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In his latest weekly column, Liverpool stats guru Andrew Beasley (@BassTunedToRed) looks at the statistic that shows Alisson is making a big impact, as well as Liverpool's shock creative outlet.

By seeing off the Seagulls, Liverpool ensured they have taken nine points from their opening three matches for only the fourth time in the Premier League era. As the previous three examples (1993/94, 1994/95 and 2013/14) ended in eighth, fourth and second place finishes respectively, it’s no guarantee of a great season. It obviously can’t hurt to win the first three games though, and with several very tough matches coming up, it was vital to win on Saturday.

The match with Brighton was the 48th that has seen both Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah start for Liverpool, and the former assisted the latter for the winning goal. It was the ninth time Bobby has set up a goal for Mo, which is the joint-most of any combination in Jürgen Klopp’s time in charge.

Firmino to Mané and Milner to Firmino are the others, in case you’re wondering, though those pairings have been in place at Anfield for far longer. In the last 12 months it’s been Firmino to Salah which has been the best combination, and it paid out on Saturday evening.

The match was very similar to the 1-0 win over Crystal Palace last August, and not just in terms of the score line or the time of year at which they took place. In both games the Reds scored in part thanks to an opposition defensive error, and had over 20 shots while the visitors had no more than six.

Crosses from Andy Robertson were the only source of clear-cut chances in both clashes too. On Saturday his centre was headed towards goal by Firmino, but Mat Ryan made a good save, and that was the only elite creativity from Liverpool against Brighton (in the opinion of Opta at least).

In total, the young Scot set up three chances for the Reds’ number nine (as per the light blue arrows on the below chart), which is the most from one Liverpool player to another in one match this season. Robertson hasn’t assisted a goal for Firmino yet, but it may be just a matter of time.

However, what really needs highlighting here is Alisson’s save in the 89th minute. It was Brighton’s only clear-cut chance of the match, and like Liverpool’s it was fashioned by a full-back.

Pascal Gross was a late substitute for the visitors on Saturday. He’s more known for being the creator of great chances rather than the recipient – only Kevin de Bruyne created more clear-cut chances than Gross last season ( source ) – but when he got his head to Martin Montoya’s cross he may have earned his side a share of the points.

Leaving aside penalties, when a clear-cut chance is put on target it results in a goal 62 percent of the time. All other non-penalty attempts which are on target are only converted 19 percent of the time, so the balance of power clearly swings from the goalkeeper to the attacker when it’s a golden opportunity.

Yet Alisson was equal to it, and so could be said to have earned the team two points with that save. Of course, there’s no control experiment in football, and Loris Karius or Simon Mignolet might also have saved Gross’ effort. Last season, Liverpool’s goalkeepers saved 11 non-penalty clear-cut chances between them in the league.

But they also conceded 66 percent of the ones they faced though, so slightly more than average, and none of the saves affected the result as clearly. Mignolet’s penalty save at Leicester when the score was 3-2 was probably the most valuable, though as there were still 23 minutes to play, it wasn’t quite so vital.

The fact it had taken opposing sides 269 minutes to have a clear-cut chance against Liverpool this season is good, but the fact Alisson kept it out is even better. It’s far too soon to bandy around phrases like “he’s repaid his fee”, but more impressive saves at crucial moments and the big Brazilian will certainly prove his worth to the Reds.