Daniel’s Debrief: Brighton 2-2 Liverpool

Most of that depends on how you view the bigger picture, really.

We get battered away at Brighton in January but we were so much more competitive here against a very good opponent.

What’s frustrating is that we miss out on the chance to win a big game through conceding two poor goals, both of which come from individual errors.

Seventeen points from eight games when we’ve had four red cards and trips to Chelsea, Newcastle, Tottenham and Brighton is a really good return, it just doesn’t feel great that we’ve come away from the last two games with a single point.

I was quite excited to see the lineup as it looked like Jurgen Klopp had picked a 4-4-2 system, which Brighton struggled with so much against Aston Villa and West Ham.

He gets a bit betwixt and between though, Klopp. We seem stuck between 4-4-2 and 4-3-3 in that first half with Harvey Elliott playing pretty much everywhere.

The first 20 are high-octane from both teams and makes for good viewing. Brighton play through the phases well and with the returning Pascal Gross - one of the most underrated players in the league - cause Liverpool problems with the speed of their transitions. 

Alexis Mac Allister struggles early on with the pace and intensity of the game and he’s central to the opening goal. Virgil Van Dijk plays a simple pass into his path, Mac Allister is dispossessed by Simon Adingra and he slots home, with Alisson Becker well off his line.

It’s a good strike from Adingra but Alisson seems a little slow to get down to it. Van Dijk shouldn’t be giving Mac Allister the ball when he’s at the centre of a pressing triangle, but make no mistake, it’s another example of Mac Allister’s struggles at 6 against the better teams.

They can bypass him and put him under pressure.

A lovely footballer, he’s filling in admirably at DM but without a specialist there, you feel things like this will keep happening. Klopp either needs to trust Wataru Endo more, or start finding a way to give Mac Allister more support in there.

He recovers and does well in the second half but in the first half he’s just not quick on the turn and Brighton really target him as a pressing trap.

Pressing is an interesting factor in this game. Both teams play some precise football in tight spaces in the first half and pressing almost becomes a bit futile with the quality of the press resistance on show.

And then, out of nowhere, Liverpool score twice through pressing traps being successful. Pressure tells for a Brighton pass and Szoboszlai feeds Luis Diaz with a vertical ball. Diaz and Darwin Nunez combine well, clever play from Harvey Elliott and Mohamed Salah slots home.

It’s felt at times like he’s been on the periphery away from home this season, but Salah is probably the most heavily involved of the attackers today. 

He is tremendous today, and is such a complete footballer.

Successful pressing again, this time on Bart Verbruggen and Liverpool are in.

Dominik Szoboszlai is the one who ends up with it after selflessness from Nunez. Gross pulls back Szoboszlai, somehow fails to even get booked, and Salah slots home the penalty.

2-1 at half-time. Undeserved perhaps but Liverpool respond well to Brighton’s waves of pressure after the first goal and don’t cave in.

We’ve got to start matches better though and stop going behind, because comebacks aren’t sustainable forever and whilst Liverpool take the lead here, Brighton are too good a team to give yourself a mountain to climb against.

Klopp said they’re the best coached team in the league this week and Roberto De Zerbi has done an unbelievable job there.

They have quality throughout. Gross. Karou Mitoma. Carlos Baleba causes absolute anarchy in the midfield and moves through it alone at times. They’re a team full of bravery and skill.

And that’s why it’s so frustrating that the two goals we concede are from daft, sloppy errors.

They equalise when Andy Robertson, who has a tough day, makes no connection with a free-kick whatsoever when he pulls out of a clearance for fear of using his right foot.

And Lewis Dunk turns home.

Not good enough at all. 

It had been coming. 

The second half sees Liverpool sit off a bit and not really go for that killer third goal, which gets frustrating to watch. There’s some lovely combination between Szoboszlai and Salah which sees Ryan Gravenberch - on a substitute at half-time - hit the bar.

Definitely the sliding doors moment in the game as at 1-3 you feel the game was won. 

Despite that moment, Gravenberch does really well in the second half and I think it’s noticeable that Mac Allister is improved in the second half too. Gravenberch wins a few physical duels and is quick on the turn.

By the way, Liverpool miss Curtis Jones so much here. He’s imperative to how that midfield runs.

Nunez does really well up top and is constantly bringing other players into play with his superb hold-up play. If I have one complaint, it’s that he doesn’t really get himself in the box much all game. 

Salah is very lively and tries his heart out to get more than just a point from the game. Diaz at times looks like he’s trying to win the game on his own. 

He does remarkably well to win battles in his own half single-handedly but loses his head a bit in the final third at times.

Worryingly, Klopp’s changes of Joe Gomez and Ibrahima Konate don’t solidify the back and provide a platform to attack, as you’d hope, with both struggling desperately against Mitoma’s pace.

A draw it ends. 

I think this result perhaps feels worse because of last week - we’ve come out of these two big away games with just one point, although in reality it should’ve been two or even four.

The positives to take are how well we take the game to Brighton. No team has out-possessed and out-performed Brighton on xG since De Zerbi took over there until yesterday - so what Liverpool do in terms of chance creation is good.

The negatives, though, are that despite this, the Reds can’t get over the line and it feels like a draw is about the best they deserved.

There’s also areas of weaknesses exposed in this game - Mac Allister out of position as a DM has worked to some success so far but always felt like a sticking plaster. 

Defensive frailties at the back. Conceding first week after week.

Looking at the bigger picture though, seventeen points from eight games is very respectable when we’ve had away trips to Newcastle, Chelsea, Tottenham and Brighton, as well as four red cards in that period.

These big away games aren’t ones you can always win. I keep repeating this stat - Man City only won away at two of the top ten last season (Arsenal and Fulham). Drawing these games is fine.

This Liverpool team feels like it’s built to blow away the bottom ten in the league with it’s firepower, and then be solid and competitive against the better teams.

Next four are Everton, Forest, Luton and Brentford. Ten points is a minimum requirement.

It looks like this might be a bit more of an open season and it might not require 90+ points to be champions, with four teams all looking very competitive so far. 

I don’t think this Liverpool team could get 90 points, but I do think they could get into the 80s and that may have them at least in the conversation.

It’s not a result to worry about, even if elements of the performance are worrying.

It’s also worth mentioning that with City on a bit of a wobble, the Reds are only one point behind Pep Guardiola’s team, and three points away from table-topping Tottenham and Arsenal. 

After eight games last season, we had ten points and were in tenth place, fourteen points off the top.

Perspective is king.

Daniel