Last night saw Liverpool fall to back-to-back defeats at Anfield after a poor performance during their 1-0 loss to Brighton and Hove Albione, putting the Reds seven points off of the top pot in the Premier League.
Liverpool started the game well and was on the front foot from the off, with Mohamed Salah getting an early chance after giving Dan Burn the run around on that right-hand side, a reoccurring theme of the first half – but saw his effort fly over the crossbar.
Brighton handled the Reds pressure well and with the added height advantage, our attempted crosses into the box were met easily almost every time. Graham Potter’s side soaked up the attacking pressure from the Reds with ease at times and even fashioned a few good attempts for themselves.
One standout from the first half was Roberto Firmino, who gave away possession more often than not due to the Brighton defence constantly howling him when he had the ball at his feet which failed to allow him to create any space for Salah or Xherdan Shaqiri in his hold up play.
The first half ended rather stale and there wasn’t much in regards to chances created for Liverpool to make much of – Brighton performed well to hold the Reds at bay and they often overloaded the midfield as well as Firmino to cut out any passing channels for Liverpool to go forward with through Salah or Shaqiri on the wings. Our movement in the final third really didn’t provide much in terms of attacking opportunities and the Seagulls’ pressing managed to squad our ability to create on the ball.
Will Liverpool miss out on this season's Premier League title?
Yes
No
The second half started slow once again, with Liverpool trying to get themselves in front but failing to beat the Brighton defence with Firmino and Salah being shut down quickly whenever they had the chance to get a shot on goal.
Brighton soon took the lead much to the Reds’ surprise after a Nat Phillips attempted clearance came off of both Leandro Trossard and Steven Alzate, with the latter claiming the goal after a somewhat pinball machine combination between the pair in the Liverpool box.
It seemed as though the side had fallen back into that lull of poor form and a lack of ability on the pitch between November up until the Spurs win of last week – with Jurgen Klopp’s side seeing plenty of the ball but not doing enough with it when in possession.
Our play was slow and lethargic, a world away from the heavy metal guns blazing style of attack that we have gotten used to with Klopp over the last few years and it was getting frustrating to watch.
I really think that we were missing Sadio Mané last night – the Senegalese winger has been our best performing player this season according to WhoScored both creatively and defensively with him covering all of his duties well when featuring and I think his tenacity and flair when going forward was a big absence for the Reds.
The result really didn’t set things up well for Liverpool in regards to the league standings, with them now seven points behind league leaders Manchester City with the Reds set to face Pep Guardiola’s side on Sunday.
What do you think Liverpool fans, were you frustrated with the result? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section down below…