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Hislop praises Isak's performance for Liverpool vs. Brighton (8:52)

Beth Lindop Oct 25, 2026, 01:25 PM ET

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Based in Liverpool, Beth Lindop is ESPN's Liverpool correspondent and also covers the WSL and UWCL.

LIVERPOOL, England -- It was an autumn afternoon on Nov. 2, 2024, against Brighton & Hove Albion that Liverpool started to believe. A stirring victory over Fabian Hürzeler's side provided the launchpad for a new managerial era under Arne Slot at Anfield.

Almost two years on, Liverpool's 2-0 win against that same opponent might also be remembered as the day that Andoni Iraola's Reds' tenure began in earnest. Many of the personnel have changed -- including, of course, the man in the Anfield dugout -- but Sunday's triumph felt like a potentially defining moment for a team quietly beginning to find their feet under their new head coach.

It was not the perfect Liverpool display, by any means.…