Arsenal, Inter, Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid. First, sixth, seventh, and eighth in the Champions League table — each positioned above ninth-place Liverpool after six matches played.
This campaign, Liverpool is 4-0-0 against these teams, four of Europe's elite, with six goals scored and two conceded.
With that sort of record against such a high caliber of opponents, you wouldn't expect Liverpool to be 13-2-10 in all comps with 41 goals scored and 38 goals conceded, would you?
It's the reality. Which begs the next question: if Liverpool have beaten four of the best football-playing sides on their schedule this season, why is their overall record so average?
Liverpool is built for the beautiful game. But the English game isn't always beautiful.
Now consider these four teams: Sunderland, Brentford, Leeds, Nottingham Forest. Tenth, fourteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth in the Premier League table.
Liverpool is 0-2-2 against these teams, with seven goals scored and ten goals conceded.
Outside of playing in the Prem, what do these teams have in common?
They can be effective without the ball. They're willing to go direct. They play physically. They make the most of set pieces and long throws. They counter attack.
Brighton has played three of those four — Sunderland is the odd team out — and beaten all three, scoring seven and conceding just one. They don't have the makeup of a Sean Dyche- or Keith Andrews-coached side, happy to sit deep, surrender the ball, and make the most of dead balls.
But they've shown they can deal with the physicality those sides pose. And they're deadly on the counter.
Thankfully, Liverpool did enough to stifle Brighton, showcasing more good than bad in their 2-0 win Saturday at Anfield. Because they bucked a number of trends that have plagued them all season and won ugly, it was their most significant victory of 25/26.
Let's start with the bad.
Liverpool is too vulnerable from big balls and counters, period. After one of their most complete first halves of the entire season, the Reds were lucky not to concede in the second half. I wasn't there to hear it, but the message in the Brighton changing room at halftime was pretty obvious: go direct and get in behind them.
We were incredibly fortunate to watch a flurry of Brighton shots fly past the wrong side of the post, especially Diego Gomez's 50th-minute sitter from Mats Wieffer's cross along the turf.
We can grant the Reds a little grace given the unfortunate Joe Gomez sub, an experienced figure who was playing really well before he asked to come off. Salah grinded when he came on, but shifting Szoboszlai into RB completely changed our defensive makeup.
Still, these are persistent issues. One missed pressure often leads to the opposition flying into our half with superior numbers. One big ball can cause mayhem in our final third as we fail to control the ball or clear our lines.
When teams want to make it a basketball game, we have to be better without the ball. When teams want to make the game messy, we have to be better at mopping up the mess.
Now the good.
The collective desire to track and defend was outstanding, even if it wasn't always perfect. Szoboszlai's 80-yard run in the first half to stop a cross comes to mind. Salah ran like a man possessed, which felt like a love letter to Arne Slot. I was gutted he didn't bag his opportunity in extra time when Chiesa tried so hard to get him his goal.
It can't be overstated how much getting on the score sheet first helped our performance. With a lead in hand after a matter of seconds, the players and fans all seemed to relax. Florian Wirtz was free to get on the ball and dictate play like the stud we all know he is. We played through the thirds with incisiveness and belief, conjuring a number of chances in the process. It should have been more than 1-0 at the break.
Which brings us to Hugo Ekitike.
What a player. He took his goal inside the first minute so well off the volley, making sure to strike the ball clean and hit the target. His linkup play continues to serve as the catalyst for so many of the good things we do in attack. His shoulder-to-shoulder challenge got me up off my seat. And his second goal from the corner, giving us a positive set piece balance on the day, killed Brighton's momentum completely.
Scoring first: check. Positive set piece balance: check. In-form striker: check. If we can shore up things up defensively when the game gets ugly, we'll be on our way to a top-four finish.