The Paul Gorst verdict from Anfield as they Liverpool maintain their excellent form with an impressive 2-0 Premier League win over Brighton & Hove Albiomn

Anyone searching for a statement Liverpool result in the opening months of Andoni Iraola's reign might just have found it here at Anfield.

A 2-0 victory at home against Brighton & Hove Albion might not instinctively sound like the most obvious piece of evidence that something is beginning to stir but consider the following...

Brighton had scored a league-high 23 goals prior to kick off here and had shipped just five all season, marking them out as the most miserly alongside champions Arsenal.

Fabian Hurzeler's side had even clinically carved up the Gunners last month with a hugely impressive 3-0 win that signposted their own potential for the campaign ahead.

OPINION

So this hard-fought and at times battling victory against the third-place Seagulls should not immediately be scrolled past as a routine triumph.

Teams will arrive at Anfield this season with more starpower but few will be as polished as Hurzeler's high-flyers, so the manner in which the Reds picked up the points here was enormously encouraging.

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Now up to fourth after a weekend that has seen both Chelsea and Manchester City lose, Iraola has more than enough progress to point towards now after Liverpool secured their fourth straight victory in all competitions and a first Premier League success at home for six months.

Defensively, the Reds were rock solid, which was even more heartening given Brighton had scored three more goals than any other team in the division. Ronald Araujo was outstanding at right-back and provided another example of why making him a permanent signing at £47m might be a wise move next year .

Conventional wisdom dictates you should never fall in love with a player on loan but the Uruguay international's list of admirers around is growing. Araujo's take-no-prisoners style is exactly what this talented yet brittle squad needs right now.

One sliding challenge in stoppage time was inch perfect as Brighton pressed forward and his full-blooded challenge on Malick Yalcouye a few minutes earlier was celebrated like a goal as Liverpool won a throw. Araujo's unorthodox header clear while on the Anfield turf was another snapshot of the sort of character that has supporters swooning.

The Uruguay international spoke before the Villarreal game about how much he and his young family are enjoying their time on Merseyside and after a difficult year at Barcelona last time out - when his mental health plummeted and resulted in a two-month hiatus from the game - the versatile defender is grasping his fresh start with both hands. Don't fall in love? For many, it's already too late.

But if it is damning Araujo with faint praise by referring to him as a 'cult hero', this was a game won by three players up the other end whose reputations have been enhanced considerably in recent weeks.

It was somewhat harsh, but perhaps typical of his own luck as a Liverpool player, that Florian Wirtz's effort was chalked off in favour of a Pascal Gross own goal. But it was Wirtz's low drive that at least helped give the Reds the lead here.

Wirtz, who was replaced in the second half for Trey Nyoni, built on his excellent week or so with another cameo full of invention. The playmaker is not the most physically imposing and that has counted against him in plenty of critiques but he is starting to showcase his real gifts on a more consistent basis. This was another instructive afternoon on that score.

Iraola said this week that the Germany international won't be defined by his goal output but that he needs to control the tempo of games at Liverpool. It's just as well given the own goal award for Gross but Wirtz certainly delivered on the second front in the first half as he pulled the strings for Cody Gakpo, Bradley Barcola and Alexander Isak.

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The impressive Barcola, starting on right here, was the driving force behind the second goal as he pressed to win the ball back before attacking the box and delivering the cross to Isak. The Sweden international still had a lot to do but finishing comes naturally to him and he dispatched it with minimum fuss for his sixth of the campaign.

Isak has spoken a couple of times this season about how he doesn't set targets for himself regarding his goal return but the most expensive footballer in British history surely must harbour a private ambition now.

Up to a half-dozen before the start of November, Isak, should he remain injury free, must be assessing the 20-goal milestone in Liverpool colours. His ability to finish off chances is supreme and only rivalled by Erling Haaland in the Premier League.

And a word for Barcola, who was a hive of activity before he was withdrawn for Rio Ngumoha. The France international put as much effort into the defensive side of the game as he did attacking and it's that sort of attitude that will only endear him to those on the terraces.

His link-up play with Wirtz was nice at times and there is certainly a feeling that Barcola is beginning to get to grips with the speed and intensity of football in this country after a relatively quiet opening few weeks.

Brighton undoubtedly enjoyed more of the ball in the second half as they searched for a way back into the game but Iraola will be delighted with how his miserly charges kept them at bay.

It’s set up what is now a massive game when Arsenal pitch up on Merseyside next Sunday.

Whisper it quietly, but with Manchester City's guilty verdict still lingering like a toxic stench, a positive result against Mikel Arteta’s champions could even catapult Liverpool into the title talk.

Now that really would be a statement result.