Liverpool played a version of anti-soccer in the eyes of Brighton & Hove Albion manager Fabian Hürzeler to claim the win and three points at Anfield on Sunday.
Andoni Iraola guided the Reds to a 2–0 victory that inflicted only Brighton’s second defeat of the season and lifted Liverpool to within one point of the third-place Seagulls. But Hürzeler was insistent afterwards that his was the only team trying to win the match the right way.
“I think everyone in the stadium saw that there was one team who really tried to create and try to win this game and therefore I have to praise my players,” the German said. “I think everyone in the stadium felt there was a missed opportunity for us, because it’s not only after the goal or the goals they scored. Also, before they scored, we had one, two big chances.”
Even as the visiting team at one of the Premier League’s traditional ‘Big Six’ and a team that won the division as recently as 2024–25, Brighton dominated all the meaningful stats—apart from the most important one, which is obviously goals scored.
The Seagulls, who scored three times past Arsenal in September to humble the champions and make the rest of the Premier League take note, had more of the ball, took on more shots, accrued higher expected goals (xG) and completed far more passes at much higher accuracy.
Liverpool vs. Brighton Match Stats
Statistic | Liverpool | Brighton |
|---|---|---|
Possession | 36% | 64% |
Expected Goals (xG) | 1.20 | 1.32 |
Total Shots | 13 | 17 |
Shots on Target | 4 | 1 |
Touches in Opposition Box | 30 | 39 |
Big Chances | 1 | 1 |
Accurates Passes | 225 (69%) | 485 (84%) |
Liverpool’s Defense Steps Up
The “difference” was that Liverpool had the clinical quality which Brighton didn’t. Hürzeler also felt the need to praise the defensive efforts of Iraola’s Reds. Suddenly, the Premier League’s best attacking team this season, averaging 3.3 goals per game prior to facing Liverpool, was blunt.
“They scored. We didn’t score,” Hürzeler sighed.
Iraola didn’t make his name as a defensive manager, seemingly chosen by Liverpool when Arne Slot was fired because of the similarities in his style Jürgen Klopp’s brand of ‘heavy-metal’ soccer. Last season, his Bournemouth team finished sixth in the final standings but had only the 14th-best defensive record. Conversely, the Cherries were the equal-fifth best scorers.
However, Liverpool finished 25 points off the pace set by Arsenal last season—a weak defense of their title—because they were defensively poor in comparison.
When much of the focus has been on extracting the best from the midfield and wingers, and unlocking the enigma that is Florian Wirtz, have the Reds turned a corner at the back?
Sometimes when a team is not performing fluidly with the ball, it’s about relying on defense and grinding it out. That’s what Arsenal did for much of last season—and even reverted to over the weekend when they faced Everton because general creativity was lacking. Goals win games, but defense wins championships and all that.
“[Liverpool] kept a clean sheet because they defended well with their center backs, with fullbacks [Ronald] Araújo and [Milos] Kerkez,” Hürzeler said. “I think they blocked a lot of shots. They really defended the box well. We didn’t have that efficiency. We couldn’t keep the clean sheet because we made easy mistakes [and] lost some important personal duels.”
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