Klopp Talk: “The Best Performance We’ve Had Against Brighton”

Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images

Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp felt Sunday’s 2-1 victory was the best his team have played against Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton.

It is often the case that, for whatever reason, one opponent will cause more trouble for a side than they cause for others. For Liverpool in recent seasons, that opponent has often been Roberto De Zerbi’s bold Brighton side.

On Sunday, though, while the final 2-1 scoreline might have been close, Liverpool were the better side for almost the whole of the match, something manager Jürgen Klopp was quick to focus in on after the final whistle sounded.

“It was from my point of view the best performance we’ve had against Brighton,” Klopp noted. “More possession, better possession, a really good rhythm in the game—besides the goal. But I liked the reaction to it a lot.

“We controlled big parts of the game [in the second half], as much as you can against them. It is not always possible because it is super-intense to deny them. It is real hard work. They had possession but not the possession they wanted.”

At the end of it all, Liverpool had recorded a narow victory but had taken 30 shots to Brighton’s nine. They had held 55% possession, made more passes and completed them at a higher rate, and had 3.21 xG to 0.44 for Brighton.

Scoreline aside, it was a dominant performance for Klopp and the host Reds, one in which none could have argued the three points that sent them clear top of the Premier League table with nine games to play wasn’t deserved.

“I thought the boys were really calm,” Klopp added of the game’s final minutes. “They still had moments, but you cannot deny [Brighton] completely. I think we all agree we deserved to win the game, so a really good afternoon.”