Liverpool halt Brighton's winning run at Anfield

Andoni Iraola's Brighton had been one of the stories of the autumn, stringing together a winning streak that had people double-checking the table to make sure it wasn't a typo. Anfield put a stop to that. The Guardian reported Isak applied the finishing touch as Liverpool brought Brighton's winning run to an end on 25 October 2026, and for a Liverpool side that has looked uneven for long stretches this season, it was the kind of result that actually matches the eye test.

A different Anfield

The win moves Liverpool up to fourth, per the Guardian, a jump that changes the mood around Anfield far more than it changes any single column of the table. A home win over a side as in-form as Brighton does that kind of lifting, and Slot's team needed exactly that kind of afternoon.

Wirtz in the mix

Florian Wirtz was again involved as Liverpool found their rhythm, part of a Slot attack that looked sharper and more direct than it has for long stretches this season. The German hasn't produced the eye-catching individual numbers some expected after his move from Bayer Leverkusen, but his presence in the build-up has been a consistent thread through Liverpool's better performances this autumn.

Iraola's run meets its match

For Iraola, the defeat ends a streak that had turned Brighton into one of the division's feel-good stories. Losing it to a top-four rival at Anfield is a specific kind of setback rather than a crisis, the sort of result that tests whether a mid-table side's form was a genuine shift or a hot run meeting its ceiling. Brighton's underlying game hasn't disappeared in one afternoon, but Anfield has a way of being the venue where good runs go to find out how good they really are.

Liverpool, meanwhile, get to enjoy a result that actually looks like the version of themselves Slot has been promising since the window closed. A convincing home win against a side that had been beating everyone else is worth more to the dressing room than the three points alone.