The Reds twice went ahead but were overpowered by the Seagulls
Liverpool twice surrendered the lead two suffer a 3-2 defeat at Brighton on Monday, making it three games in a row without a win for the newly-crowned Premier League champions. Harvey Elliott and Dominik Szoboszlai put the Reds in the ascendancy in the first half, but the Seagulls fought back each time with Yasin Ayari and substitutes Kaoru Mitoma and Jack Hinselwood capitalising on the apparent hangover Arne Slot's men are struggling with.
A slick move from the Reds broke the deadlock just nine minutes in. It all started with a long pass from Dominik Szoboszlai to Mohamed Salah, who knocked it into Conor Bradley's path. The young full-back did an excellent job evading the Brighton defenders to get close to the goal before cutting back for Harvey Elliott to tap in.
Bradley had the opportunity to get a goal of his own in the 22nd minute when Federico Chiesa worked the ball to him in the box, though his shot missed the target.
Brighton came close to levelling just before the half-hour mark when a dangerous cross found Danny Welbeck deep in the Liverpool danger area, but he was unable to steer it past Alisson. The equaliser came shortly afterwards when Brajan Gruda knocked the through to Yasin Ayari to tuck into the net.
Just before the break, Szoboszlai had Liverpool in front again, pulling off a surprise free-kick routine with Elliott and then lashing in a beautiful effort from the side of the penalty area, much to the shock of goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen.
The visitors should have been 3-1 up shortly after half-time when Cody Gakpo broke through and squared to Mohamed Salah, but the Premier League's top scorer missed the target. Brighton almost punished them later on when Welbeck found his way through, only to see his shot was blocked by Alisson.
The punishment came in the 69th minute when Mitoma, four minutes after coming on the bench, fed Welbeck in the box and was there to pounce on the rebound after the English forward's shot was saved, with the Japan star blasting it into the ground and in.
It was another substitute who grabbed the winner for Brighton, with Jack Hinshelwood scoring from close range after a low cross from Matt O'Riley in the 85th minute.
GOAL rates Liverpool's players from Amex Stadium…
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Alisson (7/10):
Kept out a few dangerous efforts to keep Liverpool in the lead.
Conor Bradley (7/10):
A fine run and pass set up the opener and kept Simon Adingra at bay at the other end. Was late on Ayari for Brighton's goal, though.
Jarell Quansah (5/10):
Had some shaky moments but made some important interventions at the back.
Ibrahima Konate (5/10):
Let Brighton pose a few too many problems.
Kostas Tsimikas (4/10):
The weak link in the defence, he gave Brighton plenty of space down the left side.
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Ryan Gravenberch (5/10):
Sound in his passing but had a quiet one overall.
Dominik Szoboszlai (7/10):
Started the move for the opening goal and scored a lovely goal – though it's unclear if he meant it!
Harvey Elliott (7/10):
Got into a dangerous position to tuck in the first goal
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Mohamed Salah (5/10):
Should have got on the scoresheet but missed the open goal and had another shot saved by Verbruggen.
Federico Chiesa (4/10):
Teed up Bradley in the first half but kept silent until his substitution in the 63rd minute.
Cody Gakpo (6/10):
Missed the target with his only shot and gifted Salah a great chance.
Subs & Manager
Luis Diaz (5/10):
Had one shot blocked and could do little else.
Darwin Nunez (5/10):
Played over 25 minutes but had little impact.
Curtis Jones (5/10):
Unable to give much of a lift.
Wataru Endo (5/10):
Didn't have much of a chance of impacting after replacing Bradley.
Arne Slot (6/10):
His team's job is done and they managed two good goals against a strong team, but the weaknesses in their defence should be concerned.
