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Liverpool defeated Brighton 1-0 at Anfield on August 25, 2018, to provisionally go on top of the Premier League table. Jurgen Klopp’s side received a boost earlier in the day when defending champions Manchester City were held to a 1-1 draw by Wolves.
But Chris Hughton’s team were not going to be pushovers, especially after the impressive win over Manchester United last week. And Brighton fought valiantly in the tight game which was decided by the sole goal from Mohamed Salah (who else?!).
There has been a lot of spotlight on Liverpool team after the recent big-money incomings increasing the pressure to get the elusive Premier League title. While it’s only early days in the season, the club have enjoyed an almost perfect start to their campaign so far with three wins and no goals conceded.
The fact that the team managed to secure 3 points on a day when most of their star players didn’t have their best game will also give a lot of encouragement to Klopp.
We look at some of the key factors in Liverpool’s win in a hard-fought match against the resolute Brighton side.
#1 Clinical Salah continues his scoring run
It was a day when Mohamed Salah wasn’t at his very best. However, that didn’t prevent him from scoring the decisive goal in the game. Receiving the ball after some excellent pressing by his teammates, Salah brilliantly slotted it in the bottom corner.
In a game that lacked the usual attacking sharpness from Liverpool, Salah’s moment of brilliance made sure that the below-average performances from Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane didn’t hurt the home side.
Critics had questioned that Salah’s excellent 2017-18 season was probably a one-off and he would struggle to replicate it again. But with 2 goals and an assist already in 3 games, Salah has silenced them all – for now at least – as the player continued his goal-scoring form at Anfield.
#2 Alisson justifying the big money paid for him
There has been intense scrutiny on the goalkeeper situation at Liverpool since the Champions League final, followed by the big money outlay to bring in Alisson Becker from AS Roma.
The keeper didn’t have much to do in the game, but delivered the goods whenever required to, and seemed to justify why the club paid in excess of £65 million for him.
The rather coolly executed chip by the keeper over Anthony Knockaert’s head will surely feature in every highlights package, but his brilliant save to deny Pascal Gross’s header from going in towards the end of the game arguably saved 2 points for his side.
The goalkeeper has been an instant hit with the Anfield faithful with his playing style and a third consecutive clean-sheet along with assured performances at the start of his Liverpool career are an indication that the decision to spend big on the player was a wise one by the club’s transfers team.
#3 James Milner and Gini Wijnaldum deliver in the midfield yet again
With the high-profile incomings of midfielders Naby Keita and Fabinho in the summer, along with club captain Jordan Henderson doing well at the World Cup, there were question marks raised on how much time James Milner and Gini Wijnaldum would get in the playing XI.
However, with Fabinho still settling in at the club and being eased into first-team action by Klopp, and Henderson lacking match-fitness after his post-World Cup break, the duo of Milner and Wijnaldum have made the most of the opportunity given to them and started the Premier League campaign impressively.
Both players had a good game again today, and with most other players misfiring, they played a key role in the side’s victory. Milner started the game as the team captain, and his tenacious and relentless play (he also won back the ball which initiated the play for the match-winning goal) got him the Man of the Match award yet again.
And Wijnaldum hardly put a foot wrong with yet another assured display as the deep-lying #6 role and ensured that Liverpool controlled the game in the midfield.
