Liverpool suffered another Premier League defeat to Brighton, and Match of the Day pundit Alan Shearer was scathing in his criticism of Arne Slot's side
Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer offered a scathing assessment(Image: Match of the Day)
View 2 Images
Alan Shearer has launched a blistering attack on Liverpool's players after their Premier League loss to Brighton. The Reds suffered a 10th league loss of the campaign as Danny Welbeck netted twice, rendering Milos Kerkez's strike meaningless.
The former Newcastle and England striker delivered a damning assessment of Arne Slot's side as he highlighted problems throughout the team. The Match of the Day analyst observed that Liverpool lacked any cutting edge in attack following Hugo Ekitike's early withdrawal through injury.
Shearer acknowledged this created difficulties, as did Slot's necessity to rotate at full-back. But the 55-year-old believes Slot's squad were short on energy and struggled with their shape all over the park.
"There's no doubt that the situation with Ekitike upset them in terms of the rhythm and they had to change a few bits," Shearer said. "But there were three different right-backs today, clearly that doesn't help.
"But there was no pressure in midfield, no threat up front and defensively the spaces in between were glaring, it was so obvious what was missing."
The Premier League's all-time leading marksman suggested that Liverpool were overpowered by the Seagulls at the Amex and described Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate as 'a mess'.
Shearer was completely unimpressed. "I thought they were outfought and they were bullied by Brighton, particularly defensively," he said.
"They went into it again with no width and when Wirtz got the ball he had no options to his right or left, he had to go straight down the middle. There was nothing really available for him.
BRIGHTON, ENGLAND - MARCH 21: Dominik Szoboszlai, Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate form the Liverpool defensive wall during the Premier League match between Brighton & Hove Albion and Liverpool at Amex Stadium on March 21, 2026 in Brighton, United Kingdom. (Photo by Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
Liverpool have been beaten 10 times in the Premier League this season(Image: Charlotte Wilson/Offside, Offside via Getty Images)
View 2 Images
"Welbeck bullied the two centre-backs, they were all over the place," he said. "I thought they were really poor and all over the place, they really were, they were a mess."
Slot didn't want to make excuses following the defeat on the south coast but expressed frustration at his team's lack of creativity. He seemed to hint that Brighton had strength in their reserves, however.
"I have a clear opinion what that's down to but that's not what I'm going to say over here," Slot said when asked about his side's creative struggles.
"As I said, they were the better team and created more chances than us. Everything I say about this people will see this as excuses and I never like to use excuses after the game.
"Give credit to them. They were good. I think it was nice for their manager that he was able to bring [Kaoru] Mitoma in because he was quite good again."
Content Image
Content Image
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.