Liverpool moved into the fifth round of the FA Cup with a comfortable win over out-of-form Brighton at Anfield. The Reds followed up their impressive battling away win at Sunderland with a much more routine one on Saturday night.

After seeing Cody Gakpo's header ruled out for offside, Liverpool took the lead in the 42nd minute when Curtis Jones timed his run perfectly to guide in Milos Kerkez's cross. Brighton had two good chances in the first half, but Diego Gomez could only poke his effort at Alisson, while Jack Hinshelwood sent a header over the bar from a corner.

Those missed chances proved costly when Dominik Szoboszlai rounded off a stunning Liverpool move with a powerful finish to make it 2-0 early in the second half. Mohamed Salah made it 3-0 from the penalty spot after a jinking run was ended by a clumsy foul from Pascal Gross.

Substitute Rio Ngumoha saw a nice curling effort ruled out for a narrow offside, and with no VAR at this stage of the FA Cup, there was no chance of a reprieve. But Arne Slot's eased their way into the next round nevertheless. Here are the talking points.

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1. Revolving door at right-back

The starting line-up named by Arne Slot suggested that Szoboszlai would fill in at right-back once again, having returned to the team after his suspension against Sunderland saw Wataru Endo given that honour. But it was actually Jones who dropped into the backline in a position every Reds midfielder seems to have had a go at.

He showed the benefits of having a midfielder in that position when he timed his run to perfection to evade the Brighton defenders and get on the end of his fellow full-back's deliver. Jones' deft touch to redirect the ball in off the underside of the bar was befitting of a seasoned goalscorer, let alone someone who hadn't netted in 58 games.

Szoboszlai has been by far and a way Liverpool's best player this season. And it's not even close. In a season which has lacked it, the Hungarian has been remarkably consistent, playing in a few different positions. His banging free-kicks will no doubt dominate the 2025/26 highlights reel, but his work rate, athleticism, pinpoint passing and dead-eye finishes make him the all-round package.

His goal tonight was a perfect example of what he can do. Szoboszlai was on his bike as soon as he saw the switch of play out to Salah and his thunderbolt finish gave Jason Steele no chance. That was his 10th goal of the season, to go with his seven assists.

It's been steady but largely without fireworks for Salah since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations in January, with three assists and one goal in six games. The utterly dominant and jaw-dropping displays of his Liverpool pomp have been missing, yet his output continued in another productive game against Brighton.

His cushioned first-time pass into the path of Szoboszlai was very pleasing on the eye. And the sight of him dribbling past (and ultimately through) Ferdi Kadioglu before cutting inside and winning a penalty off Gross hinted at his halcyon days in a red shirt. The numbers have been modest this season, with the Slot row obviously not helping things, but Salah is now quietly returning to something approaching his best.

4. Hurzeler heading to the exit?

Brighton came into this game on the back of one win in 13 Premier League games, with noise growing around the future of Fabian Hurzeler. Not much is expected from a trip to Anfield in the FA Cup, yet their performance did nothing to dispel the growing narrative around the Seagulls, who have been both goal-shy and leaky at the back in recent months.

The Telegraph reported this week that, while he retains internal support for now, with Brighton 14th and seven points clear of the Premier League relegation zone, Hurzeler could be shown the door at the end of the season, with the team drifting.

5. FA Cup a priority for Reds?

Liverpool sit sixth in the Premier League table, with the form of Manchester United and Chelsea keeping them out of the top four and struggling to qualify automatically via the league for next season's Champions League. With their title defence gone, could the FA Cup be the route to glory this season for Slot?

Bigger challenges will lay further down the road, with this game not much tougher than the 4-1 victory over League One side Barnsley in the third round, but the FA Cup may just be the easiest option for silverware - and their first triumph at Wembley in the world's oldest competition since 2022.

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