Brighton stuns Liverpool

The defeat leaves Liverpool on 49 points and outside the Premier League top four, two points adrift of fourth‑placed Aston Villa in the table updated after the round. (premierleague.com) It was Liverpool’s 10th league loss of the season, the latest setback in a campaign that has produced unusually high numbers of defeats for the club. (skysports.com) Brighton out‑shot Liverpool 16 to 12 and registered a much higher expected‑goals figure (about 2.3 to Liverpool’s 1.03), while the sides shared possession roughly 47% to 53% in a match the statistics suggest Brighton controlled more of the clear chances. (footystats.org) Liverpool were hit by an in‑game injury to forward Hugo Ekitike, who had to be withdrawn, adding to the squad availability problems the manager faces ahead of the international break. (skysports.com) Match officials and former referees flagged a contentious off‑the‑ball incident in the first half that left a Brighton winger fortunate not to receive a red card, a decision criticised by ex‑PGMOL chief Keith Hackett and several pundits. (givemesport.com) Manager Arne Slot said the result “hurts a lot” and conceded his side’s form has not been good enough, comments made publicly at his post‑match press conference as pressure on his job intensified. (espn.com) Brighton climbed to 43 points with the win and have now taken four victories from their last five Premier League matches, a run that has pushed them closer to the European places. (premierleague.com)