It felt inevitable to some extent, yet no less damaging when it arrived. Liverpool, chasing momentum in the Premier League, instead found themselves wrestling with fatigue, disruption, and a Brighton side adept at exposing both.
A drop off in performance and physical output was expected after Wednesday’s display against Galatasaray, but it remained a painful defeat for Liverpool. Injuries to Mo Salah and Alisson created obvious problems, but Hugo Ekitike’s early withdrawal compounded the issues in attack and stripped Liverpool of any real focal point.
Liverpool’s physical output had reached record breaking levels in midweek, but the regression that followed was stark.
