Liverpool 2–0 Brighton, and Anfield finally breathes
Wirtz scored. Isak scored. Liverpool 2–0 Brighton at Anfield, and a home league win at last (1)(3)(12). The first half hour had been building for weeks. Wirtz has been drifting in and out of games all autumn, and here he was the best player on the pitch. Isak's finish after Bradley Barcola's run wide was the goal Liverpool bought him for (1). That is what a marquee striker looks like when the chances arrive on time.
The clean sheet matters more than the two goals
Liverpool lost 0–3 at home to Manchester City on October 11 and conceded three more against Villarreal on October 20, a 4–3 win that felt like a warning (13). Brighton were reduced to shots from distance, with Kadioglu off injured inside six minutes after a challenge with Gravenberch (16)(20)(25). Alisson and Van Dijk got through a league game without a disaster. That had not happened in a month. Five of the last six are wins now, and the one loss is the one everybody remembers.
Iraola has a wing problem and a selection decision
Rio Ngumoha was the best thing about the Villarreal comeback on October 20. He started on the bench against Brighton (4). Iraola has a promise to keep on that front, and the fixture list is about to make it harder to ignore. Barcola's ball for Isak shows what the left side can be. Ngumoha on the other flank is the version of this team with real width.
The contracts are the real story of the autumn
Mac Allister is a starter every week and says the club told him it was not in a position to offer him a new contract. "It makes me very, very sad," he said (28). Van Dijk, per reports, is heading into his last season at Anfield, with concrete plans to replace him in the summer 2027 window (8). Araújo has been good enough on loan that Barcelona are watching what happens with the purchase option (27). Three centre-backs and a midfielder, four decisions, all unresolved. Liverpool keep winning while the paperwork sits still.
What to watch
Arsenal at Anfield on Sunday, November 1, 17:30 CET. Unai Emery's side will test whether the Brighton clean sheet was a corner or a coincidence, and whether Wirtz can do it twice in a row. Then Fenerbahce away on Wednesday, November 4, the kind of European night where a soft defence gets punished. Watch the team sheet first. If Ngumoha is on it, Iraola has made his call.
