Brighton lost narrowly to Liverpool in midweek in the League Cup, but they started the return at Anfield better. After Verbruggen had saved a dangerous shot from Darwin Núñez, Brighton opened the scoring in the 14th minute with a beautiful curling effort from distance from right-back Kadioglu.

Brighton continued to play better after taking the lead, and Liverpool were lucky not to concede a second goal in the 27th minute when goalkeeper Kelleher cleared a one-on-one with Rutter.

The hosts were lucky to escape again in the 36th minute when Kadioglu volleyed over the bar with no one marking him.

Liverpool had a few attacks in the first half, but the dangerous chances did not really result in any clear-cut shots, except for Núñez’s situation at the beginning of the half.

At the end of the half, Welbeck had two free-kick opportunities for Brighton, but each time he put the ball into the side of the net and failed to beat Kelleher.

Liverpool created suffocating pressure at the beginning of the second half, Gakpo’s curling shot missed the post while goalkeeper Verbruggen miraculously denied Mac Allister’s close-range header and a face-off with Salah.

It seemed like Liverpool would have a bad day in finishing, but things took a dramatic turn.

In the 69th minute, Gakpo’s cross from the left wing hit no one and went straight into Brighton’s net. Just 3 minutes later, Liverpool finished a counter-attack with Salah’s signature left-footed shot into the top corner, helping Liverpool come back to lead 2-1.

Brighton poured forward, but at this point they no longer had enough strength to create danger against the determination of Liverpool’s defense. The home team rolled up their sleeves to block almost every shot from the opponent and successfully maintained a 1-goal lead in 4 minutes of added time.