Trossard hat-trick leaves Klopp's Reds off the pace

Leandro Trossard's hat-trick earned Brighton a deserved 3-3 draw as Liverpool endured another damaging defensive performance.

The Belgian had given new manager Roberto De Zerbi a dream debut by scoring twice inside the first 17 minutes against some ragged defending, only for Roberto Firmino's double either side of half-time and Adam Webster's own goal to turn things around for the hosts.

But Trossard was not to be denied his moment in the spotlight as he became only the third opposition player to score a treble at Anfield in the Premier League, following Coventry's Peter Ndlovu (1995) and Arsenal's Andrey Arshavin (2009) into the history books with an 83rd-minute strike which poses yet more questions for Reds boss Jurgen Klopp.

Only a month ago his side was conceding four to Napoli in a shambolic performance. And while this was not on that scale, the ease in which they were opened up by a team with a new manager who had not played since September 4 does not bode well, with a trip to league leaders Arsenal to come next weekend after the midweek Champions League visit of Rangers.

All the attention pre-match had been on the form of Trent Alexander-Arnold and his England exclusion, but the opening 20 minutes were not the greatest endorsement of his manager's impassioned defence of his full-back as Brighton exposed a lack of understanding across the back line.

Alexander-Arnold's fourth-minute header only reached the edge of the area, and when Jordan Henderson - back in the team after a month out with injury - and Fabinho failed to deal with it, Danny Welbeck produced a clever backheel.

The sight of the Liverpool right-back falling to the turf after slipping as Trossard side-stepped him to fire across Alisson was not a good one.

Welb