Mohamed Salah registering an assist on his return to the Reds' squad.

Hugo Ekitike scored twice as Liverpool beat Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0 at Anfield, with Mohamed Salah registering an assist on his return to the Reds' squad.

Having been absent for Tuesday's UEFA Champions League victory over Internazionale Milano, Salah was among the substitutes and replaced the injured Joe Gomez in the 26th minute.

Liverpool were already ahead by that point, with Ekitike scoring the fastest Premier League goal of the 2025/26 season only 46 seconds in.

And after Diego Gomez passed up two chances to equalise, Ekitike nodded Salah's corner in at the back post, handing the Egyptian the record for the most Premier League goal involvements for a single club.

Salah also missed an opportunity to get on the scoresheet late on, but the win takes Liverpool sixth in the table on 26 points, three points and three places above Brighton.

How the match unfolded

Brighton played themselves into trouble immediately, with Yankuba Minteh slicing a clearance from near the corner flag to Gomez on the edge of the area. The defender nodded the ball down for Ekitike, who finished brilliantly into the roof of the net.

Minteh looked determined to atone for that error, curling past the far post and threading a wonderful pass through for Gomez, who could not beat Alisson one-v-one.

But Liverpool continued to look the more dangerous side with Salah involved in two flowing moves after his introduction, the second of which resulted in Ekitike side-footing wide.

Gomez squandered a glorious chance six minutes into the second half, striking the post from Mats Wieffer's cross, before Brajan Gruda dragged an effort wide.

But any nerves among the home fans evaporated on the hour mark, as Ekitike was left totally unmarked to power Salah's set-piece delivery home.

Kaoru Mitoma shot across goal and wide after coming off the bench, though the best chance for a third goal fell to Salah, who blazed over in stoppage time.

Salah and Ekitike bring good vibes back to Anfield

It has certainly been an eventful few days on Merseyside. Having been benched for Liverpool's last three Premier League games, Salah made some comments to the media and was omitted entirely for Tuesday's trip to Milan.

That bust-up led to speculation that Salah's future may lie elsewhere, but following talks with his head coach on Friday, he was back involved.

He got a rousing reception when he took the place of Gomez, who will be bitterly disappointed to have suffered another injury setback after assisting Ekitike's opener.

Salah's first action saw him slip a weighted pass to Alexis Mac Allister, who almost teed up Ekitike for a tap-in, though the Egyptian could have taken the shot on himself.

Salah was unable to get on the scoresheet, but a pinpoint cross for Ekitike's second goal saw him make Premier League history.

He now has 277 goal involvements for Liverpool in the competition, passing the previous single-club high of 276 by Wayne Rooney for Manchester United.

Having steadied the ship somewhat with two wins in four days, Liverpool visit Tottenham Hotspur for their final game before Christmas next Saturday. They will do so without Salah, however, as he links up with Egypt's squad for the Africa Cup of Nations.

Self-inflicted wounds bring Seagulls down

Despite being beaten 4-3 by Aston Villa and held to a 1-1 draw by West Ham United in their last two games, Brighton travelled to Anfield knowing a victory would – at least temporarily – lift them into the European places.

With the champions having already lost at home to Man Utd and Nottingham Forest this season, they were always likely to grant Brighton opportunities, but the Seagulls committed a dire error early on and gave themselves a mountain to climb.

Fabian Hurzeler will be irked by Minteh's decision to clear the ball into a central area under the slightest bit of pressure from Florian Wirtz, while Gomez was beaten to the dropping ball all too easily by his namesake Joe.

The Paraguayan also missed an excellent chance in either half, seeing an effort smothered by Alisson following Minteh's defence-splitting pass, then failing to turn Wieffer's cross inside the post.

But Brighton's positive work in the middle third was all for nothing as neither Lewis Dunk nor Carlos Baleba got anywhere near Ekitike for the second Liverpool goal.

Hurzeler will know the defensive errors must stop if Brighton are to maintain their push for a European spot, particularly with tough games against Sunderland and Arsenal coming up either side of Christmas.