The results of the Liverpool vs Brighton provided a confident message by the team of Arne Slot when Mohamed Salah led a leading FA Cup victory at Anfield to secure a spot in the fifth round. It was also unbeaten in a 3-0 victory with a goal and an assist, Salah being the focal point in what has turned into a concerning streak of results, as Brighton remains unsuccessful in their fight.

First, Liverpool needed to absorb a spirited opening of Brighton. The side of fabian Hurzeler started well but they attempted to move the ball confidently and there was some kind of silence seen among home crowd. But notwithstanding initial success, Brighton never capitalized. Alisson Becker made major saves, including the denial of Diego Gomez, but Lewis Dunk wastes a presentable opportunity at the break.

In a slow manner Liverpool began forcing their rhythm. This was broken in the 42nd, when Curtis Jones, who has been right-back in his first start of the season since January, ghosted into the box to receive a delivery of Milos Kerkez, and direct the ball beyond Jason Steele. It was a reward to the increased mastery of Liverpool and a defeat to the feeble self-esteem of Brighton.

Nevertheless, the pivotal moment of Liverpool vs Brighton was after the break. Within the 56 th minute, a wide group movement doubled the lead. Virgil van Dijk started the attack by a perfect pass to Cody Gakpo who intelligently passed the ball to Salah. The Egyptian dribbled Dominik Szoboszlai, who cannonaded his 10 th goal of the season with a single beautiful touch.

The subversiveness of that move bore the mark of a keenness which has so far been unsuccessful in varying performances by Liverpool. The choice of Slot to play a powerful line up was a pointer of how the FA Cup was supposed to be important in involved circumstances where the ambition to win the Champions League was under more stern tests.

Liverpool actually closed the match after ten minutes. Salah set off on a sensational run that was matched by him being thrown over in the penalty area by Pascal Gross. The 33-year-old came forward and fired his spot-kick in the top corner to make it his seventh goal of the season and almost certainly his biggest performance since the Africa Cup of Nations.

Another defensive improvement was witnessed in Liverpool vs Brighton. The Reds picked up the second clean sheet in a row, as Alisson dominated his territory and the services of the central defensive duo of Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate began the movement. The patterns of the attacking by Brighton were waning with a lack of belief.

This was the moment of frustration which 17-year old Rio Ngumoha experienced when his attempt to score using a curled ball went to the net only to be disqualified as being in an offside position. Having no VAR active until the fifth round, replay only indicated that he was unlucky, and was deprived of a memorable moment of the FA Cup.

The trend was known to Brighton. Poor decision making and defensive mistakes sabotaged competitive spells. Hurzeler and his side have only just two of their last 15 games. Not even a training week at the St George park after a loss in the league could stop the downward trend. There does not seem to be much confidence and a visit to Brentford is on the cards and there is mounting pressure.

At last, Liverpool vs Brighton gave some confidence to the hosts. The energy of Szoboszlai, the accruing strength of Kerkez and the fresh acuity of Salah worked together to bring about a purposeful performance. It is yet to be seen that there is a complete resurgence, but there are clear indicators of improvement.

In the case of Liverpool the FA Cup will be a tangible source of silver. They can continue to maintain this defensive solidity and attacking fluency and their campaign may yet bear productive fruits. In the case of Brighton, there are solutions which need to be addressed immediately so that a challenging season does not go too wayward.

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