Liverpool maintained their perfect start to the 2018-19 season with a 1-0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion at Anfield this afternoon.
Mohamed Salah scored the only goal of the game with a pinpoint finish midway through the first half, but the hosts were forced to grind out an ugly win against a gutsy Brighton performance.
Jurgen Klopp's side held out, though, and made it three wins and three clean sheets from as many games to climb back to the top of the Premier League table.
Find out how all of the action unfolded courtesy of Sports Mole's minute-by-minute updates below.
Liverpool have the chance to steal an early march on Manchester City in the title race having seen the champions slip up at Wolves in the early game today, but they cannot afford to look too far past Brighton if they are to avoid falling to a similar fate to Manchester United.
The hosts will be favourites to maintain their 100% start to the season, though, and could move back to the top of the Premier League table should that be the case.
Let's start with a look at the team news...
That seems to be Jurgen Klopp's philosophy in the opening stages of this season as he names an unchanged side for the third match in a row, with Liverpool having won the previous two without conceding a goal.
What that does mean is that a number of big names once again miss out, with captain Jordan Henderson, new signing Xherdan Shaqiri, in-form Daniel Sturridge and Joel Matip all named on the bench, while Fabinho once again misses out on a place in the matchday squad entirely.
Alisson has also looked solid when called upon so far and will look to maintain his record of never having conceded a competitive goal for Liverpool today. In front of him, Van Dijk is another who has been in imperious form at the start of this season and a good partnership with Gomez appears to be blossoming in the heart of that defence.
Salah is also off the mark already, but Firmino is yet to score in the new campaign and has just one goal in his last nine league appearances for the club - although his contribution to the team cannot be quantified by just goals.
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Milner's penalty in Monday night's 2-0 win over Crystal Palace means that he is just one goal away from 50 in the Premier League, and he has not been on the losing side in any of the 48 matches in which he has scored in the division - a league record he continues to extend.
The veteran striker was a real handful against Manchester United last weekend and capped his performance off with an impudent goal to help his side to a famous three points, so it is no surprise to see him lead the line again today.
It is perhaps a sign of caution from manager Chris Hughton, but Gross was one of Brighton's best players last term and certainly their most creative player in the final third. He is replaced today by Bissouma, who makes his first Premier League start for the club.
This may be a baptism of fire for Balogun, but Hughton's hand was forced to some extent after Lewis Dunk picked up an ankle injury during the win over United. Dunk is absent from the squad altogether today.
It was the midfield pairing of Stephens and Propper who really led the charge for Brighton against United last time out, and it will be interesting to see whether the visitors are bold enough to try similarly aggressive pressing tactics against this Liverpool side.
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Klopp has created a very attacking team lead by that deadly front three and he encourages them to pour forward whenever possible, so if Brighton do come into this game with similar tactics to the last one then they will need to get them spot on, otherwise it could play directly into Liverpool's hands.
The Reds are the only team in the Premier League yet to concede a goal this season, with the major weak point that was their defence being strengthened an enormous amount by the arrivals of Alisson and Van Dijk.
The Reds' opening encounter with West Ham turned out to be more straightforward than they may have feared against a Hammers team that had invested heavily during the summer, cruising to a 4-0 victory courtesy of goals from Salah, Mane (2) and Sturridge - the biggest win of the opening weekend.
Liverpool have now won three Premier League games on the bounce without conceding a goal, scoring 10 without reply in the process.
Liverpool failed to keep four successive Premier League clean sheets at any stage last season, meanwhile, so another shutout today would be their best defensive run since the final four games of the 2016-17 campaign.
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Eight of those 11 matches have ended in victory for the Reds, but perhaps most impressive they have kept eight clean sheets in their last nine competitive home games, conceding only twice in the process.
Liverpool were the only Premier League team to go through last season without losing at home, with their current league unbeaten streak here stretching back 22 games to April 2017.
Chris Hughton's side posted the worst away record in the entire division during 2017-18, with just 11 of their 40 points coming on the road. They won just two games and scored only two goals on their travels, which were both also league-low marks.
Indeed, their miserly tally of two victories last season are their only top-flight away wins in their last 27 attempts - a run which stretches back to February 1983.
Brighton's only away game so far this season saw them come up against Watford on the opening weekend, when a Roberto Pereyra brace condemned them to a 2-0 defeat at Vicarage Road.
However, the Seagulls kickstarted their season in stunning fashion last weekend with a famous victory over the Red Devils, scoring all of their goals in the first half as they held on for a 3-2 victory in their opening home game of the campaign.
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Such a feat should not be downplayed, though. Aside from their wins over United, Brighton have lost six and drawn three of their last 11 outings and their priority this season is once again to stay up first and foremost, having finished 15th last term with seven points separating them from the bottom three in the end.
That occasion came last season with triumphs over Swansea and Arsenal in February and March, but it is a very rare achievement for the Seagulls even when facing opposition more on their level.
The worst of those defeats have come against Liverpool too - indeed, he has lost all five of his Premier League meetings with Liverpool as a manager and conceded at least four goals in each of those. Hughton fell to 5-2, 5-0 and 5-1 defeats in charge of Norwich, and then suffered that 4-0 drubbing last season.
Brighton pulled off a major shock with the win over United last weekend, but it is hard to see them repeating that today. Liverpool are very good here at Anfield whereas the Seagulls do not travel well at all, so I am going for a fairly comfortably home win.
SPORTS MOLE SAYS: Liverpool 3-0 Brighton
Liverpool are unbeaten in their seven meetings since, winning each of the last five in a row.
That solitary victory came in March 1982 when Andy Ritchie scored the only goal of the game, but seven of their other eight league visits here have ended in defeat.
A whopping nine of those came last season, with that 4-0 on the final day of the campaign being preceded by a 5-1 triumph at the Amex in early December. Those nine goals came from eight different goalscorers too, including an own goal from Dunk.
LIVERPOOL STARTING XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Milner, Wijnaldum, Keita; Salah, Firmino, Mane
BRIGHTON STARTING XI: Ryan; Montoya, Duffy, Balogun, Bong; Knockaert, Stephens, Propper, March, Bissouma; Murray
The in-form winger tries to just pass his finish into the bottom corner, but it goes narrowly wide of the post.
Robertson swings a perfect cross into the box which Firmino meets with a really good downward header, but Ryan shows incredible reactions to claw it away. Superb stop.
Brighton play a free kick short from deep inside their own half, and a couple of passes between two players ends up with Bissouma being caught in possession by Milner. Firmino then immediately gives the ball to Salah, who just passes the ball into the bottom corner with a cool finish.
Ruthless from the Reds.
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29 - Mohamed Salah has scored 29 goals in 29 appearances for Liverpool at Anfield in all competitions. King. pic.twitter.com/FTrNTRchXZ
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 25, 2018
🗣 "Mané ➡ Firmino ➡ SALAH!"
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 25, 2018
It's 29 goals in 29 @premierleague home games for the Egyptian! 🇪🇬⚽
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The Reds could have easily been more than one goal ahead, but Brighton have limited the damage so far and, as long as it stays at 1-0, they will still be in the match.
James Milner deserves huge credit for winning the ball back high up the pitch in the first place, and Mane and Firmino then combined to work it to Salah, who guided a lovely finish in off the far post.
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Alexander-Arnold has also crashed a free kick against the crossbar and Wijnaldum has seen one shot saved as Liverpool go in search of that second goal which would all-but wrap up the three points for Liverpool on the evidence of that first half.
Liverpool have not conceded a Premier League goal here since February, and there aren't many signs of that changing today.
It is only cleared as far as Knockaert, but he cannot wrap his foot around the ball enough and fires it off target.
Firmino stays down, but looks like he will be alright to continue.
Robertson fires a low cross into the box which Duffy sticks out a leg to try to intercept, sending it trickling just past his own post.
The ball comes straight back at Brighton, though, and Salah finds himself with space to advance into the area, but this time he gets his finish all wrong.
Gross ghosts into the box between two central defenders to meet a cross with a head towards goal, but Alisson is on his toes to make a crucial save!
Mohamed Salah's goal proves to be the difference at Anfield, but Liverpool were short of their best and almost threw two points away at the death when they needed Alisson to pull off a smart save to deny Gross. Brighton come away with no points from this game, but plenty of encouragement.
Thank you very much for joining Sports Mole for today's match as Liverpool win ugly against Brighton to maintain their 100% start to the new season, climbing top of the table in the process. I will leave you with our match report, and be sure to stick around for reaction too.
From me, though, it is goodbye for now!