Premier League, Liverpool beat Brighton 2-0: Key stats
What's the story
Liverpool defeated Brighton 2-0 at Anfield, marking only the latter's second defeat of the season. The win was largely due to Alexander Isak's third consecutive Premier League goal. He scored just four minutes after Pascal Gross had inadvertently put one into his own net from a Florian Wirtz shot. The result pushed Liverpool above Chelsea into fourth place in the Premier League table, just a point behind Brighton.
Match dynamics
Brighton fail to convert chances
Despite scoring an impressive 23 goals in their first seven games, Brighton struggled with their finishing touch.
Yasin Ayari missed a golden opportunity just before Liverpool's opener and later hit the post with a curling shot from outside the box.
The visitors ended the match with just one shot on target, highlighting Liverpool's strong defensive performance.
Match highlights
Liverpool hold on for vital win
Liverpool had several chances to extend their lead but failed to convert on multiple counter-attacks.
Bart Verbruggen made saves from Ronald Araujo and Cody Gakpo.
However, second-half substitute Trey Nyoni came up with a crucial last-ditch tackle to deny Maxim De Cuyper in the Liverpool box, ensuring the hosts held onto their lead for a first Premier League home win under Andoni Iraola.
Goal details
Isak continues scoring streak
Isak's sixth Premier League goal of the season came after a brilliant run by summer signing Bradley Barcola.
The latter won the ball high up the pitch before charging forward and setting up Isak with a right-wing cut-back.
Former Newcastle United striker Isak now owns 63 Premier League goals from 107 appearances.
In the ongoing season, he has scored six goals from 7 league matches.
Information
A look at the points table
From 8 matches this season, the Reds have claimed 15 points (W4 D3 L1) and are 4th. On the other hand, the Seagulls are third with 16 points from 8 matches. It was their 2nd defeat of the campaign.
Do you know?
Here are the match stats
Liverpool had an xG of 0.87 compared to Brighton's 1.35. Liverpool had 4 shots on target from 17 attempts whereas Brighton had one shot on target from 17 attempts. Both sided created one big chance each.
Information
A unique record for the Reds
As per Opta, Liverpool's possession of 35.6% was their second-lowest on record (since 2003-04) in a Premier League home win, and lowest in an Anfield league victory since November 2010 (35.3% vs Chelsea).