Liverpool's Anfield Struggles and Isak's Impact

Liverpool arrive at Sunday’s meeting with Brighton carrying a strange mix of swagger and doubt. The results say they’re on the rise again. The stadium that once guaranteed those results does not.

Anfield, for all its noise and mythology, has lost its edge in the league. Five home Premier League games without a win is not a blip for a club with Liverpool’s ambitions; it’s a problem. Recent history offers only two longer droughts: seven games in 2002-03, eight in the grim behind-closed-doors run of 2020-21. This is territory they thought they had left behind.

And yet, the team itself feels alive.

Isak sharpens the blade

The biggest reason for that is simple: Alexander Isak is back, and he looks like he never left.

After a brief spell out injured, he walked straight back into the starting XI at Brentford and decided the game. Liverpool were a goal down, Brentford went down to 10 men, and the afternoon turned scrappy. That was when it mattered most. Víctor Munoz dragged them level, Isak finished the job. Not pretty, but exactly the sort of away win title contenders stash away and barely mention again.

Days later, Villarreal arrived and chaos followed. Liverpool trailed 2-0, then roared back to win 4-3 and keep their European record spotless this season. It was wild, breathless, and at times reckless. Entertaining, absolutely. Convincing, not quite. They are scoring freely, but they are also giving themselves mountains to climb.

Isak, though, looks like the man with the rope and crampons. He came off the bench in that European thriller and immediately looked up to speed, moving with the sharpness of a player who never doubted his body. Speaking to the club’s website, his assessment of his layoff was blunt: it was short, he feels good, the team feels in a good place, and he is excited. His performances match the words.

The numbers are emphatic. Five goals in six Premier League appearances this season. Four of those strikes have directly decided wins against Ipswich Town, Bournemouth and Brentford. Stretch the lens a little further and he has scored in each of his last five league games. Right now, Liverpool’s cutting edge has a single, unmistakable source.

Fortress no more

And this is where the tension lies.

Away from home, Liverpool look resilient, ruthless when the moment comes. At Anfield, the story has shifted. Five league games without a win on this ground is not just unusual, it is costly. Every dropped point at home feels heavier when you are chasing the very top.

The fixture list offers them a chance to reset. Brighton do not travel to Anfield with a history of dominance. Liverpool have lost only one of their last nine home league games against them, winning six and drawing two. The sole blemish is that 1-0 defeat in February 2021, in the middle of that surreal, empty-stadium campaign when every home game felt like an away day in disguise.

The pattern suggests Liverpool usually handle Brighton here. The form table says Liverpool have the momentum. The goal charts point directly at Isak.

Now comes the real examination: can an in-form striker and a confident side drag Anfield back to being a weapon, not a worry?