Brighton defeats Liverpool 1-0

On Wednesday, Liverpool’s Premier League title defense has suffered a damaging blow as Brighton knocks them off with a 1-0 win at Anfield, while Manchester City moved three points clear at the top with a 2-0 victory against Burnley.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EwSPegnmaI

Jurgen Klopp’s side paid the price for a sloppy display as Steven Alzate’s second half strike gave struggling Brighton a memorable success at the expense of the injury-hit champions.

Brighton’s first away league win against Liverpool since 1982 was secured in the 56th minute when Dan Burn headed a cross towards Alzate and the Colombia midfielder flicked his shot inside the far post.

Liverpool are languishing in fourth place and trail Manchester City by seven points, with the leaders holding a game in hand.

The Reds’ dismal defeat leaves them in desperate need of three points when in-form City visit Anfield for a crucial clash on Sunday.

Klopp’s men had looked back on track after wins at Tottenham and West Ham last week.

But Liverpool have now lost successive home league games for the first time since 2012 and haven’t won a top-flight match at Anfield in four attempts.

Their sudden collapse on home turf is remarkable given they hadn’t lost a home league game since 2017 before Burnley won at Anfield on January 21.

Pep Guardiola’s side had watched Manchester United draw level on points with them on Tuesday after their bitter rivals crushed Southampton 9-0.

But City underlined their determination to hold onto top spot with a composed, mature display at Turf Moor.

Gabriel Jesus opened the scoring after a mistake from Burnley keeper Nick Pope and Raheem Sterling grabbed the second before half-time.

After a spluttering start to the season that threatened to derail their title hopes, City, who have a game in hand on second placed United, are in pole position to dethrone Liverpool.

So bleak was City’s position at one stage that Guardiola expected to be thinking about qualifying for the Europa League rather than winning the title.

“We have to do our job. It’s a big mistake to think about other sides,” Guardiola said of the title race.

“When we were 12th we were thinking forget about the Premier League, if we can achieve being in Europa League next season