Brighton shock Liverpool at Anfield, as the champions fall to another home defeat.

 

A first Premier League goal for Steven Alzate gave Brighton their first win at Anfield in 37 years.

Brighton who came to the home of the champions unbeaten in their last seven games in all competitions, faced a Liverpool side who seemed to be back to their best after wins over Tottenham Hotspur and West ham United.

It looked like Brighton were going to be in for a tough night with Mo Salah going close in the opening minutes, but that was as good as it got for the reds. Lewis Dunk, Ben White and a man of the match performance from Adam Webster limited Liverpool to just the single shot on target.

After a great win, Brighton now see themselves rise to 14th with a 10-point gap from the relegation zone, with their recent form they will be looking at catching the teams above them.

The loss now leaves Liverpool seven points behind Premier League leaders Manchester City who have a game in hand on the reds, and are showing no signs of letting up after another dominant display against Burnley at Turf Moor to extend their winning run to nine games in the league and to 20 games in all competitions. The sides are set to face each other at Anfield with Manchester City looking to get their first win at Anfield since 2003.

Liverpool saw an end to their incredible 68-game, almost four-year unbeaten league run at Anfield  on January 21^st as the Reds were left shocked as they fell to a 1-0 home defeat to Sean Dyche’s Burnley. It was Liverpool’s first home defeat since April 23^rd 2017 when their former striker Christian Benteke got both goals in a 2-1 win for Crystal Palace.

The Merseyside club’s loss to the Seagulls is their first back-to-back home league defeats in nine years. Jurgen Klopp’s side have been poor at home in recent months not winning any of their last four home games drawing two and losing two. This leaves the question is Anfield the fortress it used to be?

With the champions having not won any of their last four home games, being kept scoreless in three of the four the answer would come as yes. Anfield is no longer the fortress it has been in recent seasons. A major factor across all football grounds but especially for Klopp’s men is the absence of fans. However, without the fans to push them on it is completely different, and Liverpool’s struggles at home this season have shown.

The Reds started the campaign with seven straight home wins, with comfortable victories over Arsenal 3-1, Leicester City 3-0 and Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-0. They have also beaten, Leeds United, Sheffield United, West Ham United and Tottenham Hotpsur all of which have been by a one goal margin. But these wins have not been convincing, In back to back home games against Sheffield and West Ham, Klopp’s side had to come from a goal down to get the three points, and it took until the 90^th minute for Liverpool to grab the winning goal against Spurs back in December, their last league win at Anfield. A result which could of easily have gone the way of the visitors with Mourinho saying in his interview after the game “The better side lost”.

Everybody in the league is aware of the injury crisis Liverpool have, especially in defence, with their first three choice centre backs Virgil Van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip ruled out for the remainder of the season. The absence of Van Dijk in defence is a massive blow for the champions, who alongside Jordan Henderson is a key leader on and off the field. The 2018-19 Premier League player of the season has been out since October with a knee injury, and with Gomez and Matip also out injured it has left a massive whole in Liverpool’s defence.

A hole in which teams have exploited as Henderson and Fabinho who are not natural centre backs have had to fill in that position.

Liverpool could see their home form become even worse before it gets better, with the visit of Pep Guardiola’s side on Sunday. Manchester City are in fine form winning their last nine, and have not conceded in their last six games, and only once in their last nine a consolation goal from Chelsea’s Callum Hudson-Odoi in their comfortable 3-1 win at Stamford Bridge.

Can Klopp’s side turn their home form around and come away from Anfield on Sunday with a much-needed win?

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