Brighton were handed their fifth defeat of the season on Saturday afternoon, losing 2-0 to Liverpool at Anfield.
The Reds stormed into the lead after just 46 seconds, with Hugo Ekitike scoring the fastest Premier League goal of the 2025/26 campaign so far.
The Frenchman smashed his half-volley beyond Bart Verbruggen after Yankuba Minteh’s poor clearance was headed into his path by once-Brighton target Joe Gomez.
The Seagulls went on to create a number of chances after going behind, but they were wasteful when carving open the Liverpool backline, with Diego Gomez fluffing two clear-cut opportunities to equalise either side of half-time.
Ekitike then put the game to bed in the 60th minute, steering his header into the back of the net after being left unmarked from a corner. Mohamed Salah will feel aggrieved not to have capped off his return to the action with a goal, missing a handful of late chances to mark the occasion.
The Brighton Base takes a look at how each Seagulls star performed at Anfield…
Bart Verbruggen – 6
Could do very little about either Liverpool goal, but made some routine saves otherwise. Lacked the movement in front of him to be able to play out from the back as effectively as he would have liked.
Mats Wieffer – 4
Liverpool’s interchanging frontline caused the Dutchman an abundance of issues. Was effective in possession but missed a great chance to square his pass across the face of the goal from a tight angle late on, but instead blasted a rash strike into the crowd.
Jan Paul van Hecke – 5
Jumped into some important challenges, but his desire to win back possession high up the pitch also left Dunk isolated often. Once again became a makeshift striker late on.
Lewis Dunk – 5
Struggled during the early stages but came into his own late on, sweeping up as a one-man defence. Picked up his fifth booking of the campaign for a cynical foul after Liverpool broke away after a misplaced pass by Gomez.
Ferdi Kadioglu – 4
The Turkey international simply could not deal with Salah, who entered the fray early on with a point to prove. Was ineffective when pressing forward, curling a shot wide from the edge of the area when he really should have at least hit the target.
Carlos Baleba – 5 (Ayari, 64’)
The midfielder now heads to AFCON on the back of another early withdrawal. The Cameroonian battled well but was frequently outnumbered in central areas.
Jack Hinshelwood – 4 (Kostoulas, 82’)
An ineffective afternoon from the midfielder. Covered plenty of ground without being where he was truly needed, allowing Liverpool to dictate the tempo of the clash for the most part.
Yankuba Minteh – 4
The winger’s bizarre pass, which ultimately led to Ekitike’s opener, set the tone for his afternoon. His relentless pressing and defensive work rate was impressive, but in possession, he was wasteful and lacked any sort of conviction.
Diego Gomez – 3 (Milner, 87’)
A disastrous display from the Paraguayan. Should have done better when firing straight at Alisson in the first half, and then failed to hit the target when the goal was at his mercy after the interval. Picked up a booking for a late, high challenge on Florian Wirtz to rule him out of his side’s upcoming clash with Sunderland, and his poor pass led to Dunk suffering the same fate. It was surprising to see him last 87 minutes.
Georginio Rutter – 4 (Welbeck, 82’)
The Frenchman failed to kick on after his late equaliser against West Ham. Struggled with the demands of playing as a ‘part-time striker’, with his desire to be the difference-maker leading to the ex-Leeds star being dispossessed or attacks fizzling out.
Brajan Gruda – 6 (Mitoma, 64’)
The German’s performance was hard to truly judge. When leading the line, he looked unnatural, once again. When dropping deep to allow Rutter to push on, he was more influential and looked the likeliest to create an opportunity.
Substitutes
Yasin Ayari – 5
Sniffed out danger well but misplaced some routine passes. Capable of more, but entering the fray whilst his side were 2-0 down was always a big ask for the Swede.
Kaoru Mitoma – 6
His return was one of the few positives for Seagulls supporters on an underwhelming away day. The Japanese international made an immediate impact with his pace and trickery, skewing a chance wide after some neat link-up play with Rutter. Teed up Kadioglu for his late opening as well.
Danny Welbeck – N/A
Charalampos Kostoulas – N/A
James Milner – N/A