Brighton v Liverpool: Premier League – live!

8.45am EST 08:45

57 min It must be a while since Liverpool failed to score in consecutive matches. They have 33 minutes to ensure that doesn’t happen.

8.44am EST 08:44

54 min: Good effort from Welbeck! That was really nice play, at least the first part. Welbeck poked a bouncing ball away from Fabinho on the halfway line and ran into space down the right. He moved into the area, cut back inside Henderson and drove a low left-footed shot that was comfortably saved by Alisson. In hindsight he should probably have tried to find Connolly or Trossard at the far post.

Updated at 8.45am EST

8.42am EST 08:42

53 min There’s definitely a greater urgency to Liverpool’s play. He’s best known for his baseball cap, but I suspect Jurgen Klopp also has a pretty powerful hairdryer.

8.41am EST 08:41

52 min “It would have been fascinating to see Maradona play in the modern day,” says Chris. “Growing up in the 80s and 90 you had loads of players (Le Tiss, Hagi, Molby, Ginola, Carlton Palmer) that offered basically nothing to the team in terms of fitness or positional play but were first pick every week due to sheer talent.

“Modern teams (Bayern and Liverpool I’m looking at you) have no place for such players and are simultaneously more effective and all the poorer for it. I think Ronaldinho at Barca was the last player who excelled for a top team and fitted that mould. This brings us to Maradona because he was that good that he’d have to play for a top side. I do fear that modern coaches wouldn’t know what to do with him and there’s a risk he’d end up being a 1980s Ozil.”

8.39am EST 08:39

50 min Wijnaldum slides a pass down the inside-left channel, whose cross-shot on the turn flashes across the face of goal. Liverpool look a bit livelier than they did for much of the first half.

8.38am EST 08:38

48 min “As I lift the 2020 Guess the Job trophy I must hand it over to the nurses of the world,” says Mary Waltz. “The absolute heroes of the Covid epidemic and after Rashford has finished feeding the kids he should shift his focus to raising the wages of nurses. Underpaid life savers.”

Amen to that.

8.36am EST 08:36

47 min March plays a penetrative pass to find Connolly on the left. His first touch isn’t great, however, and that allows Phillips to come across and clear.

8.36am EST 08:36

47 min “I think the problem with VAR is simple – the definition of a ‘clear and obvious’ error is totally misunderstood in soccer,” says Madan Raja. “Cricket and NFL have the video assistant. But the on-field call has more weight. The goal is not to get to 100% in cricket and NFL. It is to avoid a blunder. In soccer, I think people are trying to design a perfect system.”

Yes, that’s an excellent point. Another difference, certainly with cricket, is the culture of entitlement and intolerance in football, which means every single decision is a DISGRACE one way or another. Anyway, that’s enough of VAR, at least until the next DISGRACEFUL decision.

8.34am EST 08:34

Liverpool have made a half-time change: Jordan Henderson replaces Neco Williams, which means James Milner will go to right back.

8.30am EST 08:30

“Much-needed halftime for Klopp & co,” says Rob Moore. “No rhythm or pace to their play. So many times the fullback has been building up speed with space ahead of them, and the pass has been to foot, forcing a stop and cut back, killing any momentum. Brighton have done very well to keep the front four quiet, as well as create a few excellent chances of their own, but the addition of Henderson & Mané could and should change things. ‘Delicately poised’ or something like that.”

Yes, it’s odd to see Liverpool play so sluggishly. I suspect Jurgen Klopp is impolitely advising against a repeat in the second half.

8.29am EST 08:29

Guess the job! “I’m a psychiatric nurse at a state hospital,” says Yasin Ntume. “We are not allowed phones so our best bet are patient TVs in their dayroom lol.”

Three points to Mary Waltz (43 min).

8.26am EST 08:26

“Hey Rob,” says Yash Gupta. “VAR is not good and it is flawed but please things like Umpire’s Call are just calling for A HELL LOT OF TROUBLE AND NEW LEVEL OF CYNIC IN FOOTBALL.”

8.26am EST 08:26

Half-time entertainment

It’s the one we’ve all been waiting for: Mac Millings’ Diego Maradona Tribute XI!

Lovely stuff, Millings. But you missed the Brazilian left-back, Bronca.

8.21am EST 08:21

“Guess the job,” says Stephen Carr. “Election auditor.”

Heh, very good.

Updated at 8.24am EST

8.20am EST 08:20

“I’m a Liverpool fan so I have to declare an interest but the Salah goal was NOT offside,” says David Buckley. “If you look closely at the replay the ball had already left Firmino’s boot when the image was frozen. Half a frame it might be but the ball had been struck and was in motion. The technology is not quite there for these marginal decisions and the benefit of the doubt has to go to the attacking side.”

Yes, this split-frame issue is another problem with VAR. There’s a good argument for having the equivalent of ‘umpire’s call’ in cricket, which would have meant Salah’s goal being given.

Updated at 8.22am EST

8.19am EST 08:19

Half time: Brighton 0-0 Liverpool

Peep peep! Brighton are holding Liverpool at the Amex Stadium, and the scoreline doesn’t flatter tham at all. Neal Maupay missed a penalty and Aaron Connolly has been a constant threat to Liverpool’s makeshift defence. Apart from an excellent first five minutes, Liverpool have been surprisingly sluggish. Mo Salah had a goal VARed for offside, but that was about it.

8.16am EST 08:16

45 min “Hey Rob,” says Ross O’Connor. “Don’t you think the whole VAR business has gotten a bit ridiculous? The offside rule was devised to stop clumps of players goal-hanging in the opponent’s box, thus reducing the game to a series of lumped balls from one penalty area to the other. It was not designed to rule players offside by the width of a piece of paper. And I speak as someone who can’t stand Liverpool.”

I loathe almost everything about VAR, but I do understand the ‘offside is offside’ argument. I’m not sure there’s a satisfactory solution to any of it, because it won’t be put back in its box.

8.15am EST 08:15

44 min There’s a break in play while Bissouma receives treatment, I think to his hip. He’s going to continue for now. He’s a really important player for Brighton so they won’t want to lose him.

8.13am EST 08:13

43 min “Guess the job,” says Mary Waltz. “Graveyard shift at a hospital. I get Peacock on my package so I also do the 4am west coast wake up call. Retired. Afternoon naps are lovely.”

Afternoon naps are tremendous , especially when they’re on the Guardian’s dime .

8.13am EST 08:13

42 min A shot on target! Dunk’s clearance only goes to Minamino 25 yards from goal. He controls the ball and flicks a shot with the outside of the boot that is comfortably saved by Ryan.

8.12am EST 08:12

41 min Gary Naylor is not a fan of the high press.

“Okay lads, Mo Salah on Saturday – you know what to do.”

“Drop off and give him no space to get in behind boss?”

“It’s 2020 lads! Press up to the halfway line – what can go wrong?”

8.09am EST 08:09

39 min “Like many other people, I guess, I’ve been dosing up on Maradona videos these last few days,” says Charles Antaki. “It’s tempting to mentally cut and paste those into what we’re seeing in front of us. It’s sort of works; a dribble from the halfway line, a push through a crowded box, a goal from an impossible angle… but everything else about it fails: the air of the Premier League 2020 is just too sterile for that kind of genius. Maybe all of football has been since the turn of the 21st century.”

It’s an interesting point. I’d love to have seen him on these perfect pitches and against defenders who weren’t allowed to butcher him from behind.

8.09am EST 08:09

38 min A cross shot from Welbeck drifts across the face of goal. Brighton have had plenty of openings like that, more than you usually get against Liverpool.

8.06am EST 08:06

NO GOAL! Brighton 0-0 Liverpool

Salah was just offside. Jurgen Klopp is telling the fourth official what he thinks of the decision.

Salah scores but he is just offside. Photograph: Neil Hall/PA

Updated at 8.12am EST

8.05am EST 08:05

Alisson drives a goalkick to Firmino on the right wing. He chests the ball down and volleys it over the defence to Salah, who runs through and bobbles the ball past Ryan with his right foot. That was devastatingly efficient from Liverpool – the ball didn’t bounce for 70 yards. It’s being checked for offside though.

Updated at 8.27am EST

8.04am EST 08:04

33 min Trossard curls a few yards wide from 20 yards after a good pass from Connolly. Alisson had it covered. Liverpool have been rubbish in the last 15-20 minutes.

8.03am EST 08:03

33 min “It sucks that we can’t catch any early games here in the US on NBC anymore but I appreciate the Guardian for the work you guys do to bring us the games,” says Yasin Ntume. “As someone who works at night this is a great way to follow the game that I love so dearly. Time check 4:49am.”

Let’s play ‘guess the job’. Security guard?

8.01am EST 08:01

32 min Liverpool have some good options on the bench, Mane and Henderson in particular. If it stays like this we’ll see both of them, perhaps as early as half-time.

8.00am EST 08:00

30 min “In most instances technology is often a vast improvement on the fallibility of humans,” says Mary Waltz. “VAR is the exception that proves the rule. Bin it. Yes there will be howlers from the Mike Deans of the world, yes we will scream at the officials, but I would rather complain about a human rather than a machine that is just as fickle.”

It’s too late, it’s out of the box. Like something equally poisonous, social media, it needed to be stopped at source.

7.59am EST 07:59

29 min Connolly’s pace and movement are causing Liverpool a lot of problems. He’s now playing down the middle in place of Maupay, with Trossard on the right. Jurgen Klopp looks pretty displeased with how his team are playing.

7.58am EST 07:58

27 min “I’m biased as a Liverpool fan but it looked to me that Connolly put his leg closer to Nico Williams in order to gain the foul?” says Mike MacKenzie. “He may not have done that but I’ve seen it done. Very hard for a ref to determine if that occurred.”

Yeah, Connolly often does that, though I still think it was probably a foul. It certainly wasn’t a clear and obvious error.

Updated at 7.58am EST

7.57am EST 07:57

26 min There’s a VAR check for handball against Robertson, who waved his hand in the air as Connolly lobbed the ball over him. It didn’t touch his hand and play continues.

7.55am EST 07:55

25 min Liverpool started really well but have been sluggish in the last 15 minutes or so.

7.55am EST 07:55

24 min Veltman clips a good pass behind Phillips to find Connolly, who can’t control a difficult ball on the run.