Our Liverpool Jury look back at the Reds' 4-3 win over Villarreal on Tuesday night and ahead to the visit of Brighton this weekend

Perhaps unnoticed by some, Liverpool are on a run of seven wins from their last nine matches in all competitions.

The quiet progress under Andoni Iraola might have come under threat in the first half of Tuesday's Champions League clash with Villarreal, but the Reds recovered and earned a 4-3 win to extend Iraola's perfect record in the competition.

Next comes the visit of high-flying Brighton on Sunday, and our Reds Jury have assembled to give their thoughts ahead of the game.

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Matthew Whitty

Rio Ngumoha looks like he is enjoying himself. So are the rest of us. I loved watching him against Villarreal. Every time he got the ball, you wanted him to have another go at his defender. Playing on the right seems to be adding more to his game, too.

On the left, there can be a little more predictability as he looks to come inside onto his stronger foot. On the right, he is giving defenders more to worry about, happy to go outside and cross or bring the ball infield.

That helps stretch teams and opens up space for others. If defenders come across to help deal with Rio, someone else has more room. Mac Allister certainly enjoyed being on the end of his work on Tuesday.

With the injuries we have, I would expect him to get more minutes. He has earned them, and the more he plays, the better his understanding with those around him should become.

His interview afterwards made me smile. He looked like a young lad absolutely loving the chance to play for Liverpool. There will be quieter games, but right now he gets you out of your seat. Long may that continue.

James Noble

Pleasingly, Andoni Iraola’s Liverpool are looking increasingly adept at navigating match-to-match and in-game challenges. Tuesday night’s eventful 4-3 comeback win over Villarreal represented the latest example – a perhaps suitably fervent end to a run of four matches in 10 days and a thrilling start to a sequence of four consecutive Anfield outings across three competitions.

Experiences accumulated during the meetings with Manchester City, LASK, Brentford and the Yellow Submarine ought to help the Reds negotiate the various questions likely to be posed by the upcoming Premier League visits of Brighton & Hove Albion and Arsenal, either side of Chelsea’s in the Carabao Cup – three of the four sides currently above us in the table.

Sunday’s hosting of the Seagulls – who’ve so strikingly combined fluency, intensity and solidity this term – would be a great time to earn that first home league victory of 2026/27.

Rotation, adaptation and utilising the squad’s wide-ranging attributes remains vital. Academy graduates Lewis Koumas, Trey Nyoni and Rio Ngumoha are contributing valuably, with Ngumoha’s especially effervescent display propelling the midweek turnaround. Alexis Mac Allister’s class and grit, and Florian Wirtz’s astute second-half showing, were also key, while Víctor Muñoz and Alexander Isak’s ruthless finishing proved decisive in West London on Saturday.

Refinements are still necessary, but the verve with which Iraola’s team are operating makes the impending challenges all the more exciting.

Rhys Buchanan

There’s no such thing as a false sense of security for opposition teams at Anfield, but Villareal must have been feeling pretty safe when they made it 2-0 on Wednesday night.

As a thick voice exclaimed behind me on the Kop after Georges Mikautadze had slotted home their first: “400 fans doing the Poznan!? We're the ones who should be turning around!”

No matter how dismal The Reds were in the opening half an hour though, there was always this feeling that we were going to sort things out as we so often have against adversity this season.

The result put The Reds on a nice run of wins which should be a perfect platform heading into Sunday which we all know is going to be a tough test. With injury concerns mounting up, I was glad to see Gakpo get some minutes under his belt as his link up with Isak were looking really exciting earlier in the campaign.

If can get a win on Sunday, I’m sure the sky will feel like the limit!