Liverpool Lineup: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson, Wijnaldum, Milner, Keita, Salah, Firmino, Mane

Liverpool started off brightly dominating the early periods of the game, however Brighton’s deep block meant Liverpool struggled to form many chances, which was persistent throughout the game. Alisson was first forced into a save after 7 minutes, when he prevented Stephens weak shot with ease. On the stroke of the 10 minute mark, Firmino met Robertson’s cross with his head, but Ryan got down and saved. Soon after there was a nervy moment for Alisson as he sprinted off his line to meet March, this resulted in a goal kick, after the Brighton man lost sight of the ball. Almost immediately after Alexander-Arnold had a spectacular freekick effort strike the bar.

Liverpool finally opened the scoring after 23 minutes played, when Bissouma took too long on the ball in the defensive third and gave up possession to a sliding James Milner, he set Mo Salah through, who finished audaciously into the far left corner, the Brighton goalkeeper got finger prints to the ball, but he couldn’t prevent Salah’s effort from resulting in a goal. The remainder of the first half continued to be controlled by Liverpool, but no significant chances could be created and at half time, Liverpool led by a goal to nil.

The second half, had shadows of the first half Liverpool display, controlling possession well and also Liverpool were very calm defensively when tested. In the 59th minute, there were penalty appeals from Liverpool after Salah’s shot met Duffy’s hand, however the referee waved it away. Just after the hour mark Brighton were awarded a free kick after a James Milner handball, however after lengthy discussions and translations, Bissouma’s effort was extremely tame to say the least. Naby Keita was soon taken off to be replaced by Jordan Henderson, it was a stereotypical performance from the midfielder. Liverpool continued to create chances, but lacked the creation of clear-cut chances a persistent them throughout the game, and Liverpool simply couldn’t completely finish the game off. With just under 20 minutes to go Sturridge came on for Mane, Sturridge helped to hold the ball up and run the clock down in the final moments of the game. Liverpool were tested further before the end of the game, a highlight being Alisson almost caught by Murray after taking his time on the ball. Regardless, at the conclusion of the game, Liverpool were victorious, top of the league, 9 out of 9, for Jurgen Klopp’s men. Liverpool had capitalised on Manchester City’s slip up.