Brighton’s strong start to the season may have petered out slightly, but there was nothing uninspiring about the Seagulls’ performance at Anfield, even after Liverpool went two goals ahead thanks to strikes from Jordan Henderson and Sadio Mane.
Enock Mwepu’s wonder strike looped over Alisson Becker to half the deficit just before the break, and Adam Lallana would proceed to return with a bang against his former club as he set up Leandro Trossard’s second-half equaliser in front of a silenced Kop.
While a point on their travels commands a lot of respect, Brighton’s winless run in the division has now stretched to five games – four of which have ended with the spoils shared – and Graham Potter’s side have now slipped to eighth in the rankings ahead of the international break.
The Seagulls were always expected to fall off the pace as winter approaches, but the draw on Merseyside shows that there is still plenty of fight within this Seagulls unit, who have only posted two defeats in league action so far this term.
Furthermore, only two of Brighton’s last 10 Premier League encounters at the Amex have ended in defeat, and with their visitors still in managerial limbo, one would not put it past Potter’s men to produce the goods once again on home soil.
Had it been Steve Bruce, Unai Emery, Eddie Howe or Graeme Jones in charge of Newcastle for the visit of Chelsea, the end result was always likely to have been the same, as the Champions League holders eased to a 3-0 success at St James’ Park.
Reece James scored two thunderous efforts on the day before Jorginho’s penalty wrapped up all three points for the Blues, and Newcastle were dealt a further blow this week after Emery confirmed that he would be staying at Villarreal amid rumoured interest from Tyneside.
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With ex-Bournemouth coach Howe now thought to be the leading target to take over, Newcastle will seek to finally pick up their first league win of the season at the 11th attempt, as their current barren run sees them sit 19th in the table with four points to their name.
Jones’s side can take solace in the fact that they have found the back of the net in each of their last four away games, but 10 goals conceded on the road so far is a worrying statistic, and Brighton know a thing or two about scoring in this fixture.
Indeed, the Seagulls claimed a pair of 3-0 wins against Newcastle during the 2020-21 season, and the Magpies are now winless in eight top-flight matches with Brighton since both sides earned promotion back to the big time for the 2017-18 campaign
