Brighton had the chance to leapfrog Liverpool with a victory, however they hadn’t beaten the Reds at home in the league since 1961, back when they were both in the Second Division.
Roberto De Zerbi made three changes to the team that thrashed Middlesborough in the FA Cup. Robert Sanchez, Lewis Dunk and World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister returned, replacing Jason Steele, Jan Paul van Hecke and Tariq Lamptey. Brighton lined up in a 4-2-3-1 shape.
Jürgen Klopp made one change to the side that drew with Wolves thanks to an iffy offside decision, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain replacing the injured Darwin Nuñez. Liverpool ditched their usual 4-3-3 formation, instead setting up in a 4-2-1-3 with Thiago Alcântara in an advanced position.
Since returning from the World Cup break, Liverpool have adopted an asymmetrical press and, despite the change in shape, it showed itself again here. Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo remained central on the centre-backs, while Oxlade-Chamberlain tucked inside a little to help Thiago with Moisés Caicedo while also remaining in a position to press Pascal Gross, and Trent Alexander-Arnold would push far forward on the right to press Pervis Estupiñan.
The issue with this approach was that Brighton are very good in possession and Liverpool are no longer capable of pressing with great intensity, meaning the Seagulls were able to pass around Liverpool’s high pressure and advance.
One particular problem was that Oxlade-Chamberlain and Thiago had Gross, Caicedo and Mac Allister to mark between the two of them, but they don’t really have the legs any more to rush across and pressure them effectively. Liverpool could have stuck with a 4-3-3 shape and had two midfielders push up to go man-to-man on those three Brighton players, but that would have left just one midfielder covering behind them.
Liverpool’s press not really working had knock-on effects defensively. Firstly Alexander-Arnold was pulled forward away from his backline to press Estupiñan, but as Brighton were easily able to play around Liverpool, this meant he was just caught high up the pitch and constantly had to race back to help out his backline. If Alexander-Arnold failed to press though, this just meant Estupiñan was left free and Brighton could play out even more easily.
Secondly, with those ahead of them all pressing, it was left to Jordan Henderson and Fabinho to cover the width of the pitch behind them, but they simply don’t have the legs to do it anymore, meaning Brighton found it easier to pull them across to one side then switch play out to the other.
With it clear their initial approach wasn’t working, Liverpool made an adjustment so that Henderson would often move out to confront Estupiñan instead, allowing Alexander-Arnold to remain in defence. However, given the midfield were struggling to cover space when it was two of them, leaving Fabinho to do the job by himself wasn’t exactly the brightest idea.
To make matters worse, Liverpool offered nothing going forward either, largely hitting direct balls in behind, leaving the forwards chasing after scraps. It raised questions over the decision to move Thiago forward, as it put one of the few Liverpool midfielders capable of picking out a pass in a position where he barely got a touch and stood with his back to goal.
Brighton’s press generally wasn’t great either, with Liverpool players managing to get free and Mac Allister pulled forward, leaving gaps in the midfield, yet Liverpool failed to take advantage.
Liverpool were fortunate to get through to half-time without conceding, but that didn’t last long, with Brighton scoring a minute into the second half. Joël Matip gave the ball away under pressure from Evan Ferguson, with Mac Allister intercepting, seeing five Brighton players running at three Liverpool defenders. The Argentine knocked the ball on to Adam Lallana, who played it first-time to Kaoru Mitoma and he poked it through to Solly March to finish.
Liverpool returned to their usual 4-3-3, which helped to fix some of the issues their lopsidedness created down their right flank, but did nothing to fix the numerous issues that caused them to try something else in the first place, with the midfielders simply incapable of covering the ground asked of them.
Within minutes Brighton had doubled their lead. Liverpool cleared the ball but Estupiñan picked it up with space in midfield, with no Liverpool players on hand to pressure the second ball. He slipped it through to Ferguson between the lines, who turned and played a through ball to March. The winger took a bad touch, allowing Liverpool to get men goalside, but it didn’t matter as March picked out a great finish inside the far post, not even having to get the ball out of his feet before shooting.
Brighton added a third with ten minutes remaining. March was free to nod on a throw-in unopposed, putting through substitute Danny Welbeck. The Mancunian took a touch pull the ball back towards him, avoiding Joe Gomez’s challenge, before firing it past Alisson Becker on the volley.
Klopp said after the match he “can’t remember a worse game” but in truth this match wasn’t any worse than the majority of Liverpool’s performances this season.
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