**Liverpool racked up back-to-back wins by putting Brighton to the sword.**
Hugo Ekitike opened the scoring after just 46 seconds with a controlled volley into the roof of the net after Joe Gomez nodded the ball into the penalty area.
The France international doubled his and the Reds’ advantage right on the hour mark by meeting a returning Mohamed Salah’s corner at the far post.
Arne Slot’s side are now unbeaten in five games from all competitions and move up to sixth in the Premier League table, just two points off fourth place.
_Here were the key talking points from Anfield:_
Was this really Salah’s goodbye?
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If Mohamed Salah’s words in [last weekend’s explosive interview](https://www.clickliverpool.com/sport/liverpool-fc/62177-mohamed-salah-drops-liverpool-quit-bombshell-arne-slot/) are to be taken at face value, this was his final ever appearance as a Liverpool player.
He had asked his mother to pay a rare visit to Merseyside for what was supposed to be his Anfield farewell, if he was even allowed to feature at all.
For a fourth successive game, the Egypt international began this game as a substitute; a position he had publicly railed against just seven days prior.
But just 25 minutes in, Salah was called upon to replace Joe Gomez, who suffered a fresh muscle injury, and received acclaim from the Anfield crowd.
It may not have been the 33-year-old at his finest yet he still managed to provide an assist for Hugo Ekitike to extend an impressive records haul.
Salah now has the most goal involvements for a single club in Premier League history, overtaking Wayne Rooney’s previous record of 276.
He should have extended that feat by scoring in his own right when teed up by Federico Chiesa in front of The Kop was unable to steer the ball home.
As he applauded the stadium at full time, fans could not be certain if the forward’s poker face was a sign of a change of heart on his past declaration.
If this does prove to be Salah’s last ride in a red shirt, he will be missed.
Wirtz finally appears at home
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Liverpool’s alarming fall from grace as reigning Premier League champions homed in on the failure of their summer signings to hit the ground running.
Despite more than £450 million being invested in a transfer spree to end all transfer sprees, only Hugo Ekitike had managed to live up to his lofty billing.
Back-to-back domestic braces for the France international further vindicated the decision to prise him from under Newcastle United’s nose in late July.
Until now, however, Florian Wirtz found himself burdened by a £116 million price tag as his role in the starting XI appeared to be an incompatible one.
There had been signs of promise, notably in the wins over Real Madrid and West Ham, but not enough to justify both his considerable hype and outlay.
Finally, though, the German playmaker appears to have found a home after being afforded a free rein by Arne Slot which paid dividends against Brighton.
Coming in off the left, Wirtz regularly posed a threat to the visitors as a foil for former Bundesliga rival Ekitike during the opening stages of this encounter.
An ability to find pockets of space in the Seagulls’ backline added another string to his bow which had been a driving force in the Reds’ move to sign him.
It may have taken a while but Wirtz is now bedding into his new surroundings.
Reds look their old selves
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A fifth game unbeaten in all competitions was made possible by several pillars in Slot’s side slowly recapturing past glories following a shaky few weeks.
Crisis often breeds chaos and there has been no shortage of it in Liverpool’s starting line-up of late with their defensive line particularly exposed in it.
Ibrahima Konate, notably, deterioriated from a totemic centre-back into a punchline that gave up goals at will prior to facing the South Coast outfit.
This was not a full return to the hallmark displays that made the debate around extending the 26-year-old’s stay a no-brainer but it was pretty close.
Konate’s partnership with Virgil van Dijk had remained unaltered by the recent downturn and that understanding again bore fruit in marshalling the troops.
He was not alone in rising to the challenge as left-back Milos Kerkez enjoyed one of his finer performance since arriving from Bournemouth in the summer.
The pair were aided by the ever-reliable Dominik Szoboszlai and a somewhat underappreciated Curtis Jones alternating in deputising on the opposite flank.
Slowly but surely, Liverpool’s line-up is beginning to resemble its former self.