“Everyone in the stadium saw it”: Fabian Hürzeler takes a swipe at Liverpool

Brighton’s incredible run ends against Florian Wirtz and the Reds. Afterwards, the Seagulls’ coach is unimpressed by the winning side and makes that clear.

Hürzeler stood by his players after Brighton's second defeat of the season and criticised Liverpool's approach to the game.

"Everyone in the stadium saw that there was only one team really trying to create chances and win this game," the 33-year-old said at Sunday's press conference after his side's 2-0 defeat at Anfield. "That’s why I have to praise my players."

Two early goals gave Liverpool the win. Wirtz forced an own goal from Pascal Groß (17th minute), then Alexander Isak scored from a Bradley Barcola assist (21st minute).

For Hürzeler, the difference was that Liverpool scored and Brighton did not, despite creating good chances. He called the match "a missed opportunity" before praising Liverpool's defending.

"They blocked a lot of shots" and "they defended their penalty area well", said the former St. Pauli promotion-winning coach.

"Overall, though, I saw a team that can take a lot of positives from this. I saw a team that really believed in our way of playing, stuck to the plan and kept fighting," Hürzeler said in praise of his side. That made the result all the more frustrating.

Liverpool vs Brighton: where the visitors had the edge

Brighton had the edge in several areas. The visitors had considerably more possession than Liverpool (around 64:36 per cent), more shots (17:13), a higher pass completion rate (84:69, with the Reds' figure extremely poor by comparison), more touches in the opposition penalty area (39:30) and a slightly higher xG figure. Depending on the statistical model, Liverpool's xG was around 0.9 to 1.2, while Brighton's was just over 1.3. According to data provider Opta, Liverpool's 35.6 per cent possession was their second-lowest figure in a home win since such data began to be recorded (2003/2004).

Despite the defeat, Brighton remain third in the Premier League behind Manchester United and champions Arsenal. Liverpool moved up to fourth with their fourth consecutive win.

"I’m very pleased," said Liverpool coach Andoni Iraola. The Basque credited his team's strong start. "We needed a good start: to play aggressively, win second balls, win our duels and break forward. I think we managed that, and it was a different game from those in which we conceded first."

Brighton now face Manchester City away twice in succession, in the League Cup during the week and in the league next Saturday. Liverpool also have two major matches ahead: against Chelsea in the League Cup on Wednesday, then against Arsenal in the Premier League the following Sunday.

Premier League: the leading group after eight matchdays