Liverpool enters the international break having once again failed to hold their ground in the dying minutes, this time at Brighton where two goals from Mo Salah resulted in a 2-2 draw.
Premier League matchup between Brighton & Hove Albion and Liverpool (8), October 8, 2023
Goals: Adingra (20), Dunk (78), Salah (40), and Pen (45).
Alisson Becker scored six out of ten.
From a positioning standpoint, didn’t exactly shine with Brighton’s first goal, but that’s the price you pay for constantly being there for the ball. It was a shot that was taken really rapidly, so recovery time might have been quicker.
There wasn’t much to do between the restart and the great save made against the same guy in a one-on-one match.
It was a surprise when Trent Alexander-Arnold returned right away given how well Joe Gomez had been playing. Trent Alexander-Arnold: 6 Still appears to be lacking in match sharpness.
Of course, there were a few wonderful passes and switches, but overall, he was very slow to recover, frequently jogging as Brighton poured forward, and one-on-ones were never guaranteed to be successful.
Mitoma was prevented from entering by one strong stretch, but overall it was far from satisfactory.
7 Joel Matip
He performed better than Virgil when it came to the idea of stepping out into midfield to make the early challenge on attackers receiving to feet. He took a knee to the thigh for one challenge, which may have been what caused him to be substituted.
6 Virgil van Dijk
Not really that big. Several times caught in the channel and played the errant pass out that was picked off and resulted in the opening goal. He was probably more at fault than Mac Allister.
Good aerial defense in the first half against a torrent of set plays, but not a very controlled performance, and provided no real authority when we needed it in the final 15 minutes.
(4) Andy Robertson
Adingra did in fact give him a little bit of the runaround. Couldn’t catch up with him after he was run over; unable to stop the attacker from checking inside or the cross from coming in.
The biggest impact was just failing to clear the ball from a free-kick, which Dunk duly scored from. There were some good moments, such as an outlet down the left and several overlapping runs that went unnoticed.
Alexis Mac Allister – 4
When the No. 8s aren’t on point, the press isn’t great, and the runners aren’t tracked, Alexis won’t be a good defensive lineman, therefore playing the Argentine in this capacity will result in days like these.
Several fouls were committed, some clumsy passing was evident even higher upfield, and he was completely caught in possession for Brighton’s first play.
Since this isn’t the position for which he was recruited, you have to feel bad for him.
(6) Dominik Szoboszlai
One of his less impressive performances, although he still contributed some excellent bits and pieces in midfield. The No. 8 was unlucky not to provide an assist for Diaz when the Reds’ passing game did start to pick up.
6.6 Harvey Elliott
In Curtis Jones’ place, he was given the opportunity to start. He had a strong start as Liverpool was just barely ahead, but that only lasted 15 minutes, and he provided very little after that.
Although he was overrun in the middle, showed no control, and was replaced at halftime, Salah deserves major praise for his selfless act of going across the field to pass the ball to him when he could have easily taken the shot himself from a worse angle.
Mohamed Salah – 8 (Man of the Match)
Even when things aren’t going well for the Reds, he’s fun to watch.
Because of Salah’s flawless touch and small turning radius, it frequently takes two people to contain him, creating space elsewhere.
His one-touch passing was fantastic when we obtained those crucial turnovers in their half of the field. He also had a good effort rate in the first half on this occasion.
Most crucially, missed his one opportunity in open play and promptly tacked on a penalty.
(7) Darwin Nunez
Despite not having many clear chances to score (blocked shots on the turn and clumsy headers), played a crucial part in both our build-up and off-the-ball play.
claims credit for Salah’s equalizer’s assist and exerted a lot of pressure.
Should have been more heavily utilized on swift counterattacks as opposed to our frequently too-slow build-up approach.
6 Luis Diaz
A really active game, though it’s difficult to judge whether it was “good” or not. Diaz was able to advance through constant running, most of it at times in the direction of his own goal, and frequently got a foot in for a tackle or take-on to win a foul.
He was errant in the final third, though; a drove shot went wide, a chance to unleash Nunez was lost, and too many of his dribbling attempts were unsuccessful.
Substitutes
Elliott is replaced by Ryan Gravenberch in the 46th second. I had a chance to score but hit the bar from close range! Some excellent turns and driving runs, together with increased physicality, indicate that he might start after the internationals.
Ibrahima Konate came on for Matip in the 72nd minute. failed to pick up the game quickly enough. careless passing.
Alexander-Arnold was replaced by Joe Gomez in the 79th second. I got a few fouls and got booked. It was a poor cameo.
Adrian, Quansah, Tsimikas, Chambers, Endo, and Doak were not substituted.
Jurgen Klopp – 6
Given Brighton’s significant advantage in attacking with quick center-to-center exchanges, the pick in midfield seemed puzzling, and it largely failed to pay dividends.
Why wasn’t he starting here, which would have allowed Mac Allister to play his natural role, given that he claimed Endo’s substitution at halftime on Thursday was planned in advance?
More importantly, the manager didn’t seem to make many adjustments either at the halfway point of the first half or in the last 15 minutes of the game, both times with Brighton clearly in the lead.
At 2-1 ahead late in the game, a shape change could have been preferable, but there were only like-for-like switches, at least in positional terms.
Truthfully, it wasn’t his best day at the referee’s desk, and even though the Reds had the lead until the dying seconds, they were fortunate to earn a point for the full 90 minutes.
Definitions of the player ratings are as follows: 10 = Faultless, 9 = Excellent, 8 = Very Good, 7 = Good, 6 = Average, 5 = Below Par, 4 = Bad, 3 = Very Bad, 2 Awful, and 1 = Surely Not
