LIVERPOOL made things difficult for themselves once again on Saturday, eventually grinding out their seventh 2-1 win of the season.

Many of these narrow victories have involved late goals, but this time Liverpool were made to defend a lead with 10 men after goalkeeper Alisson was shown a red card with just over a quarter of an hour remaining.

Two Virgil van Dijk headers from Trent Alexander-Arnold set-pieces gave Jurgen Klopp’s side what should have been a comfortable lead, but Brighton remained in the game throughout and piled on the pressure with the man advantage.

Alisson was sent from the field after handling the ball outside his area. Lewis Dunk scored from the resulting free-kick as substitute keeper Adrian was still arranging his wall.

“I thought it was a performance of great heart, courage and quality against a fantastic team,” said Brighton manager Graham Potter of his team’s display.

“At times the Anfield crowd had to get behind their side because we were really in the game, especially after the sending-off.

“It’s never easy when you are playing against the European champions and the top team in the Premier League but we were pushing strong at the end.”

It was an important result for Liverpool, who extended their lead at the top to 11 points at the close of play on Saturday after Manchester City and Chelsea both dropped points.

Klopp will now be without Alisson for Wednesday’s Merseyside derby, but his replacement Adrian is the only Liverpool goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet in the league this season.

“We kept on fighting [until the end] and Adrian especially helped us a lot with two really good saves and crosses he caught,” said Klopp.

“I am very happy with the effort the boys put in again. I’m really happy and proud of the desire the boys showed. The red card made it a really special win, to be honest.”