Sam Cunningham went down to Sussex by the Sea, and here’s their report. Thanks for reading this MBM.

And deadly Danny has made his move up to fifth on the top scorers chart …

His opposite number Arne Slot gives TNT his verdict. “First half was an equal game … it was a big blow that Hugo [Ekitike] had to go off after one or two minutes … the second half Brighton were the better team … [Ekitike] going off and not being able to help the team is just a bit of bad luck … it is not like he will be out for three months but it is bad enough that he wasn’t able to continue … it is clear that we have lost a lot of points after playing in Europe … but today we also have to give credit to Brighton … what I thought was, you won’t need 24 points to qualify and hopefully I am right because we aren’t able to get 24 points anymore … as much as I dislike us losing here today, Brighton away has always been a difficult one … there are other games where we should have picked up more points, like last week against Tottenham, that is far more unacceptable than this … but even away at Brighton, a club like Liverpool should be able to get a result.”

Brighton boss Fabian Hürzeler talks to TNT Sports. “Intensity was the key … we created a lot of chances … especially in the second half … everyone tried to outrun and outwork their opponent … we managed the key moments better … we tried to stay calm … not to over-react … especially when we concede … I see a team working for each other … that’s very important to win Premier League games … [Danny Welbeck] creates a good togetherness … he is so helpful on and off the pitch … he can help any team in the world, including England … it is very important to stay humble … we stay doing these things and we will see what happens.”

Danny Welbeck talks to TNT Sports. “First and foremost it was a great team performance … everyone had to put in the hard yards … the way we fight for each other on the pitch … we’re a band of brothers … there’s invaluable experience there … we tried to come flying out of the traps … we had our game plan and played it well … I’m solely focused on being a number nine … building up my robustness … I feel good … I think there’s a lot more to come … Minteh has got incredible capabilities … with his pace, it’s frightening … he’s going to be a special player … I like to focus on the positives, so for my name to be mentioned [regarding England] is a good thing … I can only control what I can control … I enjoy my life and my football.”

He also enjoys receiving the Player of the Match award from TNT pundit Steven Gerrard! The pair enjoy a chuckle and a hug; Gerrard earlier stated unequivocally that Brighton deserved their win, so no hard feelings there. And while I did wonder whether Yankuba Minteh would get the award, there’s no arguing with a two-goal haul.

Post-match postbag o’pelters. “Jamie Carragher recently suggested that this Liverpool team aren’t a team. You only have to look at the goal celebrations. I’m a Man Utd fan and after they score they look generally ecstatic for the scorer and like they’re actual friends. Three is no similar feeling when Liverpool score. They act more like I do at work when I have to force a celebratory woohoo because Bob in finance successfully managed to propagate courgette. It’s good, but I don’t really care” – Topper

“At least LFC fans everywhere will always have the memory of destroying a truly bloody awful Galatasaray team in a stadium where the visitors had no support” – Al O’Neill

Minteh was superb, as were all of his team-mates, and Brighton fully deserved their win. They were impressive enough in the first half, but utterly dominant in the second. Liverpool by contrast were painfully poor: skittish in defence, almost non-existent in attack, reduced to a confused rabble by the end. They remain in fifth, and now have a fortnight to stew over this latest false dawn. Brighton go into the international break full of the joys of spring, with a European tour next season a very real prospect.

Yankuba Minteh – player of the match, surely - speaks to TNT Sports. “Before the game the coach told us, the only way we can win this game is with intensity … we stayed with that … we played as a team … everybody gave 100 percent … I’m happy … we keep going … we keep fighting like this … see where we are … if we keep playing like this, there’s a big hope that we can make it to Europe.”

90 min +6: Rutter has the chance to break into the Liverpool box down the left but miscontrols. Does it matter, though? This is all but over.

90 min +5: Chiesa thinks he’s won a corner down the right … but he hasn’t. Some performative complaining to the linesman, but that’s all Liverpool have left. They ran out of ideas long ago.

90 min +4: Ngumoha has been the one bright light for Liverpool, and he threatens to break down the left. He’s brought down in the Willie Young / Paul Allen 1980 FA Cup final style by Wieffer, who goes into the book. Szoboszlai takes the free kick, and loops it straight down Verbruggen’s throat.

90 min +3: Brighton have been magnificent, though. It’ll be four wins from five if they hold out.

90 min +2: Liverpool can barely get out of their final third. Yet another flaccid Premier League performance from Arne Slot’s side.

90 min +1: The first of six additional minutes sees yet another game of pinball break out around Liverpool’s punch-drunk defence, followed by Gomez being replaced by Veltman.

90 min: Ngumoha wins a corner down the left. Szoboszlai hangs it up generously for Verbruggen to claim. Then Chiesa is booked for a cynical tug on Kadioglu.

88 min: According to TNT Sports, Brighton have run five kilometres more than Liverpool today. Arne Slot would be wise not to cite the efforts against Galatasaray as a factor, because TNT also state that his side have been outrun by the opposition in 26 of their previous 30 fixtures. This is not an isolated incident.

87 min: The corner comes in from the left. Liverpool fail to clear it, and Ayari shoots low and hard. Jones blocks. A third goal wouldn’t flatter Brighton at all.

86 min: Gakpo probes down the left and whips a powerful curler towards the far corner. Verbruggen is behind it all the way. Brighton counter, and Kadioglu wins a corner off Mac Allister. On the touchline, Arne Slot looks defeated and deflated. And so do his team.

85 min: Ngumoha zips with purpose down the left, but Chiesa miscontrols his cutback. Goal kick. Dunk faffs around, and is booked for delaying the restart.

83 min: Rutter and Ayari come on for Hinshelwood and Welbeck.

82 min: Liverpool can’t get anything going at all. If they don’t somehow pull a rabbit from the hat, they’ll have picked up one point from the last nine available, against Wolves, Spurs and Brighton. It’s not exactly top-five form. Arne Slot’s coat hanging on an increasingly shoogly peg.

80 min: The xG tells its own story. Brighton 2.09, Liverpool 0.95. If anything, that stat flatters Liverpool. Meanwhile for those who favour the eye test, Robertson slices a dreadful cross out for a goal kick.

79 min: Liverpool have been hopeless in this second half, and their minds are increasingly frazzled as Brighton press for the killer third. Szoboszlai is booked for a cynical check on Mitoma.

77 min: Mitoma is immediately in the thick of it, twisting his way down the left and past Jones with absurd ease, cutting back for Hinshelwood, who should score but somehow kicks the ball backwards. Liverpool counter through Chiesa, who shoots from a tight angle on the left, his effort blocked well by Van Hecke.

76 min: Brighton also replace Milner with Baleba, while Liverpool hook Kerkez and the lumbering Konate. On come Chiesa and Robertson.

75 min: Minteh, who has caused Liverpool all sorts of bother, is replaced by Mitoma. “Liverpool play like they have pace all over the pitch,” begins Gary Naylor, setting himself up for the punchline: “Which is a problem, because they haven’t.”

73 min: Konate faffs around yet again, and is nearly stripped of possession by Welbeck. The pair fall in a tangled heap, mainly due to Konate slipping over, allowing Mamardashvili to claim. Brighton want a penalty, and you’ve seen them given, but not this time. This entry was brought to you by the Keystone Film Company.

71 min: Minteh gets the better of Konate again down the left. Konate really is having one of his days. He concedes a corner despite having been initially in charge of the situation. The set piece, needlessly conceded, leads to a game of slapstick pinball in the Liverpool area. The visitors are extremely fortunate that the ball doesn’t sit up nicely enough for any Brighton player to take a shot. Liverpool hanging on a bit here.

69 min: Mac Allister is booked for hauling down Van Hecke. And so is Fabian Hürzeler, for demanding the booking with an imaginary card.

68 min: Minteh steams into the Liverpool box down the left. He’s got Gomez in the middle, but takes the shot on himself instead. Straight at Mamardashvili.

67 min: Replays show that Welbeck’s second goal was right on the borderline of being offside. His arm was off, for sure. But you can’t score with that, so it doesn’t count. The rest of him: fine. All good! “Can we ask VAR to review the clear and obvious error that Thomas Tuchel has made in not calling Welbeck up to the England squad?” wonders Tim Talbot.

65 min: Szoboszlai sends the corner in from the left. Verbruggen nearly punches it into his own net. Another corner, this time from the right. Szoboszlai finds Mac Allister at the near post. The former Brighton midfielder heads harmlessly wide. He should have worked the keeper at the very least.

64 min: Ngumoha comes on for Frimpong. Then Jones aims a curler towards the bottom left. Verbruggen stretches to turn around the post. Great play all round.

63 min: Hinshelwood back-flicks the ball onto Gakpo’s arm in the Liverpool box. He claims a penalty but body position and proximity are Liverpool’s friends.

62 min: Gomez curls the free kick powerfully towards the far corner. Mamardashvili sticks out a strong arm to bat it away. Fine save.

61 min: Minteh sashays past Konate down the left with ease. His cutback is cleared, but Minteh is soon coming at them again, Konate wandering around in the confused fashion. He’s having one of those days. Frimpong is forced to bring Minteh down, and he goes into the book. A free kick coming up in a very dangerous position, just outside the Liverpool box, near the left-hand corner.

59 min: Hinshelwood sticks his studs on Jones’s shin. It’s late and Jones isn’t happy. VAR has a look, but takes the Not Enough In It For Me option.

57 min: There’s a lengthy VAR check. Was Welbeck ahead of the ball when Hinshelwood teed him up? The answer eventually comes: nope! Brighton lead again!

54 min: Szoboszlai dribbles across the face of goal and passes to Konate, who is fast asleep. Gross prepares to enter the box down the left, only for the whistle to go, Hinshelwood penalised harshly for sniffing around Szoboszlai as he made the pass. Brighton not happy.

52 min: Nothing much is happening. The away end making most of the noise right now … until Kadioglu races into an absurd amount of space down the middle and shoots for the bottom left. Mamardashvili turns it around for a corner, which is taken quickly. Gross crosses long, and Wieffer flashes a header wide right from close range. Good chance. Liverpool’s defence continues to ship opportunity with great regularity.

50 min: Wirtz chases after an Eighties-style long ball down the middle. He reaches it before Van Hecke, but can’t slip it past the defender to the attendant Gakpo. Wirtz possibly guilty of trying to be too precise, too cute.

48 min: Welbeck is shown a yellow card for not retreating ten yards at Szoboszlai’s restart in midfield. Welbeck not happy with Szoboszlai, feeling he’s been played by a disingenuous quick flick.

47 min: A fairly subdued start to the second half. Neither players nor crowd have got going.

Brighton get the second half started. Minteh is still on, which is something of a surprise: not only did he run the risk of a second yellow when catching Frimpong late, he also went over in the box looking for a penalty, a clear dive. So he might not last the distance, one way or another. He has been giving Frimpong quite a lot of trouble, mind you, so it’s understandable the hosts don’t want to hook him.

Half-time postbag. “Was that halfway attempt from Szoboszlai a coded plea for Xabi Alonso to come and coach him? In related news, nice to see some Hungarian success from the left. Here’s hoping that foreshadows April’s elections! B’dm tish” – Tony Barr

Half-time entertainment.

45 min +5: Gomez is booked for landing late on the top of Mac Allister’s foot.

45 min +4: A little bit of space for Wirtz down the inside-right channel. He thinks about shooting … then eventually does it, but only manages to send a dribbler towards the bottom right, which is easy for Verbruggen.

45 min +2: Minteh gets the better of Frimpong down the left and wins Brighton their first corner. Van Dijk heads it half-clear. Milner sends it back through a thicket of legs, but the deflection doesn’t favour Brighton. Liverpool clear.

45 min +1: Kadioglu flicks a header down the left flank to release Minteh into acres. Minteh crosses. Mamardashvili flaps the ball away from the lurking Welbeck, who was preparing to head home from a couple of yards. A vital intervention.

45 min: Konate is booked for hanging a cynical leg across Welbeck, who had options either side to launch a counter. There will be five additional minutes.

44 min: Brighton invite more pressure on themselves, Verbruggen playing out from the back, Gross rolling a ball across the face of his own box. Szoboszlai nearly intercepts.

43 min: … and nothing comes of the resulting corner. Lucky Lewis.

42 min: Frimpong turns on the jets to make space down the right. He wedges a cross into the mixer. Dunk tries to chest the ball back to his keeper, but miscues again, and this time he’s fortunate Verbruggen is able to turn around the post.

40 min: Now Minteh goes over in a tussle with Konate, to the left of the Liverpool D. The home fans howl for a free kick, but Konate played the ball off his man, who then fell over. We play on.

39 min: All a bit scrappy at the moment. Mamardashvili skies a simple clearance and is fortunate Minteh can’t take advantage, running the ball out for a goal kick.

37 min: Wieffer meets Konate’s clearing header with a sliced volley that’s currently halfway to Hampshire.

36 min: Brighton are right back in this now, having invited Liverpool on for their equaliser. Minteh seeing a fair bit of the ball out on the left. “The little run in behind by Kerkez was pure Andy Robertson-esque tenacity,” writes Matt Dony. “And there is little higher praise.”

34 min: Some good news for Liverpool? Ekitike, who went straight down the tunnel after being subbed, is now sitting in the dugout, looking comfortable and happy enough.

32 min: … but now it’s Brighton’s turn to respond, and Hinshelwood creams a glorious rising drive inches over the bar from 25 yards. Mamardashvili probably had it covered, though it would have required a strong hand to tip over.

31 min: That’s an awful mistake by Dunk, but wonderful anticipation by Kerkez. Cute finish, too. Mamardashvili making up for his role in Brighton’s opener with the long pass. Liverpool deserve their equaliser, they’ve been highly decent since going behind.

29 min: Mac Allister’s speculative ball down the right for Jones forces Kadioglu into the concession of a corner. Szoboszlai sends the set piece in. Gomez clears. But then …

28 min: Liverpool have had 85 percent of possession during the last five minutes. It’s a decent response to falling behind.

27 min: Minteh jumps late into Frimpong, clearing the man out in mid-air. He’s just been booked, and is really testing his luck. The referee lets him off this time, but he might be in the last-chance saloon now.

26 min: Szoboszlai floats the free kick into the mixer. That leads to a corner, from which Van Dijk wins a header. But not with any conviction. Brighton clear.

25 min: Another free kick for Liverpool, in a similar position. This one due to Minteh bringing down Gakpo from behind. It earns the Brighton man a booking.

24 min: Szoboszlai aims for the top-left corner but clears the bar, the wall too close for comfort. “Liverpool’s this season always seem to find another rake to stand on,” observes Sideshow Niall Mullen.

23 min: Gravenberch advances down the middle and is clumsily brought down by Gomez. A free kick just to the left of centre, a couple of yards behind the D. Szoboszlai Country.

22 min: They’re decent up front, though. Szoboszlai curls a cross in from the right, and Mac Allister flashes a header towards the bottom right. Verbruggen does exceptionally well to claw it out for a corner. Nothing comes of the set piece, but that will give Liverpool succour.

21 min: Plenty of time for Minteh down the left. He’s got time to size up his cross, so it’s a bit of disappointment for Brighton when Gomez has to stretch his neck to meet it, six yards out. He can only head over the bar. That was a good opportunity for Brighton. Liverpool are absurdly easy to play through.

20 min: Liverpool have enjoyed 57 percent of possession so far, and played more than twice the number of passes in their opponents’ final third. Much good it’s done them. “Milner may well now have a target on his back but am not sure who the Liverpool reducer is,” sighs Ian Copestake. “Virgil perhaps, as the rest are too nice.”

18 min: Mac Allister, on his old patch, tries to release Frimpong down the right. He nearly manages it, too, but Minteh sticks to Frimpong’s shoulder and wins the footrace by a couple of nanoseconds. Meanwhile here’s Alun Pugh with a big prediction: “In the first game of football to be played fifty years after the events of 2026 erupted into an intercontinental nuclear exchange, one side will feature the indestructible James Milner in midfield.”

16 min: Liverpool try to respond immediately, Gakpo chasing into the box and opening his body for a shot. But it’s blocked. Brighton’s tails are up, and their fans are in great voice. Liverpool with a load of bullet holes in their shoes.

13 min: Szoboszlai sends the corner to the near post, but Brighton clear their lines without fuss.

12 min: Wirtz looks for Gakpo again, this time with a long pass down the left. Gakpo reaches the ball this time and wins Liverpool’s first corner of the afternoon.

11 min: Wirtz has the chance to release Gakpo down the middle but overhits the through ball. Verbruggen claims.

10 min: Szoboszlai spots Verbruggen off his line and tries to beat the keeper from the halfway line. He gets the distance but not the direction.

9 min: Wirtz sends Frimpong into space down the right. Frimpong enters the box and opens his body to shoot, but Kadioglu does just enough to put him off. He cuts back instead for Szoboszlai, who leans back and lashes wildly over the bar.

8 min: Ekitike goes down again. Dunk hauls him up. Gross offers him a low five of friendship. Ekitike slaps it in the frustrated style. He knows his race is run today. He departs down the tunnel, a picture of sadness. On comes Jones in his place.

6 min: Ekitike is back on, but still hobbling around. “The fact a road traffic incident caused this when the ground is in a city known for its green streak and is literally next to a train station feels like a story of just how car-centric this country still is,” observes David Howell.

5 min: Ekitike doesn’t look happy at all. He’s got a dead leg and can’t put any weight on it. He hobbles off shaking his head. He’s having a lot of trouble. He’ll be given time to see if he can run it off, but Jones is warming up, just in case.

4 min: Now Milner comes clattering into Ekitike, who stays down in some pain. No favours granted to Milner’s old team.

2 min: Milner catches Szoboszlai on the back of the neck with a forearm, but there’s no free kick. On the touchline, Arne Slot emits an unambiguous: “No free kick?! Aw [word redacted by Family Website editor] hell!”

1 min: Liverpool do the PSG thing of hoicking the kick-off straight into touch near the corner flag, rugby-union style.

Liverpool get the ball rolling. The Amex continues to fill up, and the atmosphere crackles.

The teams are out, ahead of this delayed 12.45pm kick-off. Brighton in their blue and white stripes, Liverpool in red. Plenty of fans in their seats now, albeit the stadium isn’t totally full yet. A lovely sunny spring day in Sussex by the Sea.

Arne Slot speaks frankly to TNT. “You cannot compare a home game, a Champions League night against Galatasaray, to Brighton away … but you have to take the positives … we know we face a different opponent today … we have to be even better to get a result here today … [Brighton] have good players … their manager is always able to come up with a very good game plan … his players are able to execute that plan … very intense … only play once a week … they can train on that game plan … it is important to have two very good goalkeepers and we have that … there is hardly any room for error any more … we have made quite a few errors this season … the main ones was dropping points in extra time … now we are in this situation … though I don’t think we have to win eight, we have to play every game as a final … get the most out of the game possible … let’s see what it is today.”

In last week’s episode …

Florian Wirtz has been chatting to Steve McManaman on TNT Sports. Happily for you, for me, for all of us, David Tindall scribbled down a few choice words from the interview and published them in this morning’s Matchday Live blog, in an MBM-friendly cut-and-paste-able format. So here they are.

Wirtz said: “Everyone in the world knows that the Premier League is the most intense and physically it was maybe a bit more than I was thinking but there’s always difficult things on the pitch where you have to adapt. Maybe you have also a bit more responsibility for more people who are supporting you and wanting you to do good.

“When I was at Leverkusen, I could have more time on the ball and maybe turn easier. Here you have to be so ready, with your first touch you have to be away already because otherwise there are three people on you and smashing into you. That’s maybe also a big difference. I have to be faster in my decisions.”

Pre-match postbag. “A little over a month ago, Brighton lost at home to Crystal Palace, and the home fans let loose with the first real round of substantial postgame booing that Fabian Hurzeler had ever heard there. (Rightly so, too, they were on a 1-6-5 run going back to the start of December.) We neutrals reacted like, whoa there, that’s serious, that just doesn’t happen at Brighton. Now here we are with Liverpool and the squad being booed off at Anfield after blowing it against Tottenham last weekend. And it’s the same reaction: ‘Whoa there, that just doesn’t happen at Anfield.’ If I’m Arne Slot, and I have the chance to greet and catch up with Hurzeler before the game, I’m thinking I might see if he’s up for talking about it” – Eric Peterson

“Liverpool has been quite consistent in not being consistent so am preparing myself for a familiar pattern of a first half struggle followed by a desperate second half to try and save things. But hey, am happy to be very wrong” – Ian Copestake

Hürzeler’s side can get into the top half of the table with a win this lunchtime. They’d leapfrog over Everton into eighth spot, for a couple of hours at least. (Fulham host Burnley at 3pm and Everton welcome Chelsea at 5.30pm, but with Newcastle not in action until tomorrow’s north-east derby, a top-half spot come bedtime would be guaranteed.) Liverpool can move into fourth with a win; Aston Villa don’t play until they host West Ham tomorrow. Sumer The business end of the season is icumen in.

Brighton boss Fabian Hürzeler talks to TNT Sports. “We try to stick to your principles … don’t over-react … don’t get too depressive … don’t focus on the lows … keep the work ethic high … I am a big believer of this team … of the quality of the players … they stepped up … showed ownership and responsibility … we have been able to manage the key moments of the game … every player knows his role … it is so important to do the small margins right … we need to play intense today … we have to be really tight … press like a very compact team … I always see football as an event … fans spend a lot of money … we want to win with our identity … we are not known for set-piece culture … playing with courage … being innovative … how you want to be seen.”

Brighton have won three of their last four Premier League fixtures, so it’s no wonder they’re in an If It Ain’t Broke mood. They’re unchanged from the 1-0 win at Sunderland last Saturday.

Liverpool make two changes to their starting XI after the 4-0 rout of Galatasaray. Mo Salah and Alisson are both injured, so in come Cody Gakpo and Giorgi Mamardashvili.