On Liverpool's side, compared to the draw with Napoli in midweek, Wijnaldum, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Alexander-Arnold started Fabinho, Gomez and Milner. Coach Graham Potter also made 4 changes to Brighton's starting lineup compared to the defeat against Leicester.
After a few difficult minutes of play, Liverpool gradually took control of the game. Matt Ryan continuously showed his talent to save the away team after Firmino and Mane's shots in the first half.
However, when the attack was in trouble, the defense took the job of scoring for The Kop. In 2 consecutive set pieces in the 18th and 24th minutes, Alexander-Arnold launched quality crosses for Van Dijk to head the ball to score. Thereby, since the beginning of last season, Liverpool have scored 29 goals scored with their head in the Premier League.
Leading by 2 goals, Liverpool's performance slowed down somewhat. Thanks to that, Brighton had an excellent ball possession rate in the end of the first half. If they had finished better and been luckier, they could have soon narrowed the gap.
In the second half, coach Jurgen Klopp's students regained their advantage on the field. They continuously made waves on the opponent's goal. However, the lack of sophistication and accuracy prevented Oxlade-Chamberlain and Mane from helping Liverpool get a third goal.
Meanwhile, Connolly and his teammates still show that they can score from their counter-attacks. When Jurgen Klopp took the pillars off the attack, Graham Potter renewed the visitors' front line.
In the 74th minute, a substitute from Brighton - Leandro Trossard had a chance to score but Alisson used his hand to block the ball outside the penalty area. Head referee Martin Atkinson immediately showed the goalkeeper a direct red card.
Then, when the goalkeeper came on to replace Oxlade-Chamberlain Adrian who were struggling to adjust the fence, Lewis Dunk quickly took a dangerous free kick into the far corner. This was a valid goal for Brighton when the main referee blew the whistle to allow Brighton to take a free kick.
Lewis Dunk became the first player to score from a direct free kick against Liverpool in the Premier League at Anfield since David Luiz in January 2017.
Having scored and played with more players, the away team increased their attack. However, Adrian made no more mistakes in the remainder of the match to keep 3 points at Anfield.
Maintaining their winning streak, Liverpool have 40 points after 14 rounds but the gap between them and second-placed Man City has widened to 11 points. Brighton is temporarily 15th on the rankings with 15 points.
Results of matches at the same time:
Burnley 0-2 Crystal Palace
Chelsea 0-1 West Ham
Tottenham 3-2 Bournemouth
