FootyChatter.com

Mohamed Salah got the assist for Hugo Ekitike's second goal At a glance Hugo Ekitike gives Liverpool lead after just 46 seconds Mohamed Salah comes on in 26th minute to replace injured Joe Gomez Ekitike gets his second goal on the hour mark after heading in Salah's corner Liverpool move up to 6th while Brighton drop to 9th PLAYER RATINGS Mohamed Salah marked his eagerly awaited Liverpool return with an assist as Arne Slot's side beat Brighton thanks to a Hugo Ekitike double. Victory pushed the Reds up to sixth as they extended their unbeaten run to five games following a first win at Anfield since 4 November. All eyes were on Salah, who returned to the squad after he was left out for Liverpool's midweek Champions League win at Inter Milan following his extraordinary outburst last weekend at Leeds United. Named on the bench by Slot, the Egyptian forward came on in the 26th minute after defender Joe Gomez was forced off with an injury and Dominik Szoboszlai slotted in at right-back. Earlier, Gomez played his part in Liverpool's opener as his header found Ekitike, who took one touch and volleyed past Bart Verbruggen after just 46 seconds - the quickest Premier League goal of the season so far. Brighton had chances to level but failed to take them, with an outstretched leg from Alisson denying Diego Gomez, who was through on goal, before Gomez also missed an open goal after the break. And Liverpool punished Fabian Hurzeler's side for their wastefulness when Salah's corner picked out an unmarked Ekitike at the back post and he headed his second on the hour mark. It was the Frenchman's 10th goal of the season and second double in as many league games after the 3-3 draw at Leeds. Salah's assist took him to 277 goal involvements in 302 Premier League appearances for Liverpool - the most by any player for a single club in the competition, overtaking Wayne Rooney (276) at Manchester United. He was involved in several promising attacks, but missed a golden opportunity to score his 251st goal for the club when he blazed wide in injury time after being teed up by Federico Chiesa's ball. After the game, Salah applauded all four sides of Anfield, with the Egyptian set to report for national team duty on Monday before the Africa Cup of Nations. He could miss up to eight games if Egypt reach the final in Morocco. With his future still uncertain, whether or not he plays for Liverpool again remains to be seen after Salah claimed in his interview at Elland Road that this could be his farewell game. But, after a tumultuous week, Liverpool have back-to-back wins and clean sheets, while Brighton drop down to ninth place. 'Easy decision' to recall Salah says Slot What did you make of Liverpool’s display? Have your say on Brighton’s performance This video can not be played Playing with Salah is a 'blessing' - Hugo Ekitike With both Salah and Alexander Isak starting on the bench, Ekitike remained Liverpool's lead striker and showed once again why he has been one of their bright sparks in a difficult campaign. His goalscoring instincts were evident within seconds of the start - a thunderous finish past Verbruggen - and caused numerous problems for Brighton with his movement. The 23-year-old could easily have scored a hat-trick in the first half as he blasted over from a Gomez ball, before firing wide when Florian Wirtz teed him up with a backheel. His link-up, particularly with Wirtz, was promising and that chemistry is something Liverpool will want to see more of in the future. Wirtz, though, was left frustrated again as he remains without a goal or assist in the Premier League. Ekitike was at the heart of his side's attack and, with his seventh attempt, he got his second goal from Salah's corner. Isak, the Premier League's most expensive signing, has yet to fire like his fellow summer arrival, and didn't do anything of note when he replaced Ekitike in the 78th minute. And with Cody Gakpo sidelined with injury and Salah heading to the Afcon with Egypt, Ekitike will no doubt continue to have a huge part to play for Slot's side. This video can not be played "Luck on our side" - Relief from Slot after Brighton win This video can not be played Hurzeler says Brighton 'deserved more' from Liverpool defeat Brighton started the afternoon ahead of Liverpool in the table, but this was an opportunity missed. The Seagulls finished with an x G of 1. 91 and will wonder how they didn't score at Anfield. Yankuba Minteh's aimless cross-field clearance led to the opening goal, but he caused Liverpool plenty of problems at the other end. He fired wide from close range before teeing up Gomez, who really should have done better when he was one-on-one against Alisson. Gomez was fortunate too not to get a red card, instead of yellow, on the brink of half-time for a high boot on Wirtz and Liverpool would have been furious had he levelled after the break when Mats Wieffer set him up brilliantly. Yet with the goal at his mercy, Gomez missed the target, while Brajan Gruda fired inches wide a minute later with a low drive. In the end, Brighton finished with 13 attempts and 26 touches in the opposition box, but only forced Alisson to make the one save from Gomez. Remarkably, Hurzeler's side are winless in their last nine matches during the month of December. Liverpool are next in action on Saturday, 20 December, at Tottenham Hotspur (17: 30 GMT). Brighton welcome Sunderland to the Amex Stadium on the same day (15: 00 GMT). After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users. Comments can not be loaded To load Comments you need to enable Java Script in your browser Last Updated 13th December 2025 at 19: 00 Please Note: All times UK. Tables are subject to change. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made. Manager: Arne Slot Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Manager: Fabian Hürzeler Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Manager: Arne Slot Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Manager: Fabian Hürzeler Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Premier League All competitions All competitions All competitions Liverpool have lost just one of their eight Premier League home games against Brighton (W5 D2), though it was the only other time they’ve faced them as the competition’s reigning champions (0-1 in February 2021). Brighton beat Liverpool 3-2 in their last meeting in May but have never beaten the Reds in consecutive league matches before. The team scoring first hasn’t won any of the last four Premier League meetings between Brighton and Liverpool (D1 L3), since a 3-0 victory for the Seagulls in January 2023. Liverpool have just 23 points (W7 D2 L6) and have conceded 24 goals in the Premier League this season, the worst start by a reigning champion in both metrics after 15 games since Leicester in 2016-17 (16 points, 26 conceded). Brighton have kept a clean sheet in each of their last two away Premier League matches – the Seagulls haven’t kept three in a row since between March and July 2020. Liverpool have conceded 48 goals in 35 Premier League games in 2025 – only twice before have they shipped 50+ goals in a year in the competition, doing so in 2012 (51) and 2014 (52). Brighton are winless in their last eight Premier League matches in December (D5 L3) – manager Fabian Hürzeler has won a match in each of the other nine months he’s taken charge with the Seagulls other than the festive month. Liverpool haven’t scored in the opening 45 minutes in any of their last five Premier League matches, their longest run without a first half goal since between January and March 2021 (eight games). This season represents their lowest share of first half goals (25%, 6/24) in a Premier League campaign. Brighton’s Jan Paul van Hecke has made 217 line-breaking passes in the Premier League this season, more than any other player. 110 of those have broken the opponent’s attacking line, also a league best. Mohamed Salah has been an unused substitute in two of Liverpool’s last three Premier League matches – he’d only been an unused sub in three of the first 303 matchday squads he featured in for the Reds. This season is Salah’s lowest tallies per 90 minutes for Liverpool for shots (2. 6), shots on target (0. 8) and touches in the opposition box (7. 3). Foul by Georginio Rutter (Brighton and Hove Albion). Foul by Ryan Gravenberch (Liverpool). Ferdi Kadioglu (Brighton and Hove Albion) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Corner, Liverpool. Conceded by Jack Hinshelwood. Attempt blocked. Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Dominik Szoboszlai with a cross. Handball by Ferdi Kadioglu (Brighton and Hove Albion). Ibrahima Konaté (Liverpool) wins a free kick on the right wing. Foul by Brajan Gruda (Brighton and Hove Albion). Attempt missed. Dominik Szoboszlai (Liverpool) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Mohamed Salah. Curtis Jones (Liverpool) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Jack Hinshelwood (Brighton and Hove Albion). Attempt missed. Hugo Ekitiké (Liverpool) right footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Florian Wirtz. Substitution, Liverpool. Mohamed Salah replaces Joe Gomez because of an injury. Delay over. They are ready to continue. Delay in match because of an injury Joe Gomez (Liverpool). Attempt missed. Hugo Ekitiké (Liverpool) right footed shot from the right side of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Florian Wirtz. Foul by Georginio Rutter (Brighton and Hove Albion). Ibrahima Konaté (Liverpool) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Attempt blocked. Carlos Baleba (Brighton and Hove Albion) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Ferdi Kadioglu. Attempt missed. Hugo Ekitiké (Liverpool) right footed shot from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Joe Gomez. Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.