In a week when their direct rivals for the Premier League title, Arsenal and Manchester City, are playing each other, Liverpool had an ‘easier’ task – to win at home against Brighton and then hope for a draw between the Citizens and the Gunners. But when a former Arsenal forward Danny Welbeck stunned the home crowd with a beautiful goal in the 2nd minute, thigs were looking gloomy. The stats column was also bad, as Liverpool managed to win against the Seagulls once in their last eight encounters, and they have been winless in their last three home matches. But Liverpool never gave up and the players gave their coach Jurgen Klopp another nice stat before leaving the club – his first-ever win over Roberto De Zebri: Liverpool – Brighton 2-1.Salah’s 16th goal was also good enough for first place at the table, and a possible draw between Arsenal and Manchester City would suit Klopp just fine. It was a game in which the home players were stunned by an early goal but had 88 minutes to come back, and they did so, it’s a surprise that they didn’t use their numerous chances throughout the game and win with a bigger margin. On the other hand, Roberto De Zerbi, who is among the candidates to take over Liverpool, especially now when Xabi Alonso turned them down, didn’t show much as his team didn’t have many chances after the first goal. Adingra made the yards down the left. He looked for Moder in the box. Van Dijk toed to the ball, but it dropped it to Welbeck from 20 yards. His quick finish thundered into the top corner for a shocking lead after just two minutes. Liverpool took the initiative immediately, and it was Mohamed Salah who had three good opportunities, but they all finished off target. In fact, the Reds had seven total shots in the first 25 minutes, and the Egyptian had six of those, and they all went off target. It was Luis Diaz who broke the deadlock soon afterwards when he used a clumsy Veltman’s clearance to flick the ball to what would otherwise be an offside. Welbeck had the best chance (apart from the goal) in the first half, but this time he hit the side net. Salah had two chances (in both halves) when he was one-on-one with Verbruggen but shot straight at him. First, it was in the 30th minute, and the second came 15 minutes before the end. But he finally managed to score and turn the game around in the 65th minute. Mac Allister made a perfect pass inside the box under pressure, and Salah didn’t miss this one. Diaz could have scored a brace and ended all speculations about the result of this game, but VAR showed he was literally inches in offside. The Reds continued to attack and had several good opportunities to put the game to bed, but either missed them or Verbruggen made a save. ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE – MATCHDAY 30 Saturday Newcastle – West Ham 4-3 (1-2)/Isak 6 pen, 77 pen, Barnes 83, 90 – Antonio 21, Kudus 45+10, Bowen 48/Bournemouth – Everton 2-1 (0-0)/Solanke 64, Coleman 90+1 og – Beto 88/Chelsea – Burnley 2-2 (1-0)/Palmer 45 pen, 78 – Cullen 48, O’Shea 81/Nott.Forest – Crystal Palace 1-1 (0-1)/Wood 61 – Mateta 11/Sheffield Utd – Fulham 3-3 (0-0)/Brereton Diaz 58, 69, McBurnie 68 – Palhinha 62, De Cordova-Reid 85, Muniz 90+3/Tottenham – Luton 2-1 (0-1)/Kabore 51 og, Johnson 86 – Chong 3/Aston Villa – Wolverhampton 2-0 (1-0)/Diaby 36, Konsa 65/Brentford – Man.Utd.1-1 (0-0)/Ajer 90+9 – Mount 90+6/Sunday Liverpool – Brighton 2-1 (1-1)/Diaz 27, Salah 65 – Welbeck 2/18.30: (2.00) Man.City (3.50) Arsenal (3.70)***odds are subject to change***
