Salah shows he is still one of world’s best in Liverpool’s dismantling of Brighton

“We are having more and more players who are now capable of playing at this intensity level every three days, and that is where we struggled a lot in the beginning of the season. It was sometimes hard for us to play at our best level once a week let alone every three days. But now we’re able to do so, we see more and more the quality we are adding. 

“That’s why I’ve said so many times already that the future looks very bright for the club and these players.”

While they have all but surrendered the Premier League title, the FA Cup, along with the Champions League, is a competition Liverpool can still win this season.

Brighton’s Cup run is over, however, and the pressure is increasing on manager Fabian Hürzeler. They are without a win in six games and have won just one of their last 13 Premier League fixtures. Hürzeler’s side are struggling to score goals – they have gone three games without finding the net and have just three in their last six – but they had enough chances to score several at Anfield. Diego Gómez and Jack Hinshelwood were both guilty of wasting good opportunities to equalise in the first half before Lewis Dunk missed a header in the second. 

“We had two big chances in the first half and we didn’t use them,” Hürzeler said. “Liverpool were more effective. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves, we can’t complain about these moments. 

“It is about us and me taking responsibility and working for it. You have to do the small step right and then we can take a big step.”

Both teams lacked fluidity in the final third in the early stages, but Liverpool started to pile on the pressure from the half-hour mark. Cody Gakpo had his header ruled out for offside before Brighton goalkeeper Jason Steele made a superb save to deny Szoboszlai. 

But there was nothing Steele could do to prevent Curtis Jones from scoring his first goal since Boxing Day 2024. Jones, who was filling in at right-back because of injuries, timed his run well to meet Milos Kerkez’s cross and tap in from close range.