Liverpool cannot ignore persistent problem as latest emphatic message sent in title race

That no team has earned more Premier League points from losing positions has become something of a badge of honour for Liverpool this season.

But while an ability to overcome adversity is a required trait of any successful team, for it to be continually needed suggests there is an issue that must be addressed.

And once again, the Reds’ propensity of starting slowly this term – in stark contrast to the whirlwinds that often greeted the first whistle earlier in Jurgen Klopp’s tenure – needed to be overcome here to see off Brighton, so often Klopp’s kryptonite.

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Of the 67 points Liverpool have accrued this campaign, a whopping 26 – more than a third – have now been earned from having been behind in games.

It hasn’t helped that they’ve started leaking the opener once again, Danny Welbeck’s thunderous second-minute strike a third time in the last four Premier League games the Reds have conceded first.

What isn’t in question, however, is the mentality of Klopp’s team. And there were positive signs not only in the comeback that ultimately ensured the title run-in started with a 2-1 victory at Anfield, but the manner in which it was achieved.

While dreadful referee David Coote rattled the home crowd with a stream of bizarre calls, Liverpool merely gave their collective head a shake and stuck to the gameplan of dealing with the unique demands of facing Brighton. Patience, composure and intensity were the watchwords.

Their two goals evidenced differing qualities, Luis Diaz’s equaliser reward for both the winger's opportunism and persistence from the Reds in keeping the ball alive at