Liverpool set a new club record against Brighton & Hove Albion at the Amex on Monday (May 19).
Arne Slot left the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andrew Robertson and Luis Diaz on the bench for Monday’s Premier League clash against Brighton.
Bit part players such as Jarell Quansah, Kostas Tsimikas, Conor Bradley, Harvey Elliott and Federico Chiesa filled the void as a sea of red in the away end brought a party atmosphere to the south coast.
And things started well, as Elliott prodded home Bradley’s cut back just nine minutes in.
In doing so, the 22-year-old Fulham academy graduate set a never-before-done club record.
Harvey Elliott scored for Liverpool (Credit:Getty)
Elliott’s goal means the Reds have scored in all 19 of their Premier League away fixtures this season, something previous Liverpool sides have failed to do.
The feat has been achieved just nine times in English football, and only four times in a 20-team league.
In 2001/02, both Arsenal and Manchester United won all 19 away matches, with the Gunners’ 1930/31 side coming away as victors in all 21 of their away games.
Fans were quick to give their thoughts on social media.
One said: “Incredible record. And with just one home game left after this, they just need to score in that, then they’ve scored in almost every home game too!”
Another added: “Champions for a reason.”
A third commented: “And almost all of our home games.”
Slot himself explained how his side’s positive away record “means a lot” during a recent press conference.
“Yeah, it definitely means a lot to me,” said Slot. “I didn’t know the exact numbers. One of the first games we played away, I mentioned this to the players; I showed them their away form in a team meeting in one of the away games [that] I think this we have to improve, one of the things we have to improve – not the only thing – if we want to be able to be there in the end competing for the league.
“That’s what we did really well throughout the whole season, our away form has been good. But our home form has been quite good as well. That’s the only way in a difficult league like this to challenge, because [there are] so many good teams, so many teams are able to win more games in a row. So if you want to win the league over here you need to have both, good away form and good home form.”
Of course, Slot has already achieved a record of his own this season by becoming the first Dutch head coach to win the Premier League.
After tonight, Liverpool’s attention will turn to their final game of the season against Crystal Palace at Anfield on Sunday (May 25), when fans will get to see Reds captain Van Dijk lift the Premier League trophy. The next day, the team will parade the trophy through the streets of the city, where hundreds of thousands of supporters will be gathered.
