Five talking points from Liverpool’s 2-0 victory over Brighton

Liverpool returned to winning ways with an assist from Mohamed Salah as they beat 10-man Everton 2-0 on Saturday afternoon.

Jurgen Klopp’s men had failed to win their previous two Premier League games and their task was made easier after Ashley Young received two yellow cards in the first half.
The second yellow card, the first coming shortly after a late challenge on Luis Diaz, dragged the Colombian outside the penalty area.

Liverpool tried hard to break down Everton’s defence, but Michael Keane’s handball beat Jordan Pickford for a free-kick in the 75th minute, allowing Salah to score the first goal.
Manager Klopp’s side took the lead for the rest of the second half and Liverpool doubled their lead when Salah blocked Darwin Nunez’s counter-attack in the 97th minute.

With Liverpool temporarily leading the Premier League, here are five stories from the game.

1) M.salah on fire

It certainly wasn’t Salah’s best performance for Liverpool today.

Throughout the game, Liverpool struggled to break through Everton’s defence, with Egyptians Vitaliy Mykolenko and Jarad Branthwaite struggling to break through.
But as we’ve learned over the years, give Salah a chance and he’ll take it.

The 31-year-old confidently buried the penalty past Pickford and looked nothing like the man who struggled in the final 75 minutes.
Salah scored his second goal of the day and seventh of the Premier League season, sprinting down the left flank for Nunez to slot home a neat cross that the Egyptian finished with ease.

Salah has now scored or assisted in each of his last 13 Premier League games at Anfield and looks set to stop anytime soon.

2) Our Captain, Virgil

Virgil van Dijk is back to his best form and has been for some time.

The Liverpool and Netherlands captain was flawless against Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s overhead kick today.
Van Dijk’s numbers after Saturday’s win speak for themselves.
Recorded 94 assists (most on field), 114 tackles, five pass breakups and 10 fumble recoveries.
The 32-year-old also won 10 of his 15 aerial duels, two ground duels and completed six of his nine long ball attempts.

Van Dijk is once again playing as one of the best centre-backs in the world and who knows how far Liverpool will go this season if he stays healthy this season.

3) ELLIOTT FROM THE BENCH

It is not the first time this season that Harvey Elliott has been brought on in the 62nd minute of the first half and he has performed impressively from the bench.

After captaining England U21s for the first time, no one would have been surprised if the 20-year-old returned with some confidence and it certainly showed on the pitch.
Every touch looked effortless for the midfielder, who finished the game with a 100% completion percentage.

Elliott’s replacement was crucial for Liverpool as they looked to topple Everton, who had constantly switched play from left to right for the Reds until Salah’s game.
Elliott struggled for Brighton after being substituted at half-time in Liverpool’s last game, but if he can replicate his form when he started for Klopp, Elliott should be unstoppable.

4) Kanote Lucky 

There should be no complaints about Young’s red card.
Both mistakes were simple yellow card decisions by Craig Pawson which forced the Everton left-back to be sent off.
Ibrahima Konate was shown a yellow card in the 50th minute of the second half for intentionally obstructing Amadou Onana.

Fifteen minutes later, substitute Beto stretched the Frenchman and brought down the Everton player, prompting complaints from Sean Dyce and his coaching staff.
Referee Pawson immediately shook his head and dismissed Everton’s appeal, and Konate must have considered himself lucky to avoid a second yellow card.

Two minutes later, Konate came on for Joel Matip, showing how Klopp felt about the decision.
5) WHAT 12:30 CURSE?

Liverpool fans have come to dislike the 12.30pm kick-off in recent years, with the club failing to win any of their six games in the 2022/23 season.
Defeats at Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth and Manchester City will surely bring back terrible memories for everyone, but the ‘curse’ could end this season.

A 3-1 win over Wolves in mid-September was Liverpool’s first afternoon victory in over a year and today they moved back to within three points. Fingers crossed, red?