Brighton 1-1 Liverpool: 5 talking points as the Reds are charged with a late penalty from the Seagulls

Pascal Gross scored a moot penalty in injury time for Brighton to deny Liverpool three points in a 1-1 draw at the Amex.

The Seagulls had a golden opportunity to open the scoring when Neco Williams dropped Aaron Connolly in the box after 20 minutes, but Neal Maupay scored his penalty.

At the hour mark, Diogo Jota scored once more to give the Reds the lead with a low shot in the lower left corner.

But Andy Robertson caught Danny Welbeck in the box at the end and after referee Stuart Attwell checked the monitor, he awarded another penalty and Gross was right to win a point for his team.

Here are five talking points from today’s game …

The red stutterers fight again

This was another Liverpool performance that seemed a world apart from their magnificent performances last season.

Much of the conversation will focus on the VAR’s decision to win a penalty in the end, but the simple fact is that Brighton deserved a point.

The Reds lack conviction going forward and look shaky at the back, and unless things improve dramatically soon, they will really struggle to retain their Premier League title.

Jurgen Klopp has a lot to think about in the next few days to see how he can fix things as soon as possible.

Jota becomes inescapable

Despite the disappointing result, Jota’s dream start in Liverpool continued at Amex as the Portuguese forward scored another vitally important goal for his new club.

Just as the Reds were looking to grow increasingly frustrated by Brighton’s stubborn defense, he appeared with an excellent individual effort to take the ball past two defenders and coldly finish off Mat Ryan.

Jota’s strike means he has now scored nine sensational goals in 14 games since coming from the Wolves, and is surely now becoming one of the top names on Jurgen Klopp’s team roster.

What business is his signing proving to be.

The importance of Henderson outlined

Jordan Henderson started the game at Amex on the bench, and his absence only served to highlight only one vital cog that is in Liverpool’s machine.

Without him, the Reds seemed hesitant in midfield and toothless in attack, with Takumi Minamino in particular still not proving to be a suitable replacement playing further back than usual.

Henderson came into the break and the team immediately became more confident, controlling possession more effectively and constantly looking to their captain for guidance.

It was the kind of game that needed leadership, and Henderson stepped up to the plate once again.

If the game had started, the outcome could have been very different …

The bottom line of the reds suffers

Liverpool had already had 11 different central defender pairs in their 16 games so far this season before kickoff.

And not many would have predicted that we would ever see Fabinho and Nathaniel Phillips lined up on defense like they did today.

While they cannot be blamed for their effort, the pair suffered all sorts of problems against the speedy Brighton forward Connolly.

The high line just isn’t as effective without players like Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez, and Jurgen Klopp has to seriously think about whether he can use it with the players currently available to him.

Injury problems go on and on

There were even more injury problems for both sides to break today’s game, with the Premier League clubs coming to a head.

For Brighton, both Maupay and Adam Lallana were forced to leave, while James Milner was withdrawn in the second half by Liverpool.

The hectic list of matches was repeatedly criticized by Klopp, and today he will have done little to improve his mood.

It really does seem to be a season with an emphasis on survival of the fittest, and the three players who suffered today will not be the only ones who will have problems this weekend.

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