A second successive win to nil, a brace from a big-money summer signing and the return of the prodigal son saw Liverpool’s week end on a high.
It wasn’t all good news, however, with two more injuries to add to the list. And, just as Mohamed Salah (£14.0m) comes back into the fold, he leaves for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Here are our Scout Notes from Liverpool 2-0 Brighton and Hove Albion.
SZOBOSZLAI + GOMEZ INJURIES…
The first injury of the day, sadly quite predictably, affected Joe Gomez (£4.9m).
The right-back, who is no stranger to the physio room, was starting his fourth Liverpool game in the space of a fortnight. It proved to be one too many, with this appearance lasting less than half an hour.
A muscle injury likely costs him his place in Gameweek 17, and possibly beyond.
“If I have a player who goes off with a muscle injury like Joe, that’s normally not a positive thing.
“I would not expect him to be in the squad next week [at Tottenham Hotspur]. But sometimes you get a positive surprise.
“People now maybe understand a bit better why I was always so cautious not to play him so many games. I assume many people thought, ‘If you have a defender, if you have a right full-back, why don’t you play him?'” – Arne Slot on Joe Gomez
Dominik Szoboszlai (£6.7m) took over at right-back for the Reds. Not only was being shunted to full-back a blow for the Hungarian’s 220,000+ new owners, but they also saw him exit the field of play after 82 minutes.
Szoboszlai had needed treatment a quarter of an hour earlier, looking in some pain, before briefly soldiering on.
Arne Slot didn’t sound too hopeful after the match.
“Dom, it was his ankle. It didn’t look great when I just saw him. But he has unbelievable mentality, so let’s hope for the best.” – Arne Slot on Dominik Szoboszlai
At least there’s no concern with two-goal Hugo Ekitike (£8.5m):
“Just before I took him off, there was a moment, I don’t know what happened, but I think he hardly could walk anymore because of cramp.” – Arne Slot on Hugo Ekitike
…BUT FRIMPONG + BRADLEY TO RETURN
So, the two players who began Saturday’s match on Liverpool’s right side (Gomez, Szoboszlai) and the man who came on for Gomez (the AFCON-bound Salah) may have been wiped out in one fell swoop.
Luckily for Slot, reinforcements are on the way.
Conor Bradley (£5.0m) is back from a one-match ban next weekend.
And Jeremie Frimpong (£5.7m), who we saw playing on the right wing quite a bit in pre-season, is nearing a return from injury.
“The good thing is that Conor Bradley comes back from a suspension [next week] and normally Jeremie Frimpong will train with us also.” – Arne Slot
SALAH: STILL LIFE IN THE OLD DOG YET?
As mentioned above, Salah’s return was a brief but feel-good one.
While a substitute role suggested that relations between player and manager hadn’t completely thawed, he was the man Slot first turned to when Gomez limped off. The home fans gave him a rapturous welcome, too.
The Liverpool boss seems to have drawn a line under the whole situation now.
“I think actions speak louder than what has been said. He was in the squad again and when I had to make my first substitution, I brought him in and he performed as I think every fan – including me – would like him to perform today.
“I think he’s a Liverpool player and the moment he’s there I like to use him when we need him. Today he didn’t start as he did a few times before not, but in the one-and-a-half season before he started I think every game. Today when he came in, like I just said, he had a performance like you would want him to give.
“For me, there’s no issue to resolve. For me, he’s now the same as any other player. You talk to your players if you are happy or unhappy with things. But there’s nothing to talk about after what happened against Leeds after the game.” – Arne Slot on Mohamed Salah
It’s a shame he’s now off to AFCON, as he might have shaken up the FPL template in the coming weeks. Playing up top with Ekitike in Slot’s new 4-4-2 diamond, he racked up his biggest expected goal involvement (xGI) score of the season:
Above: Saturday’s leading players for xGI
Setting up a good opportunity for Alexis Mac Allister (£6.2m) shortly after his introduction, he assisted Ekitike’s second goal from a corner, skied an excellent injury-time chance and drew a smart stop out of Bart Verbruggen (£4.4m), having been sold short by Ekitike seconds earlier. In criticism corner, Salah really should have supplied a better pass for a rampaging Virgil van Dijk (£5.9m) late on, as Liverpool broke.
All in all, plenty of menace, and a possible more central, threatening role to come back to in January.
And was it just us, or was he trying that bit harder off the ball, too…
Above: Salah made more defensive contributions on Saturday than he’s made in any match since Gameweek 1. This was only the second game this season in which he’s made a tackle.
EKITIKE IN FORM AS WIRTZ IMPROVEMENT CONTINUES
While Alexander Isak (£10.4m) continues to toil (he was a substitute here after a midweek knock), Ekitike is hitting his stride.
Two braces in as many Gameweeks have taken him to seven goals in 10 Premier League starts. Pretty good!
He’s visibly playing with confidence, while Liverpool’s wafer-thin squad, the two-up-top approach and generous recovery periods up till Gameweek 20 (thanks to Legomane for the below graphic) should ensure plenty of game-time over the favourable fixtures ahead:
Just look at those shot numbers over the last two Gameweeks (he’d also had three efforts v Inter), too:
In between his two goals (one a well-taken first-minute strike and the second a set-piece header), he skied a Gomez pull-back, curled narrowly wide after a fine team move and nearly scored a superb solo goal.
While Mac Allister is the most advanced/central of Liverpool’s midfielders in this diamond, Florian Wirtz (£8.0m) is the one catching the eye. He’s getting better and better (and looking more physical) by the game, albeit with assists more likely: he’s not had one shot in the box in the Reds’ last three competitive fixtures.
More of a ‘LCM’ role might help boost his DefCon potential, mind: he banked those for the first time in 2025/26 on Saturday.
Above: Players involved at Anfield on Saturday who delivered DefCon points
A CLEAN SHEET… BUT CHANCES CONCEDED
Slot has been keen to point out how few chances Liverpool have conceded of late.
But even he had to admit that Saturday’s clean sheet was fortunate.
“I think our players worked incredibly hard today to keep a clean sheet and for the first time in weeks – or maybe I should say months – we had a little bit of luck with that as well.
“That’s funny, this is what people now say if you win 2-0 and then all of a sudden, ‘we were solid’. But I think we conceded in one game more than we did in the last four games. But now all of a sudden it’s solid because we won the game.” – Arne Slot
Diego Gomez (£4.9m) had two huge chances (the two biggest circles – one saved, one hitting the post – in the xG map below), while Mats Wieffer (£4.9m), Yankuba Minteh (£6.2m) and Brajan Gruda (£5.4m) went mightily close with off-target efforts.
Minteh teed up Gomez for the first of his big chances; a first return in four for the Gambian winger wasn’t too far away.
WHY DE CUYPER + WELBECK WERE SUBS – PLUS TWO NEW BANS
Two of Brighton’s most popular FPL picks of late, Danny Welbeck (£6.5m) and ‘out of position’ defender Maxim De Cuyper (£4.3m), were only substitutes on Saturday.
Fitness issues were behind the decision.
“We had some small issues with Danny, we had issues with Maxim during the week. They weren’t able to train fully, that’s why we chose this starting XI.” – Fabian Hurzeler
De Cuyper will hope to get a recall in Gameweek 17, with Diego Gomez suspended. The Paraguayan picked up his fifth booking of the season on Merseyside, as did Lewis Dunk (£4.5m).
However, another positional rival for De Cuyper, Kaoru Mitoma (£6.1m), made his long-awaited return on Saturday. He got 30 minutes off the bench, with Hurzeler confirming that was the plan as the winger builds up his match fitness.
