Liverpool FC 6 Brighton & Hove 1: Why Can’t We Do This in the League?

What a result, what a performance. There might have been a hat-trick of own goals courtesy of Brighton, but what I like seeing is better chance creation and a rejuvenated Andy Carroll.

Steven Gerrard was the central figure for all of this, as the Liverpool FC captain ran tirelessly in a bid to win the battle of the midfield against the Championship outfit. Gerrard found his passes quite well and even delivered a superb cross in for Martin Skrtel’s early goal, which saw the Englishman’s cross turned in with a good header.

Pepe Reina was ‘just a spectator’ against Brighton, as he barely saw any action at the back, apart from taking LuaLua’s brilliant long range strike with the dead ball out of the back of the net, as the 10 men ahead of him did a great job in keeping a high line and in defending, along with producing and finishing off the chances up front.

Everyone’s eyes were also fixated on Luis Suarez’s performance, with the Uruguayan coming in on the back of a highly controversial handshake snub that evoked huge controversy in last week’s Manchester-Liverpool derby. Kenny Dalglish tried nearly everything he could to restore the striker’s confidence, with the striker having a relatively slow and clumsy opening few minutes at Anfield.

Looked set to finish the game disappointed after Kenny Dalglish’s attempts to get him a goal by giving him the honour of taking a penalty back-fired, with the Uruguayan getting a poor connection with the dead ball. But it always looked like the striker getting the final say, and say he did, with a simple header from close range to wrap up the win for Liverpool FC.

Charlie Adam was also silently brilliant, pulling the strings in midfield. Adam was the only Liverpool FC member of the midfield whom played the entire duration of the match against Brighton. He hit 59 passes throughout the game, with an astounding 96.6% of his passes resulting in a good pass – one to a man in a red shirt.

Downing also showed encouraging signs, with the Englishman producing a good performance at Anfield. His cross for Andy Carroll was simply inch perfect.

Now we’re into the next round of the FA Cup. Off to Wembley!