Liverpool had to battle again, this time beating Brighton by two goals to nil, with Andoni Iraola's team showing plenty of fight in addition to star quality in attack

Arne Slot spent most of last season bemoaning the lack of quality in wide areas that he could call upon at Liverpool, while his $169 million (£125 million) striker, Alexander Isak, never got going.

If he was watching on as Liverpool overcame the significant threat of Brighton in the Premier League this weekend, then he might have been forgiven for wondering what might have been.

Under Andoni Iraola, Isak is now up to six goals in seven Premier League appearances. Bradley Barcola, meanwhile, who arrived from PSG during the summer, seemed to click alongside Florian Wirtz.

The first half was substantially better than the second in terms of showcasing what Liverpool can do going forward, but it was in the first 45 minutes that the Reds did enough to get themselves a decisive enough lead.

And, as the Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler admitted at the final whistle, the difference was that while Liverpool converted its chances, the Seagulls didn't. That, ultimately, is what you pay the big money for in attack.

"It was 50-50 in the first half," Iraola admitted. "Both defenses were quite high, and then there was space in behind both defensive lines."

Central to all of the early Liverpool success under the Spaniard, though, has been a solid platform on which to build the more exciting stuff.

This was the first time that the Reds saw Isak, Barcola and Wirtz all play well together, but it is not the only occasion on which the defense stood strong. It is no coincidence that the blend of both led to a first home league win since April.

Just in front of the back four, Alexis Mac Allister was excellent again, and Barcola, in particular, was dropping very deep at times to help defend, notably going out of his way to sprint back when required.

In the words of Isak: "The first half is really what we want to be about — intensity, winning balls and countering — so we're really happy, especially with the first half."

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Across the 90, Liverpool won 56.7 per cent of the duels that it collectively contested, which is the highest amount so far this season, and no one typified that more than the warrior Araujo, who at one stage made a tackle with his head.

Liverpool finished 17th in the league for duels won last season. This year, it currently sits 12th, which is a notable improvement (though Manchester United remains ahead on that front, so that perhaps doesn't tell the entire story).

While Slot's side was missing the world-class Barcola and a fit and firing Isak and Wirtz last term, Iraola's has that $486 million (£364 million) trio playing well and more of a battling quality. It is that combination of the two that is creating a team starting to show what it is really capable of.

What Liverpool needed this season was twofold: a renewed fighting spirit, and more of a chance to see the quality it already knew it had. In achieving the first point, it is successfully starting to lead to the second.