They are accustomed to the No 11 scoring hat-tricks at Anfield. It is just that it is normally Mohamed Salah, rather than Leandro Trossard. Yet the Belgian garnished Roberto De Zerbi’s bow as Brighton manager with a historic hat-trick. Not since Arsenal’s Andrey Arshavin scored four in 2009 had a visiting player left Anfield with a treble to his name in a Premier League game. Trossard did to ensure that, on a day of fluctuating emotions and a rapidly shifting scoreline, Brighton deservedly avoided defeat.
For De Zerbi, it seemed an ideal start when his side surged into a 2-0 lead; perhaps it was too good to be true, and Liverpool illustrated that Jurgen Klopp did not brand them “mentality monsters” for nothing with a terrific response to their own terrible defending.
