Brighton 3–2 Liverpool: Takeaways As Wasteful Reds Get Punished | OneFootball

Brighton & Hove Albion took advantage of a rare off-night from Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah to earn a 3–2 victory on Monday evening.

An enjoyably open affair saw Liverpool twice take first-half leads through Harvey Elliott and Dominik Szoboszlai. Brighton’s Yasin Ayari finished off a slick passing sequence between those two crisp goals from the visitors, yet the sharp edge in front of goal demonstrated by so many other players on the pitch unusually escaped Salah.

Liverpool’s leading scorer squandered a pair of golden opportunities while Liverpool led 2–1. These wasted chances would prove to be costly as Kaoru Mitoma and Jack Hinshelwood found the target in the game’s final quarter to earn Brighton a heartily deserved 3–2 win.

Trio on Audition

Harvey Elliott scored his first Premier League goal of the season on Monday. / IMAGO/Pro Sports Images

Slot singled out three players—Jarell Quansah, Harvey Elliott and Federico Chiesa—as individuals to prove their worth in the test setting of a dead-rubber at the AMEX Stadium. “This is a good moment for them to show where they are against a very difficult opponent,” Slot explained, “because Brighton has had great season, who are so difficult to play against for Man City, for Arsenal here in their own stadium, so I think it’s good to see all of them, but especially these three.”

Elliott unquestionably came out on top in this triptych of trials. The fleet-footed midfielder opened the scoring inside the first 10 minutes, drifting out wide to recreate the “flexible triangle” on the right wing which he blossomed in during his prodigious start to life on Merseyside under Jürgen Klopp.

While Quansah was merely shaky rather than shambolic, Chiesa was painfully anonymous. Lining up in an unfamiliar centre forward position, the former Juventus starlet barely had a sniff before he was hooked after an hour. Chiesa mustered one blocked shot, six passes and a measly 13 touches—not one of which was in the penalty box.

The Van Dijk Vacuum

Virgil van Dijk was named as a Premier League substitute on Monday. / IMAGO/Sportimage

The last time Virgil van Dijk was named as a substitute for a Premier League match, Erik ten Hag was deemed to be the best manager in the competition that month. Only suspension has kept Liverpool’s talismanic skipper out of the backline over the subsequent two-and-a-half years before Slot opted to rest his captain for the trip down south.

While there would be no dramatic recriminations, the powers that be at Liverpool were reminded as to why they broke their contract policy to hand the 33-year-old a two-year extension.

In the absence of their commanding captain, Ibrahima Konaté and Quansah were routinely bamboozled by Danny Welbeck. The wily veteran forward is a classic striker but operated as a false nine on Monday, dropping deep to ensure that neither centre back had a player to mark.

After letting Welbeck wander free while he helped tee up Brighton’s first equaliser, Konaté recklessly charged forward to try and snap the ephemeral forward. Yet, this only served to create a yawning gap in Liverpool’s penalty box which Kaoru Mitoma gratefully filled to fire the hosts level for a second time.

Kaoru Mitoma Outshines Mohamed Salah

Monday night had the makings of an evening to savour for Salah. On his 300th Premier League appearance, the Egypt international started as Liverpool captain for the first time in his career. It was his cushioned volley which paved the way for Elliott’s opener and with 54 minutes on the clock, Salah found himself with an open goal to make it 3–1.

Yet, Cody Gakpo’s low cross squirmed off the forward’s boot and wide of the upright. Bart Verbruggen was a match for another close-range effort 10 minutes later while Liverpool were still in the lead. Enter: Mitoma.

Much like Salah, the Japan international spurned the advances of Saudi Arabia to remain in the Premier League. For 35 blistering minutes on Monday night, Mitoma looked worth every penny of the £75 million ($100.2 million) which Brighton reportedly turned down during the January transfer window.

Slot Snubs Alexander-Arnold

Trent Alexander-Arnold was an unused substitute on Monday. / IMAGO/Propaganda Photo

Slot insisted that he would not be kowtowed by the negative reaction Trent Alexander-Arnold received from an angry Anfield last weekend. The priority was bedding in Conor Bradley, but if the departing fullback was needed, Slot promised to ignore the boos and do what was need to win Liverpool’s remaining games.

Yet, when Bradley needed to come off with 12 minutes to play, the Reds boss turned to defensive midfielder Wataru Endo, leaving arguably the club’s greatest right back of the modern era stewing on the bench. If Slot stuck to his word and genuinely thought that Endo, a 32-year-old who hasn’t started a game at right back in six years, was a better option than his first-choice specialist in that position, Alexander-Arnold may as well pack for Madrid now.