(Football news) The Merseyside opponents finished a difficult stretch by defeating Union SG 2-0, while the Seagulls overcame a 2-0 deficit to hold Marseille to a 2-2 draw midweek.
The travelling Brighton supporters may have been thinking back to the 6-1 humiliation against Aston Villa on Thursday night, as Brighton allowed Chancel Mbemba and Jordan Veretout to score goals in the 19th and 20th minutes at the Orange Velodrome, bringing memories of Villa Park to mind.
Gennaro Gattuso, the newly appointed Olympiens head coach, appeared to be headed for his first victory in the Marseille hot seat, but Roberto De Zerbi’s team took full advantage as injuries mounted for the hosts in the second half, reducing the deficit through Pascal Gross before Joao Pedro’s well-taken penalty stole a point for the Seagulls.
Despite Brighton’s heroic efforts across the channel, De Zerbi’s team is currently on a disgraceful three-game losing streak going into Liverpool’s visit, having also been eliminated from the EFL Cup by Chelsea before their West Midlands thrashing last weekend.
The defensive statistics for De Zerbi’s team are concerning, as they have already conceded 20 goals in all competitions this season, more than any other team in the English top flight. Although a sixth-place finish in the Premier League standings, only three points behind league leaders Manchester City, is still nothing to be sniffed at.
It should not come as a surprise that the visitors have failed to keep a single clean sheet this year, but after victories over Newcastle United and Bournemouth at the Amex, the Seagulls could now win three straight Premier League home games for the first time since 2019. Their 11 goals on home soil are second only to Aston Villa’s 13 goals overall.
Similar to Brighton, Liverpool also started the second round of Europa League matches in a state of shock following a shocking Premier League outcome. Last Saturday, they suffered their first loss of the season against Tottenham Hotspur and were the unfortunate recipients of a terrible officiating decision.
The Reds lost to the Lilywhites 2-1 on Thursday, and despite Jurgen Klopp’s half-hearted request for a replay due to Darren England’s infamous VAR gaffe, his team exorcised their domestic demons. The Reds received two red cards, one of their goals was wrongly disallowed for Luis Diaz, and Joel Matip scored an own goal in injury time.
Union SG gave Jurgen Klopp’s team a strong fight on Merseyside, but Ryan Gravenberch scored his first goal for Liverpool after Anthony Morris fumbled Trent Alexander-Arnold’s shot into his path, and Diogo Jota ended the match in the closing seconds of the second half with a sharp shot across goal.
Liverpool wasn’t at their best on Thursday, but their first shutout in five games was a pleasant development for manager Jurgen Klopp, whose team had put up an eight-game Premier League road winning streak before their North London nightmare at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The Liverpool fans did not enjoy their trips to the south of England, though, as their team lost to Brighton twice last season, 3-0 in the Premier League and 2-1 in the FA Cup. Prior to those defeats, supporters flocked to Anfield to watch the Leandro Trossard show as the now-Arsenal player scored three goals for the Seagulls in a spectacular 3-3 game in October.
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