Atmosphere, subs & taking advantage – 5 talking points from Liverpool 2-1 Brighton

Mark Delgado

@thisisanfield

November 2, 2024

Liverpool produced the stereotypical game of two halves to mount an Anfield comeback and beat Brighton to move top of the Premier League as their two major rivals each lost.

Liverpool 2-1 Brighton

Premier League (10) | Anfield
November 2, 2024

Goals: Gakpo 69′, Salah 71′; Kadioglu 14′

Sloppy start and some poor performers

Slow passing, inaccurate passing. We’ve seen it before and in costly fashion from the Reds, but far more last year than this term.

A few Reds on the day however didn’t really get themselves out of that particular approach: Alexis Mac Allister had one of his worse days of the campaign, and Trent Alexander-Arnold might have improved slightly, but nowhere near enough.

The former Brighton man was off in his ball retention, picked up one yellow card and was a tad lucky not to get another with a second-half foul – it was no surprise to see him removed.

Dominik Szoboszlai was perhaps the other who came into that category, missing in action when the midfield was swarmed first half and not able to influence matters after the break as we upped our game significantly.

One or two key starters too many being out of top form on the day.

Slot needs to learn the lesson of counter-attacks

It’s all well and good that Arne Slot wants Liverpool to be absolutely dominant, control the ball and territory and not have to endure a chaotic nature of matches – but sometimes, the other team want exactly that.

And when they are good at doing so, by being fierce in forcing turnovers, brave in committing numbers forward and speedy on the counter-attack, Liverpool have to learn to match it all over again.

The control and poise we show when on top in games, when facing sides who don’t go all-out every time they get the ball and who are not as physically dominant can be massively pleasing. But so far this season, our ability to deal with teams who are in our face right from kick-off has been far less impressive.

Ipswich did it first half until they ran out of steam; Forest did the same all game long and beat us when we were unable to raise our game.

Brighton are better than both those sides at this type of energetic, ball-winning transition game and the Reds were lucky to only be one goal down at the interval.

The second half was far better, yes, but we must be able to react far quicker to these situations in future.

Atmosphere lights up to fuel Anfield revival

A bit too flat, a bit too quiet, a bit to slow to be lifted by anything.

The home crowd didn’t have a lot to cheer first half and didn’t do much of it to lift the players – but the second 45 minutes was a total turnaround in both regards.

It has already been shown this season and this was another fine example: the squad react to the roar of the stands, and the fans likewise are in fine voice when the play is quicker, more intense and intent on attack.

From kick-off in the second half the fabled roar was definitely back, but Pervis Estupinan probably deserves a thank you note for really lighting a fuse under the supporters when he attempted to square off against Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Another lesson for the new boss: Engage that fanbase on a Saturday afternoon!

Super Slot subs have desired impact

If he has one or two things still to pick up after only a few months on Merseyside, we saw here some great game management by Slot.

The first sub was enforced, the next were necessary – but all three of Slot’s first substitutions did exactly what was required of them to lift Liverpool’s level of quality and energy.

Joe Gomez came on for the injured Ibou Konate and produced a fantastic showing at the heart of the defence, even almost scoring his first goal with a header (twice!).

While he was excellent defensively, it was bringing Curtis Jones and Luis Diaz on, restoring some shape but adding attacking numbers, which was an early enough double sub from Slot that really did the business.

Jones, so impressive of late, made a fantastic surge to eventually assist Salah for the go-ahead goal – then Wataru Endo came on for a specific holding job and Conor Bradley saw out the game to double up down the wing.

Excellent all around, with Gomez the pick of the bunch ahead of another mature Jones showing.

Top of the table!

That difficult run of fixtures continues… and continues to yield wins.

There can’t be any getting carried away after we really needed to dig deep to find a comeback win, but beating a very good Brighton side is another big result to go alongside seeing off Chelsea, winning in Leipzig and avoiding defeat at Arsenal.

And to add to the importance of today’s three points, it puts the Reds back to the top of the Premier League on a weekend when both title rivals, Arsenal and Man City, lost away from home. Could this be a season-defining day?

Dropping points on our own turf would have felt like a massive waste, so as much as it’s a big win in isolation, it’s a perfect way to head into the last two matches before the international break against Bayer Leverkusen and Aston Villa.