’ll have to make an early change at fullback.
Brighton play on with 10 men for now and Joao Costinha, the Olympiacos import, appears set to replace the Turkish star.
Another great viewing experience as both Brighton and Liverpool wear their classic colors — the Seagulls tip to toe in blue with the Reds in, well, red.
The energy is there to no surprise as Andoni Iraola and Fabian Hurzeler are two of the most admired managers when it comes to trying to take the game by the scruff of the neck and the spirit of the sport.
There’s little doubt that Liverpool’s front four for Sunday is their best group, as Cody Gakpo facilitates, Florian Wirtz has elite vision, and both Alexander Isak and Bradley Barcola boast almost unparalleled elite electricity.
With a League Cup game coming up at midweek against Chelsea plus Victor Munoz missing out Sunday and Hugo Ekitike out for the long-term, this could be a big chance for Liverpool’s young depth.
Rio Ngumoha and Lewis Koumas have been jockeying for meaningful playing time (so is Federico Chiesa but he’s not young).
Koumas has started three of the last four games and had a goal and an assist agains LASK Linz but has not been exceptional in the league.
Ngumoha has started two of four and set up two goals against Villarreal. Neither are defensive forces or near to that at their ages (Rio turned 18 in August while Koumas turned 21 last month). Tie goes to Nguomha but still huge chances in a game where attackers will certainly tire given their weeks and the opponent.
Starting XI
Verbruggen
De Cuyper
Dunk
Vuskovic
Kadioglu
Boscagli
Gross
Ayari
Chema
Gomez
Kostoulas
Subs: Steele, Hadjam, Hinshelwood, Rutter, David, Osman, Costinha, O’Riley, Yalcouye
Starting XI
Alisson
Kerkez
van Dijk
Jacquet
Araujo
Gravenberch
Mac Allister
Barcola
Wirtz
Gakpo
Isak
Subs: Mamardashvili, Gomez, Endo, Chiesa, Tsimikas, Nyoni, McConnell, Koumas, Ngumoha
Thirty-three year old Texas-born Hurzeler has matched wits with Iraola on four occasions when the latter was leading Bournemouth.
The Cherries won the season series last year with a win at home and a draw at Brighton.
The previous season saw Hurzeler’s Seagulls sweep Iraola’s Bournemouth
Liverpool have a healthy advantage in the series, winning 25 times and drawing on 12 occasions with lost nine losses.
Yet Brighton have won two of their last four meetings, albeit both of those came at home.
They have to go back over five years to find a win at Anfield, as Brighton beat Liverpool 1-0 there on Feb 3, 2021.
Kick off time: 10am ET Sunday, October 25
Venue: Anfield — Liverpool
TV Channel: Peacock
Stream link: Watch live on Peacock
