Brighton 3-0 Liverpool: Solly Marches to top of player ratings
Solly March, take a bow. With a score of 9.72 for his performance in Brighton 3-0 Liverpool, the Albion winger achieved the second-highest ever mark in the four seasons we have been doing WAB Player Ratings.
There is something about playing Jurgen Klopp’s Reds which seems to bring out the best in Brighton. The highest ever score remains the 9.89 achieved by Leandro Trossard and his hat-trick heroics at Anfield back in October.
And before March’s two-goal showing in this latest clash with Liverpool, the 9.71 achieved by Adam Webster when Brighton won 1-0 away at Liverpool in the 2020-21 sat second to Trossard. March now shades Webster by 0.01 points.
Four other players join March in the nines with nobody scoring below 8.39. All the talk after the game was about whether there had ever been a more impressive performance and result in the 122 year history of the Albion.
These Brighton 3-0 Liverpool player ratings would suggest not as the Seagulls completely outplayed one of the best teams and managers in the world. Stunning.
Robert Sanchez – 8.39
One hairy moment in the first half were he went sprawling and could have come close to conceding a penalty. Made a hugely important second half save from point blank range which might have otherwise set up a much more nervy finish had Liverpool scoed.
Pascal Gross – 8.56
How Roberto De Zerbi would fit Alexis Mac Allister back into the starting XI dominated much of the pregame discussion surrounding selection with Gross, Moises Caicedo and Adam Lallana looking undroppable. De Zerbi’s answer was to move Gross to right back and it worked fantastically, just as it had before the winter break for the World Cup.
Lewis Dunk – 8.67
Liverpool’s new £45 million forward Cody Gakpo barely had a sniff thanks to the work of the Brighton captain. A rare substitution in the final few minutes meant Dunk could receive the acclaim of the Amex crowd as he came off.
Levi Colwill – 9.17
Getting better and better every week. His through ball to split the Liverpool defence and send Kaoru Mitoma clear in the first half was a thing of beauty. If Chelsea do come calling for Caicedo, Mac Allister, Sanchez, Gully or the tea lady, Brighton should do everything in their power to ensure a permanent move for Colwill is part of the deal.
Pervis Estupinan – 8.83
Less defensive work than he would have expected to do and that allowed him to charge forward frequently. Poor Trent Alexander-Arnold did not know whether he was coming or going facing the twin threat of Estupinan and Mitoma.
Moises Caicedo – 9.28
On the very rare occasions that Liverpool looked threatening, it was Caicedo who broke attacks up and put the Albion back on the front foot to secure second place behind March in the Brighton 3-0 Liverpool ratings. Selling him in January would be a significant blow.
Alexis Mac Allister – 9.17
Received a rousing reception before kick off when he showed off his World Cup winners medal to the crowd. He appeared to almost find it all a little embarrassing which shows you how humble he is. Displayed some superb touches in midfield and never wasted a pass.
SOLLY MARCH – 9.72
His first goal was a result of being in the right place at the right time. His second was a superb finish of the type which frequently eluded him under Glow Up Graham Potter. Unlucky not to score on a couple of other occasions and thought he had won the first half penalty too until VAR got involved. If he carries on like this then an England call up surely beckons come the March internationals.
Adam Lallana – 8.78
Two previous Amex appearances against his former club lasted no more than seven minutes before injury struck. He completed over an hour this time, linking up play well between Mac Allister and Caicedo behind him and Ferguson in front.
Kaoru Mitoma – 9.11
An assist for the opening goal coming after his direct running had caused Alexander-Arnold and Joel Matip to be booked in the first half. Every time he gets on the ball, you can feel the expectancy of Albion fans that something is going to happen.
Evan Ferguson – 8.78
There must be some sort of mistake on his birth certificate as there is no way an 18-year-old can look that mature in a Premier League game. Clever play in possession meant he created opportunities for his teammates whilst at the same time being intelligent enough off the ball to open up gaps and pull the Liverpool defence apart.
Danny Welbeck – 8.83
Welbz is Dat Guy. A goal of the season candidate as he channelled the spirit of Paul Gascoigne against Scotland at Euro 96 with a flick over a defender’s head and a thumping volley giving Alisson no chance.
Joel Veltman – 8.50
Shored things up defensively when sent on at right back for the final 25 minutes. It says much about the current form Brighton are in that a player as good as Veltman finds himself being used as a substitute.
The WAB Player Ratings are formulated using marks out of 10 given by Brighton fans via Twitter. To have your scores included, follow We Are Brighton on Twitter and look out for the player rating thread after each game.
