Brighton 2 Liverpool 1
Another dagger to Liverpool’s season. Just when you think Liverpool might have turned a corner during the week against Galatasaray with a brilliant performance they revert back to type this season with a poor performance at the AMEX. Liverpool flew out of the blocks and should have taken an early lead but an injury to Hugo Ekitike in the 8th minute that would force him off for Curtis Jones was a real blow for Liverpool, it didn’t take long for Brighton to take advantage as Kadioglu swung a cross to the back-post to Diego Gomez who headed the ball back across the six-yard-box to Danny Welbeck who headed Brighton in front in the 14th minute. The goal rocked Liverpool but they were able to take advantage of a mistake from Brighton as Lewis Dunk attempted to head the ball back to Verbruggen only for the back pass to be read by Kerkez who finished brilliantly over the Brighton goalkeeper to bring Liverpool level in the 31st minute. Brighton looked shaky at the back but the lack of a striker for Liverpool stopped them looking overly dangerous and it Brighton went back in front at the start of the second half as Minteh whipped a brilliant cross into Hinshelwood who passed it across to Welbeck who put Brighton 2-1 up. Liverpool had a few chances to equalise again but lacked the cutting edge to really hurt Brighton who saw out the 2-1 at the AMEX.
Surely Welbeck should be in that England squad? The double from Welbeck today puts him on 12 goals in the Premier League making him the highest scoring Englishman in the league ahead of the likes of Solanke, Calvert-Lewin, Bowen who were all named in Tuchel’s squad for the upcoming international break. I don’t think anyone could make the argument that Welbeck doesn’t deserve a spot in the England squad, especially with Tuchel naming a 35-man squad going into this international break, Welbeck has had a superb season for Brighton and is arguably playing the best football of his career for Brighton over these last few years. This is probably his last chance to go to a major tournament with England seeing as he is 35 years old but it doesn’t look like Tuchel fancies him for the World Cup in the summer, a shame as he clearly has a lot of quality to offer as a backup for Kane in the England team.
Are Brighton overachieving or underachieving? Brighton under Fabian Hurzeler have been really confusing, there’s times when you watch Brighton and they are breath-taking cutting teams apart with some brilliant football but on the other hand they shoot themselves in the foot playing out from the back like we saw for Liverpool’s goal, they now sit 10th in the table and are dreaming of another European trip as they only sit three points off Brentford in 7th. It’s hard to know whether or not Hurzeler is hitting his objectives as Brighton manager especially with a midfield consisting of Milner and Gross both of which are way past their prime, despite that they still managed to beat Liverpool pretty convincingly in the end so props to Fabian Hurzeler for getting this Brighton side in contention for Europe next season with a squad nowhere near as strong as a few years ago.
Times up for Arne Slot at the end of the season. It seems to be clearer every week that Liverpool are most likely going to sack Arne Slot at the end of the season barring a miracle that Liverpool win the Champions League which looks unlikely in Liverpool’s current form with PSG on the horizon next month. This season has been a disaster for Arne Slot after spending so much money in the summer going into the season as favourites for the Premier League and now they are fighting for their lives just to get Champions League football for next season, the signings haven’t delivered thus far although I do think Florian Wirtz will come good next season under a new manager, Alexander Isak has been unlucky with injuries this season but was poor at the start of the season but I suppose you can put that down to the lack of a pre-season but that was his fault as he downed tools at Newcastle. This Liverpool side should be comfortable in that top 4 at the very least so you have to look at the manager as to why they currently sit in such a bad position in the league, is Xabi Alonso the answer for Liverpool next season?
The top 4/5 race is getting spooky. Just when you think Liverpool might capitalise on Man United dropping points last night they turn in another terrible performance which leaves them in 5th place and now five points off United in 3rd, Villa have a chance to go four points clear tomorrow if they beat West Ham and Chelsea have the opportunity to go above Liverpool if they beat Everton later on today which would move Liverpool into 6th. Arne Slot said that Liverpool can’t afford any more slip-ups but with the way Liverpool are playing in the league it could be Europa League football for next season, the international break is coming up next but when they come back Liverpool travel to the Etihad in the FA Cup quarter-finals which is sure to pile more pressure on the Liverpool manager if they go out, two weeks until then so plenty of time for Arne Slot to sort out the mess at Liverpool for the rest of the season.