Top of the league, baby! (at least for now)
Brighton defended superbly, it has to be said. Full concentration for 90 minutes and beaten only by a clinical strike from Salah off GK's fingertips and the post. So many half chances could have become big chances, but there was a Brighton foot or head in the way every time. They held us close for 70 minutes and then went for it in the last 20, really putting us under pressure in the way neither West Ham nor Palace were able to do – it almost worked if not for a bit of good fortune for us (the Knokaert miss, ball bouncing off a few Brighton players after a corner) and a good save by Alisson. Our defending was not perfect, but in the end our backline was resilient enough to withstand a period of sustained pressure – something we could rarely count on in the past.
I won't do ratings, but some short observations on individuals:
Alisson – cocky and confident, but almost got punished in a couple of situations today. Saved us 2 points late on.
Trent – still not quite on form
Gomez – superb. I'm starting to believe.
VVD – a few small errors
Robbo – excellent once again, love his willingness to cut inside a la Mendy at City. Once he even exchanged passes with Trent inside Brighton's penalty area!
Gini – when a few other players faded towards the end his energy seemed to only increase. Played at the #6 competently, then showed a different side of his game at #8. Had a few shots blocked and some of his passes deserved a better finish (like Salah's shot over the bar late on).
Milner – many people suggested dropping him after a somewhat quiet performance at Palace, but he was superb and essential to everything we did in attack and defense once again. His tackle created the goal, so that should just about make him MOM ahead of a few other worthy candidates.
Keita – once again showed glimpses of quality in the first half, but faded rapidly and was rightly subbed. I wonder how long it will take him to get to the point where he can sustain his best level for 90 minutes.
Firmino – played on the right and then on the left wing to free up Salah from defensive work, unlucky not to score early on and overall I thought he played quite well.
Mane – was rather anonymous, which was disappointing after how good he's been in the first 2 games.
Salah – played mostly through the middle until Sturridge came on. This was the first time this season he was influential in the build-up of our attacks and not just in the finishing phase. Still a few uncharacteristic misses, but the goal was a clinical as they come and proved to be the match-winner.
Henderson – once again a superb cameo. I don't think we would have preserved a clean sheet without him, he gave us exactly what was needed: superb covering of the ground and crisp passing.
Sturridge – freshened up our attack and looked to be on the same wavelength as Salah and Firmino. Deserves more minutes, but so do a few others.
Matip – I imagine one or two fans groaned when he came on to defend a lead, but in truth it was a sensible decision (and unlike some games in the past, it was not playing with 3 CBs, just moving Gomez to RB).
Klopp – surprised a few people by keeping the same starting 11 for 3 games straight despite a wealth of options on the bench, but you can't argue with 9 points and 3 clean sheets. His one tactical tweak for this game was modifying Salah's position – this time he constantly found himself with the ball at #10 position kind of like Mane did in other games cutting in from the opposite flank. I think he is trying to make the attack more balanced (and less predictable) by making sure than both Mane and Salah can do some playmaking as well as running in behind – interesting idea, but only a partially successful execution this time. Subs were spot-on.
Brighton defended superbly, it has to be said. Full concentration for 90 minutes and beaten only by a clinical strike from Salah off GK's fingertips and the post. So many half chances could have become big chances, but there was a Brighton foot or head in the way every time. They held us close for 70 minutes and then went for it in the last 20, really putting us under pressure in the way neither West Ham nor Palace were able to do – it almost worked if not for a bit of good fortune for us (the Knokaert miss, ball bouncing off a few Brighton players after a corner) and a good save by Alisson. Our defending was not perfect, but in the end our backline was resilient enough to withstand a period of sustained pressure – something we could rarely count on in the past.
I won't do ratings, but some short observations on individuals:
Alisson – cocky and confident, but almost got punished in a couple of situations today. Saved us 2 points late on.
Trent – still not quite on form
Gomez – superb. I'm starting to believe.
VVD – a few small errors
Robbo – excellent once again, love his willingness to cut inside a la Mendy at City. Once he even exchanged passes with Trent inside Brighton's penalty area!
Gini – when a few other players faded towards the end his energy seemed to only increase. Played at the #6 competently, then showed a different side of his game at #8. Had a few shots blocked and some of his passes deserved a better finish (like Salah's shot over the bar late on).
Milner – many people suggested dropping him after a somewhat quiet performance at Palace, but he was superb and essential to everything we did in attack and defense once again. His tackle created the goal, so that should just about make him MOM ahead of a few other worthy candidates.
Keita – once again showed glimpses of quality in the first half, but faded rapidly and was rightly subbed. I wonder how long it will take him to get to the point where he can sustain his best level for 90 minutes.
Firmino – played on the right and then on the left wing to free up Salah from defensive work, unlucky not to score early on and overall I thought he played quite well.
Mane – was rather anonymous, which was disappointing after how good he's been in the first 2 games.
Salah – played mostly through the middle until Sturridge came on. This was the first time this season he was influential in the build-up of our attacks and not just in the finishing phase. Still a few uncharacteristic misses, but the goal was a clinical as they come and proved to be the match-winner.
Henderson – once again a superb cameo. I don't think we would have preserved a clean sheet without him, he gave us exactly what was needed: superb covering of the ground and crisp passing.
Sturridge – freshened up our attack and looked to be on the same wavelength as Salah and Firmino. Deserves more minutes, but so do a few others.
Matip – I imagine one or two fans groaned when he came on to defend a lead, but in truth it was a sensible decision (and unlike some games in the past, it was not playing with 3 CBs, just moving Gomez to RB).
Klopp – surprised a few people by keeping the same starting 11 for 3 games straight despite a wealth of options on the bench, but you can't argue with 9 points and 3 clean sheets. His one tactical tweak for this game was modifying Salah's position – this time he constantly found himself with the ball at #10 position kind of like Mane did in other games cutting in from the opposite flank. I think he is trying to make the attack more balanced (and less predictable) by making sure than both Mane and Salah can do some playmaking as well as running in behind – interesting idea, but only a partially successful execution this time. Subs were spot-on.
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