Liverpool were held to a 3-3 draw with Brighton in their first match back in the Premier League.
The Reds dropped two points in the league clash against the Seagulls on Saturday, as they dropped two more points in the quest to climb the table. Roberto Firmino scored a brace, with an Adam Webster own goal giving Liverpool a third, but the Reds could not hold on for a win.
A Leandro Trossard hat-trick prevented Liverpool from securing all three points. He put Brighton 2-0 up in the first half, before equalising in the latter stages of the contest.
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Jurgen Klopp's side are in Champions League action in midweek, before returning to domestic football next weekend where they travel to face league leaders Arsenal. Plenty of national media outlets were in attendance to watch the draw with Brighton, here is a round-up of what they had to say.
Andy Hunter, via The Guardian.
“Leandro Trossard launched the Roberto De Zerbi era in style with a clinical hat-trick that earned Brighton a merited point at Liverpool. The Brighton forward scored the first treble by a visiting player at Anfield since Andrey Arshavin’s four goals for Arsenal in 2009 as Jürgen Klopp’s inconsistent team dropped valuable Premier League points for the fifth time this season.
“Liverpool appeared to have salvaged victory from the ashes when, having trailed to two early Trossard strikes, Roberto Firmino scored twice and Adam Webster put through his own goal after a mistake by the Brighton goalkeeper Robert Sánchez. Errors were not confined to the visiting defence, however, and the Belgian forward levelled late on after Virgil van Dijk had failed to deal with a ball across the Liverpool six-yard box.
“De Zerbi had wanted brave football and that is exactly what he got. The confident visitors were prepared to play through Liverpool’s press inside their own penalty area and thread inch-perfect passes through central midfield, and shredded the home defence repeatedly as a result. But for a brilliant save by Alisson and a poor header from Danny Welbeck they would have been four goals ahead inside the opening 18 minutes and cruising before Firmino changed the complexion of the game.”
Richard Jolly, via The Independent
“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.
“Yet when they led, Trossard pounced with an equaliser to keep Brighton four points ahead of their hosts in the table. If De Zerbi could not claim Albion’s second notable scalp this season, after Graham Potter won at Old Trafford, he found a way of outdoing his predecessor. Potter drew 2-2 at Anfield last season. In sharing six goals, De Zerbi took the excitement a step further.
“For Liverpool, however, it continued their worst start to a season under Klopp. They showed a fighting spirit, but also a slipshod nature that has characterised too many of their performances this season. They keep needing to chase games and their comeback came courtesy of Roberto and Robert: Roberto Firmino’s brace took him to five goals in three games at Anfield and means that he is now Liverpool’s top scorer, a development few would have predicted when Liverpool signed Darwin Nunez to join Salah. Then Robert Sanchez blundered as the unwitting Adam Webster accidentally put Liverpool ahead; it was probably not what De Zerbi intended when he said the centre-backs were the most important players in his squad.
“If nothing else, it illustrated that costly defensive mistakes were not confined to Trent Alexander-Arnold on a chastening day. The chances are that Gareth Southgate’s mind is already made up, but this was not a persuasive case to take him to the World Cup.”
Paul Joyce, via The Times
“Brighton & Hove Albion had always been confident Roberto De Zerbi’s adaptation to English football would be swift, yet they could not have expected the Italian’s managerial bow to encapsulate everything the Premier League has to offer.
“The sight of his new side swaggering into a 2-0 advantage inside the opening skirmishes, the majesty of their approach leaving Liverpool bewildered, would be followed by the creeping fear that the afternoon was to end only in gut-wrenching disappointment.
“And then, just when it appeared an opportunity to make an immediate mark after succeeding Graham Potter would be missed, Leandro Trossard profited from more poor defending in the home ranks to deliver a deserved equaliser and claim an excellent hat-trick.
“De Zerbi celebrated on the Anfield turf as the Belgian became the first visiting player since Arsenal’s Andriy Arshavin in 2009 to score a league hat-trick here, and little wonder. The bravery in this Brighton team which was ingrained by Potter before Chelsea enticed him will continue under De Zerbi and if they can find a regular goalscorer then they can continue to make forward strides.
“For Jürgen Klopp, this outcome represented another setback with his side still unable to muster momentum. The suspicion has lingered that Liverpool’s problems are more than simply injury-related and that sense hardened given the manner of the late concession regardless of the fightback. This is not a blip and Klopp must prove his storied players are not, in fact, in decline as they sit off the pace in ninth position.”
Chris Bascombe, via The Telegraph
“Liverpool’s title hopes are tanking quicker than the pound. So is their defence.
“Leandro Trossard’s Anfield hat-trick was not enough to secure victory for Roberto De Zerbi in his first game in charge of Brighton, but it further exposed the frailties of a Liverpool team which has lost its mojo.
“Every time Klopp thinks his side has turned the corner he encounters another cul-de-sac.
“First the hammering of Bournemouth looked like it would ease early season rustiness. Then it was a Champions League win over Ajax to sweep away the debris of a heavy loss in Naples.
“Now he faces more soul-searching to understand why his side looks so fragile, their football chaotic.
“Liverpool’s coach admitted a bigger sample size of game would be needed to fully assess the state of his side. It took only 14 minutes of the De Zerbi era to reaffirm that the most courageous managers think they have worked Klopp’s team out.
“Trossard’s hat-trick could have been sealed long before his 83rd minute equaliser ended any chance of Klopp being consoled by Liverpool recovering from two goal deficit. The Belgian began with two accomplished finishers in front of away supporters only marginally less disbelieving than the Kop. Had Danny Welbeck headed in from six yards moments earlier, the sense of bewilderment at Liverpool’s sudden allergy to applying themselves when out of possession would have spread like an epidemic.
“Confusion did not recede even when a combination of Roberto Firmino and Adam Webster’s own goal momentarily appeared to restore order in the second half.”
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