Merseyside | Liverpool win on Salah return

Liverpool 2 - 0 Brighton & Hove Albion

Mohamed Salah marked his much-anticipated Liverpool return with an assist as Arne Slot’s side overcame Brighton, helped by a brace from Hugo Ekitike.

Author | William G

Stadium | Anfield

Liverpool free-kick

The win lifted Liverpool to sixth and extended their unbeaten run to five matches, while also delivering a first Anfield victory since 4 November.

Closer analysis of what happened

The spotlight was firmly on Salah, recalled to the squad after being left out of Liverpool’s midweek Champions League success at Inter Milan following his extraordinary outburst at Leeds United last weekend.

Slot named the Egyptian on the bench, but he was introduced after 26 minutes when Joe Gomez was forced off injured, prompting Dominik Szoboszlai to drop into the right-back role.

Before his departure, Gomez had a hand in Liverpool’s opener, his header falling kindly for Ekitike, who took one touch before volleying past Bart Verbruggen after just 46 seconds, the fastest Premier League goal of the season.

Brighton had opportunities to respond but failed to capitalise. Alisson stretched to deny Diego Gomez when he was clean through, before the same player missed an open goal early in the second half.

The action from Anfield 🎬 #LIVBHA pic.twitter.com/NFpuAF1otj

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 14, 2025

Liverpool made them pay on the hour. Salah’s corner found Ekitike unmarked at the back post and the Frenchman headed in his second, sealing the points.

It was Ekitike’s 10th goal of the campaign and his second double in successive league games, following the 3-3 draw at Leeds.

Salah’s assist was his 277th goal involvement in 302 Premier League appearances for Liverpool, a record for a single club in the competition, moving him past Wayne Rooney’s tally of 276 for Manchester United.

He remained influential throughout, though he passed up a gilt-edged chance to score his 251st Liverpool goal in injury time, firing wide after being set up by Federico Chiesa.

At the final whistle, Salah applauded all four sides of Anfield before preparing to link up with Egypt on Monday ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations. He could miss up to eight matches should Egypt reach the final in Morocco.

With his future unresolved and his comments at Elland Road raising the prospect of a farewell, whether he plays for Liverpool again remains uncertain.

What is clear is that, after a turbulent week, Liverpool have put together back-to-back wins and clean sheets, while Brighton slip to ninth.