And with that, this MBM reaches its natural end. A great day for Liverpool as they make it three wins from three, even if the performance was a little stodgy. A disappointing one for Brighton, but they’ll take great heart going forward from a fine performance. All that’s left is to point you in the direction of Paul Wilson, who was at Anfield. Here’s his report. Nighty night!
Chris Hughton speaks! “I am proud but disappointed as well. You don’t get too many opportunities to get something from the game. We had chances, and I though we finished really strong. We won’t have many better opportunities. Most people would have expected Liverpool to push on, but we got stronger as the game went on. If we were a little more clinical we’d have got something. It was a poor goal, but it’s important to move on as quickly as possible. The team could have buckled but they didn’t. It’s a very difficult division, and we’ve been very good in our last two games, so it’s not a bad thing to be good against Manchester United and Liverpool! If we get that level of performance, we’ll be fine.”
Jurgen Klopp talks! “Sometimes it’s cool to get the three points when there’s a lot of areas for improvement. First half we did what we should have done, we were patient and scored a wonderful goal. Second half it was not ideal. I don’t really remember a big chance for us ... maybe at a corner? I can’t remember! That’s never a good sign! And so the game was still open, and our passing game was not good enough any more. And they had their chances on the counter attack. If they had scored the header at the end they would have deserved it. So I am very happy about the result. It is difficult against a really deep defending side. We have a lot of work to do. Some players were not fresh, so we will see how we line up next week at Leicester. Alisson is a massive signing for us. I don’t like the little chip [over Knockaert] but then again I have never had a Brazilian goalkeeper before! I am really not interested in the table, but we live on the planet so we know what happens. For tonight, it’s all good ... but there’s a lot of work to do.”
James Milner speaks to BT Sport: “They’re a good team, they showed that last week. They were full of confidence and difficult to break down. Obviously another clean sheet for us is pleasing. We know we can play better, but we got the result. The boys at the back, and the goalkeeper, is the reason we are getting the points. Top of the table isn’t a bad place to be, but there’s a lot for us to improve on.”
Virgil van Dijk chips in: “We knew Brighton would have confidence from last week, and we needed to make sure we were ready for battle. We didn’t play our best game but kept it tight. Everyone played their part.”
That result takes Liverpool to the top of the nascent Premier League table. Three wins out of three, and they’re a couple of points clear of Manchester City and Bournemouth. A perfect start to their campaign, though it was far from a perfect display today. They were gifted the winning goal, though Mo Salah took it exceptionally well. It was a rare misstep by Brighton, who harried Liverpool all evening, kept their shape, and grew into the game as Anfield got nervous. They should have equalised near the death, when Martin Montoya placed a cross on the head of Pascal Gross, six yards out, having taken Virgil van Dijk out of the game with his gorgeous delivery. But Alisson showed why Liverpool invested so much money in him, making the save that secured the win for his new team. Whether Gross should have allowed him to make it is another matter altogether. Liverpool walk off the pitch looking more relieved than jubilant, though if you want to do well in this division, you have to win ugly at times. Liverpool did that at Palace on Monday night; they’ve done it again today. Top of the league without playing particularly well: it’s a good sign. Brighton should be happy too once the sting of narrow defeat eases: they’ll be absolutely fine this season if they keep playing like they have done this past week.
FULL TIME: Liverpool 1-0 Brighton & Hove Albion
Liverpool get the scrappy win. They’ve been well below par today. Brighton were excellent, and will think they deserved something from that game. Pascal Gross should perhaps have given them it ... but Alisson denied him with a save that goes some way to justifying those big bucks.
90 min +3: Sturridge shuffles down the right again, then rolls a pass inside for Salah, who sends another wild one over the bar.
90 min +2: Sturridge shuffles down the inside right and tries a curler towards the far corner. Nope.
90 min +1: There will be three added minutes. In the first, Stephens brings down Wijnaldum, 30 yards out. Henderson flings the ball into the mixer. Brighton clear.
90 min: Before the corner can be taken, Matip comes on for Alexander-Arnold. Gomez clears the corner. Brighton come back at Liverpool, Montoya curling another cross in from the right. Duffy tries to meet it this time, but ends up giving away a foul.
89 min: Montoya curls in from the right. It’s a brilliant cross which takes van Dijk out. Gross meets it and fires a header towards the top right. Alisson tips the ball round the post. What a save! Though Gross should have scored.
87 min: Wijnaldum back-flicks Salah’s corner by the near post. Duffy and Murray combine to clear the ball off Brighton’s line. Salah tries a shot from an ambitious angle on the right; the ball nestles high in the top-left corner of the Kop.
86 min: Milner finds Robertson down the inside-right channel with a fine floated pass. Robertson turns and lays the ball off for Alexander-Arnold, who shoots low and hard. His effort is deflected out for a corner on the right.
84 min: Firmino tries to open up Brighton with a saucy chip towards Salah down the left. Brighton continue to hold their shape. They’ve been extremely impressive in stopping Liverpool from doing their thing.
82 min: Robertson hares down the left and wins a corner. Liverpool take their sweet time to restart the game. The eventual corner is easily dealt with by Brighton. Anfield is a cauldron of bubbling nerves. Brighton are pushing them all the way here. They want something from this game.
80 min: Sturridge comes on for Mane, while Gross replaces Bissouma. And Liverpool are beginning to panic. Alisson nearly gifts the ball to Murray, and is thankful that Wijnaldum comes back to help him tidy up.
79 min: One corner leads to another, and there’s an almighty melee in the Liverpool box. The ball hits Propper’s leg and drops in the middle of a crowd of players from both sides. Henderson responds first and hoicks clear.
78 min: Locadia, chasing a long pass down the right, gets a spring on van Dijk. For a second it looks like he’ll break clear, but van Dijk sticks out a telescopic leg. He’s forced to concede a corner, though.
77 min: Alexander-Arnold is booked for tugging Locadia back on the halfway line. That’s his third booking in three matches so far this season.
76 min: Brighton make a double switch. March and Konckaert are replaced by Locadia and Jahanbakhsh.
75 min: Salah loops the free kick into the mixer. Mane goes up, but the ball’s knocked out for another corner. From that set piece, Salah is found in space twice on the left, both times by spectacular passes, from Henderson and Alexander-Arnold in turn. But he can’t do anything with either ball.
73 min: Robertson fires a cross into the Brighton box from the left. Duffy sticks out a leg and nearly steers it into the bottom-left corner of his own net. From the resulting corner, Milner’s cross hits Bissouma’s arm, and it’s a free kick out near the touchline.
72 min: Salah has a shot from distance. It hits Mane. It’s been that kind of match for Liverpool.
71 min: Firmino has woken up all right. He makes good towards the Brighton box and nearly releases Salah with a cute flick. But Brighton hold firm.
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69 min: Firmino has been out of sorts, too. He picks up a bit, driving down the inside-right channel and eventually snatching at a shot that’s gathered by Ryan at the near post.
68 min: van Dijk leaves a backpass a little short. Knockaert races after it. Alisson comes out of his area and calmly chips the ball over Knockaert’s head then rolls a pass back to van Dijk. That was outrageous.
67 min: Liverpool make the first change of the afternoon: Keita, who has been quiet, is replaced by Henderson.
66 min: Bissouma batters the free kick straight at the Liverpool wall. It takes a huge deflection off Wijnaldum and out for a corner on the right. The set piece is hit deep, and Duffy climbs all over Alexander-Arnold. Free kick, and the pressure off the hosts.
65 min: Now it’s Gomez’s turn to play a loose pass in the midfield. It allows Brighton to build an attack. They ping it around. Propper tries to flick it past Milner, who handles. This is a free kick in a very dangerous position, just to the left of the D.
63 min: Liverpool are dominating possession, yet they aren’t playing with any discernible confidence. Mane clanks a simple pass down the left flank towards Robertson and out for a goal kick.
62 min: Milner’s in the wars right now. Montoya comes sliding in on him, and is reasonably fortunate to escape a yellow card.
61 min: Milner knocks the free kick left for Salah, who floats a cross onto Gomez’s head. Gomez flashes a header straight at Ryan.
60 min: Milner tries to flick a pass down the middle of the park. He’s cleaned out in spectacular style by Balogun, who is the first player in the book. That was an old-fashioned clatter! And this is a free kick, 35 yards out in a central position.
58 min: Alexander-Arnold wins a corner down the right. Milner takes. Duffy heads confidently clear. Then another phase, the ball finding the feet of Salah on the edge of the area. Salah scuffs a shot, and it grazes Duffy’s elbow. He claims for a penalty he’s never going to get.
57 min: Liverpool were hot favourites to win this match. But right now, if there’s another goal, it’s not totally clear who’ll be scoring it. Brighton are right in this game.
56 min: It’s end to end. March makes space down the left and reaches the byline. His low cross is well intercepted by Gomez. Salah tears off up the other end, down the right. He’s in acres, but attempts an early pass inside for Firmino and that one’s mopped up by Duffy.
54 min: Some space for Milner out on the right. He hooks deep. Too deep. Robertson tries to salvage the situation by sliding in from the left, but can only knock the ball out for a goal kick.
53 min: This half hasn’t really got going yet. Just how Brighton like it. The more the clock ticks on without change to the scoreline, the more edgy Liverpool and the home support will get.
51 min: Bissouma shanks high into the air, straight up into the clouds, a la Momo Sissoko years ago against Everton, inside his own area. Firmino is under it. Ryan comes off his line and clatters into Firmino. The keeper always gets those decisions, and it’s a free kick for Brighton. Firmino has to leave the field as his sock has been shredded. All slightly surreal.
49 min: And so there’s now a nervous atmosphere in Anfield, as Brighton begin to impose themselves. The home side suddenly look edgy. It’s not been their ideal start to the half.
48 min: Keita gives the ball away in the midfield. Knockaert makes off upfield. He feeds Murray down the right. Murray twists, turns and reaches the byline. He’s surrounded by red shirts, but is still able to pull the ball back for Knockaert, clear on the penalty spot. He surely must score, but shanks a dreadful first-time effort wide left. What a chance!
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46 min: The music continues to play a full 23 seconds after the referee blows his whistle. The crowd cheer as it’s finally turned off.
And we’re off again! Liverpool get the ball rolling for the second half, in which they’ll be kicking towards the Kop, just as they like it. No changes.
Half-time listening.
HALF TIME: Liverpool 1-0 Brighton & Hove Albion
Nothing much happens in the added time. And that’s that for the first half. Brighton have caused Liverpool a few problems ... but they caused themselves a big one in the build-up to the goal. It’s not been a vintage Liverpool display; Brighton will therefore be hopeful of getting something out of this game in the second half.
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45 min: Murray is down getting some treatment, having tweaked his knee. It looks like he’ll be OK to continue. And he’s up! There will be two minutes of added time.
44 min: Firmino flicks a ball down the left for Robertson, who can’t quite get past Montoya and into the box. Instead he returns the ball to Firmino, who sends a rising shot over the bar from the edge of the area.
42 min: Robertson gets fed up and goes on a skitter down the left touchline. He’s eventually forced to turn back, but the positive intent earns the popular left-back a warm round of applause from the Anfield regulars.
41 min: Liverpool pass it around the back for a very long time. It’s like it’s 1979 all over again.
39 min: Liverpool respond, Keita breaking down the right. He crosses. Some head tennis in the Brighton area. It’s become pretty scrappy all of a sudden.
37 min: March loops the corner into the mixer. Alisson comes off his line and punches clear confidently. But Brighton are beginning to carry a threat, and Bissouma dribbles with purpose down the left. He can’t quite get a shot away upon reaching the edge of the box. And he can’t find a team-mate with a pass. But the visitors are making a game of this. Anfield’s fallen quiet again as a result.
35 min: Knockaert and Bissouma combine nicely down the middle, and very nearly open Liverpool up. Alexander-Arnold is concerned enough to come across and whack the ball out for a corner.
34 min: Salah cuts inside from the right and slides Robertson in down the left with a fine diagonal pass. Robertson fires a cross in, low and hard. Mane dips, hoping to send a diving header goalwards. He can’t meet it cleanly, and Ryan gathers.
32 min: Brighton deal with the second one much more easily, March making off up the left and drawing a foul from Salah that relieves the pressure.
31 min: Milner slips a pass down the right for Alexander-Arnold, who wins a corner off March. Milner’s corner is half cleared, but he gets another go at crossing, and slips a pass in for Wijnaldum, who spins and looks to batter one into the bottom right from ten yards. Ryan turns it round the post for another corner.
29 min: Brighton stick just about everyone on the edge of the Liverpool box. Knockaert hits the free kick long. Duffy is sprung offside. On the touchline, Chris Hughton cuts a frustrated figure. But his team are still in this game.
28 min: Milner clatters into Montoya. A needless slide in the midfield. He’s very lucky to escape a booking.
26 min: Salah and Firmino nearly open Brighton up down the middle with a couple of quick flicks. Balogun shuts the door just in time.
25 min: What will doubly sicken Brighton is how they’d quietened Anfield with their early determined denial. And suddenly the place is bouncing again.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Brighton & Hove Albion (Salah 23)
And from that Brighton free kick, Liverpool score! Balogun taps it to Bissouma who is immediately robbed by Milner. The ball’s slipped to Mane, then Firmino, then down the inside-right channel for Salah, who opens his body and sidefoots a superb shot into the bottom left. He passed that in. And Brighton, having started so well, are the architects of their own downfall.
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22 min: Alexander-Arnold, out on the right, tries to find Salah on the edge of the box with a pass threaded through a thicket of players. Bissouma is there to intercept and draw a free kick from Milner.
20 min: They’ve showed some replays of that earlier penalty shout. Propper was waving his hands around in unnatural places; you’ve certainly seen penalties given for that. But this is where we are.
19 min: Salah chases a long pass down the left, reaches the byline, and fires low into the centre. Ryan gathers at his near post. Brighton are holding their shape very well; there’s not much space for Liverpool to work in.
18 min: Duffy’s loose header on the edge of his own box nearly drops to Salah and then Keita. Brighton get away with that one.
17 min: Salah spins into space down the right and lays off inside for Alexander-Arnold, who hits a first-time shot from distance. It takes an absurd deflection off a Brighton boot but sails safely into Ryan’s arms.
15 min: Alexander-Arnold takes a mean set piece, and here’s another. He aims a power curler towards the top right. Ryan is beaten, but the ball twangs off the top of the crossbar.
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14 min: Keita is shoved over by Stephens as he dribbles down the inside-left channel. A free kick just outside the box.
12 min: Brighton have their tails up. March races after a long ball down the left. Alisson comes charging out of his box to intercept and makes a pig’s ear of the challenge. He misses the ball, but March then clumsily clanks it out for a goal kick with the net unguarded.
11 min: ... comes to nothing. A Robertson shot from the edge of the box hits Propper on the arm. Liverpool want a penalty, but Propper was turning and had no clue where the ball was, so the ref’s not having it.
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10 min: Brighton commit men forward, but when their attack breaks down, Liverpool break upfield. Firmino bursts down the left and tries to fire a crossfield pass towards Mane on the right. It deflects out for a corner on the left, which ...
9 min: Robertson, out on the left, curls a cross to the near post. Firmino ghosts in from deep to head towards the bottom left. That’s a great run, and he’s met it well. But Ryan gets down to make a sensational stop, and Brighton clear their lines.
8 min: It’s high-tempo stuff. Not many passes sticking right now. Liverpool are dominating possession, but Brighton look, er, bright on the break. Murray and Knockaert have been lively.
6 min: Brighton haven’t come here to simply defend. Murray slips a pass down the right for Knockaert, who drops a shoulder to get past Robertson and curves a low shot towards the bottom right. Alisson is right behind it. A nice open feel to this game already.
5 min: Mane is inches away from giving Liverpool the lead. He rolls a pass down the right for Salah, who glides infield and cuts one back. It’s Mane on the end of it, and he sidefoots wide of the right-hand post with Ryan rooted to the spot.
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4 min: Liverpool are pressing hard. Some exclusive breaking news there. Robertson and Keita momentarily give the Brighton back line a bit of a scare, but the visitors hold firm, Montoya eventually winning the ball back.
2 min: The sun’s streaming across the Anfield turf. A light breeze. Liverpool stroke it around awhile, so everyone gets a touch. Alexander-Arnold tries to get on the end of a speculative Firmino pass down the right, but there’s too much juice on the flick and it goes out for a goal kick.
And we’re off! Brighton get the party started. They’ll be kicking towards the Kop in the first half. They launch long, and pressure van Dijk into the concession of a throw. But nothing comes of it, Keita mopping up.
The teams are out! Liverpool will play in their famous red, Brighton in their beautiful blue and white stripes. A bouncing tail-end-of-afternoon-session atmosphere at Anfield. We’ll be off before you know it! In the meantime, here’s Matt Dony: “It says so much about the psychological impact that this Manchester City team have had on the league, that this suddenly seems like a ‘must win’ game for Liverpool. The third game of the season. It’s ridiculous to feel that pressure so early, but you just can’t see City dropping too many points. Taking advantage when they do feels incredibly important. Argh, I hate football!”
Jurgen Klopp talks! But not in the pre-match style. There’s a prerecorded chat on BT Sport, in which he says pretty much what you’d expect him to say about Liverpool’s designs on the league title. It’s hard, they’re not the best team, they have to get better, etc. He does compare Virgil van Dijk to “a really big car ... an SUV” though. Toot toot! Out of his way!
Chris Hughton speaks! “At the moment, this is probably the most difficult place to come in the country. So we will have to show a lot of the qualities we showed against Manchester United last week. Lewis Dunk got injured last week against and Leon Balogun came in and did a very good job. He’s experienced and wasn’t fazed by the situation, and I don’t expect him to be fazed today either. When you play the likes of Liverpool you have to have a strategy. It changes things. It’s a challenge but that’s what we’re here for. The stronger they get, you have to raise your levels yourself. The only way we can get anything today is to raise our level from our matches against Liverpool in the past.”
Liverpool name the same XI that started the game at Crystal Palace on Monday night. Even the bench is the same. How about that.
Brighton make two changes to the team sent out to beat Manchester United last Sunday. Central defender Lewis Dunk is injured and is replaced by Leon Balogun; Pascal Gross drops to the bench to make way for £15m midfielder Yves Bissouma, who starts in the blue-and-white of Albion for the first time.
The teams
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, van Dijk, Robertson, Milner, Wijnaldum, Keita, Salah, Firmino, Mane.
Subs: Henderson, Sturridge, Moreno, Lallana, Mignolet, Shaqiri, Matip.
Brighton & Hove Albion: Ryan, Montoya, Balogun, Duffy, Bong, Knockaert, Stephens, Propper, March, Bissouma, Murray.
Subs: Kayal, Locadia, Gross, Jahanbakhsh, Button, Suttner, Bernardo.
Referee: Chris Kavanagh (Lancashire).
Preamble
Brighton had Liverpool’s number back in the early 1980s. In February 1983, Gerry Ryan and former Liverpool midfielder Jimmy Case scored the goals that secured a famous 2-1 victory at Anfield in the fifth round of the FA Cup. Phil Neal missed a penalty, as Liverpool’s 63-match unbeaten home run in the cups came to an end. Eleven months later, Ryan was on the scoresheet again in a 2-0 fourth-round win at the Goldstone Ground.
Those two seismic shocks - Liverpool were en route to the league title on both occasions, while Brighton were busy getting themselves relegated in 1983 and were a mid-table Second Division concern in 1984 - are well remembered. Perhaps not so famous is Brighton’s 1-0 win at Anfield in 1982, Andy Ritchie scoring the only goal. Kevin Sheedy came off the bench for Liverpool that day. I wonder what became of him?
Yes, Brighton had Liverpool’s number back in the early 1980s. After that, not so much. They haven’t beaten the Reds since that 1984 cup tie. They’ve visited Anfield on four occasions since, shipping a total of 16 goals. They were heavily beaten home and away last season: 4-0 at Anfield, 5-1 at the Amex. Liverpool, coming off the back of victories against West Ham United and Crystal Palace, are short-priced favourites to win this evening.
And yet Brighton will approach this task with hope, for one simple reason: they saw off Manchester United with ease last weekend. As a result, they’ll be thinking that anything is possible ... and you need a little belief when faced with Jurgen Klopp’s über-attacking side. Will Liverpool make it three wins out of three this season? Or can Brighton channel their eighties mojo and put an end to their recent poor run of results against the Reds? We’ll soon find out! Kick off is at 5.30pm BST. It’s on!
