Welcome to the LFC Final Word. In this series, I provide an in-depth analysis of games from a Liverpool supporter's perspective.
Match Facts
Brighton vs Liverpool
American Express Community Stadium
Saturday 12th January, 15:00
Result
Brighton 0 - 1 Liverpool
Betting Results
Over 3.5 goals: loss
Match Summary
Following the loss to Manchester City in the previous round of Premier League fixtures, the media had many believing that Liverpool were under a great deal of pressure to beat Brighton. Although this was an important game, I feel a lot of the pre-match discussion was over the top for the sake of making more of the title race than there is to analyse currently. Liverpool found themselves knocked out of the FA Cup by Wolves in the following game which only reinforced the narrative that the media were looking to paint. However, that was a very weakened Liverpool side that shouldn't really be considered much to do with the team that has performed so well this season.
With Tottenham playing against Manchester United on Sunday and Manchester City having to wait until Monday to face off against Wolves, this was a perfect opportunity to put a 7 point gap back at the top of the table and add pressure to other title challengers. My fear, once the teamsheet was announced, was that Liverpool would lack creativity in central midfield. Wijnaldum and Henderson both have good qualities to their game but can slow attacks down at times when they're played alongside each other. This was exactly how the first half played out, and Brighton found themselves relatively content to sit back and allow Liverpool to dominate possession stats without creating many genuine chances to score. Henderson was particularly frustrating throughout the first 45 minutes, living up to the idea that he would prefer to look for a pass back to central defence than turn with the ball and be a little more attack minded.
The second half started much the same until a brilliant moment from Salah inside the Brighton box saw him brought down for a penalty. Of course, he was cool, calm, and collected as he slotted the ball home to put Liverpool on course to take all 3 points away from home. Brighton carved out a few chances throughout the remainder of the second half but were unable to truly est Liverpool and this became a relatively comfortable win for the Reds. With injury issues to contend with in the defence, Klopp managed to get his tactics right today and I thought that Fabinho put in a commendable performance alongside van Dijk in an unnatural position for him. Likewise, having suffered what appeared to be an ankle injury during the warmup, Alexander-Arnold went on to push through the pain for 90 minutes and, although not at his usual best, did well enough to feel proud of his performance.
The Final Word
The win should help to calm the media's narrative that Liverpool are under pressure at the moment. The Reds have still only lost one game in the Premier League this season, away to current champions Manchester City. That's hardly anything to be too upset with and the fact that Liverpool are no longer in the FA Cup or League Cup will help the team to rest for longer periods than some of their rivals. Of course, you always want to win whatever you can, but this cloud definitely has a silver lining for a club looking to return the league title to Anfield for the first time in almost 3 decades.
Liverpool now have two home fixtures in a row against Crystal Palace and Leicester. Although these are certainly not guaranteed wins, the atmosphere from a crowd desperate to win the Premier League should help the team to raise their game and hopefully get the job done.
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