Liverpool 2-1 Brighton: Was this De Zerbi auditioning at Anfield?
Unless you have been living on a moon of Jupiter for the past four months, you will know Jurgen Klopp is leaving Anfield at the end of the season and Roberto De Zerbi is amongst the favourites to replace him. That gave Liverpool 2-1 Brighton added intrigue with De Zerbi having the opportunity to impress the Redmen live and in-person.
De Zerbi’s Albion certainly did that, even in defeat. Liverpool were the better side and deserved the three points which kept them top of the Premier League table, but Brighton caused plenty of problems as shown by the evident relief amongst the home contingent when the final whistle blew.
One of the chief reasons De Zerbi is under serious consideration as Klopp’s successor is the similarities in playing style between the two managers. Both value attacking football which catches opponents out via the way it sweeps from one end to the other quickly.
Klopp burst onto the scene as Borussia Dortmund manager with gegenpressing, a tactic which has delivered silverware at both Signal Iduna Park and Anfield.
De Zerbi does so via drawing an opposition press with risky, short passes before sweeping forward via inverted wingers to catch the opposition out. A way of playing that remains almost unique.
So unique in fact that Pep Guardiola hailed him as revolutionising the game last season as the Albion – with a virtually fully fit squad – soared to sixth spot in the Premier League.
Amongst the more eye catching results of the previous campaign were Brighton beating Liverpool 3-0 at the Amex, followed a fortnight later by knocking Klopp’s FA Cup holders out of the fourth round of the competition.
Those two results were part of an impressive sequence over the Redmen. The Albion arrived at Anfield having lost just one of their past eight matches with Liverpool. De Zerbi meanwhile was unbeaten against Klopp. Little wonder he is high on Liverpool’s shortlist.
And if the Anfield decision makers listen to what Klopp says with regards his successor, then there was a ringing endorsement from the current Redmen boss after Liverpool 2-1 Brighton.
“I told De Zerbi to keep turning the football world upside down,” said Klopp in his post-match press conference. “I will watch it from some distance. I respect so much what he’s doing.”
“It is incredible what he has done. Brighton have lost Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo, they have lots of injuries, but he puts a team like that together. An incredible job.”
Mac Allister was the undoubted star of the show. Albion fans need no introduction to the talents of the first Brighton player to win a World Cup, but his game seems to have gone up another level since moving to Liverpool.
He also remains a class act. Come the full time whistle and Mac Allister was over to applaud the away end. The dignified way he moved to Liverpool is how you leave a football club with your legacy intact; something for De Zerbi to consider perhaps, with his recent penchant for griping at the club in public.
Most Albion supporters in the newly expanded Anfield Road Stand were fearing the worst before kick off. Despite not having played for two-and-a-half weeks, the Seagulls’ injury problems had somehow got worse with Billy Gilmour and Julio Enciso missing the trip to Merseyside.
It was a lovely surprise then when Danny Welbeck put Brighton ahead after only 85 seconds. Simon Adingra broke forward and when his pass into the box rebounded off the leg of Jakub Moder, it fell kindly to Welbeck who struck into the top corner.
Adingra was looking particularly lively down the left, even with limited support from the below-par Pervis Estupinan. That flank seemed to be the Albion’s most likely route to further goals and with Liverpool now stunned into work, an absorbing encounter unfolded.
The breakneck speed with which both teams tried to counter made yellow cards for necessary fouls stopping attacks part and parcel of the game. Pascal Gross went into the book for Brighton, as did Mac Allister for the hosts.
Remarkably, Luis Diaz escaped a yellow despite five first half fouls on a one-man crime spree. Diaz not getting booked was the biggest Easter Sunday miracle since Jesus rose from the dead, making a mockery of all those Liverpool fans berating the officials for being against them in the title race.
The Redmen levelled on 28 minutes. Lewis Dunk could not get enough on a header away from a corner and when Liverpool returned the ball into the box, the normally reliable Joel Veltman missed his clearance. That left Diaz to beat Bart Verbruggen from inside the six yard box.
Mo Salah scored what proved to be the winner midway through the second half. Mac Allister provided the assist, meaning he has now set up five Premier League goals in 24 appearances for Liverpool – the same number he managed in 98 for Brighton. As we said earlier, he has become even better at Anfield.
A perfectly weighted pass through a gap between Dunk and Gross picked out the clever run of Salah, left to beat Verbruggen one-on-one and make it Liverpool 2-1 Brighton.
The second-best Egyptian footballer in history after Adam El-Abd now has nine goals and six assists in 14 Premier League appearances against the Albion. Ouch.
Brighton responded in impressive fashion to falling behind, creating a succession of chances. Dunk saw a fine header from a Gross free kick clawed away by Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher. Try spelling that after one too many alcoholic beverages across the preceding 24 hours.
Substitute Adam Lallana then fired wide when he should have at least hit the target. Cue a million conspiracy theorist from Manchester City and Arsenal fans reposting Lallana’s pre-game comments of being desperate to see Liverpool win the title this season.
Verbruggen next made an outrageous one-handed stop from Salah to keep the Albion in it. The save must rank as the best from any Brighton goalkeeper this season, so expect to see Verbruggen rewarded by being replaced by Jason Steele for the midweek trip to Brentford.
Welbeck then crashed one final opportunity into the side netting as it finished Liverpool 2-1 Brighton, the Redmen knowing they had been in a game.
Losing by a single-goal to a Liverpool side top of the table is no disgrace at the best of times, let alone with Brighton as injury-hit as they currently are.
Klopp acknowledged that afterwards with those words about De Zerbi. Has he anointed the Italian as his successor? Did De Zerbi do enough to convince Liverpool to seek his services in the summer?
Only time will tell.
