This week's Blood Red column assesses Liverpool's form at Anfield and how it is on Andoni Iraola to restore the fear factor

If seven wins in nine games is evidence of Andoni Iraola's early progress at Liverpool, there is undoubtedly one area where the head coach should now be fixing his attention.

No Liverpool side has ever been successful without being a dominant force at Anfield but Sunday's visit from Brighton & Hove Albion will mark six months since the Reds' last home victory in the Premier League.

Of course, much of that fact is caveated by the post-season months sitting in between that stretch, but not since Crystal Palace were dispatched on April 25 have the Reds won in front of their own fans in the league.

A limp end to the campaign under Arne Slot saw Liverpool draw both games in May - against Chelsea and Brentford - and the club has won just four Premier League fixtures in L4 across 2026.

It's a far cry from Jurgen Klopp's side going 68 games unbeaten between 2017 and 2021, or when Slot's men collected 46 points from a possible 57 at home en route to the title in 204-25.

Fortress Anfield, clearly, is not quite what it used to be.

Regaining that fear factor for the opposition must now be Iraola's next objective as he looks to close the gap on the high-flying Seagulls in third to just a point this weekend.

Of course, it was entirely fair to say the decline has not come about on Iraola's watch and he has just three home league games to his name in the fledgling stages of his career on Merseyside, which were two draws and the 3-0 loss to Manchester City.

But while the new head coach is not the root cause for such underwhelming displays at home, the task of sorting it out now lands at his door. Doing so could be the difference between a successful season and another frustrating one.

Only Barcelona have scored more than Brighton's 23 goals so far in Europe's top five leagues, however, and they arrive at Anfield sitting third in the division and on the back of five successive clean sheets.

How they adapt to the jolt of the Thursday-Sunday schedule could be crucial to events on Sunday but Iraola could do with a lift-off moment of his own at Anfield in the Premier League.

It's no coincidence that Iraola's three wins at home so far as Reds boss have come in the Champions League - against Atletico Madrid and Villarreal - and the Carabao Cup, when Tottenham Hotspur were dispatched in the third round.

English football is now so well-heeled that they are largely dominating proceedings on the continent.

Bournemouth's 3-0 rout of AC Milan on Thursday, for example, was of course aided by a red card to goalkeeper Mike Maignan, but it is no shock when Premier League clubs, some of the wealthiest in the world, are generally too strong for their European opposition.

Liverpool have finished first and third in the two seasons of the 36-team group stages of the Champions League and they are well on course to finish in the higher echelons once more after three straight wins this term.

Across the last two seasons, six European trophies have been won by four English teams in Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Tottenham Hotspur and Astron Villa. The other two were by Paris Saint-Germain, currently the planet's finest side, who retained their Champions League crown in May.

The Premier League has superseded the Champions League as the competition with the most strength in depth and the challenge for the Reds is to now adapt, particularly at home where teams are becoming increasingly confident of nicking something from a venue that had previously seemed unthinkable.

Perhaps crucially all three home victories for Iraola so far came during evening games, when the atmosphere is generally more conducive towards a coaxing performance from the team.

If Iraola has work to do to bring up the level at home in the Premier League, then maybe that extends to the match-going support?

That, of course, is huge debate for another day, but the fabled 'power of Anfield' has unquestionably started to become diluted in the last year or so. The visit from Brighton would be the ideal time to begin the restoration project.