When Mohamed Salah last faced Brighton at Anfield in December, there was uncertainty over whether he would be seen in a Liverpool shirt again. Two months on and with the Egyptian a starter once more, Salah and Arne Slot reaped the rewards of their appeasement as Liverpool eased into the fifth round with a comfortable victory over Brighton.
Salah produced a sublime assist, his fourth since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations, and scored from the penalty spot as Liverpool condemned Brighton to a fourth defeat in five games. There was no evidence of Brighton not performing for the under-pressure Fabian Hürzeler but after a promising start the visitors faded rapidly. Curtis Jones, Dominik Szoboszlai, with a superb goal, and Salah capitalised in a commanding victory.
Slot admitted he had struggled to sleep while wrestling with the dilemma of whether to rest overloaded players at risk of injury or go strong for an important fixture. He ultimately leaned towards the latter, leaving Hugo Ekitiké and Ryan Gravenberch out of the starting lineup as a precaution but fielding his strongest available side otherwise. There would be no repeat of last season’s fourth-round selection and shock at Plymouth.
