Brighton and Hove Albion leapfrogged Liverpool to go seventh in the Premier League table as Solly March’s well-taken brace early in the second half and substitute Danny Welbeck’s stylish late strike secured a well-earned 3-0 success.
The south coast side were a largely dominant force throughout, enjoying 62% of possession and registering nine shots on-target to their opponents’ two.
It may have been goalless at half-time, but the hosts swiftly went about making their good work pay after the restart. That’s now four wins in five for them in all competitions, while their free-flowing brand of football continues to draw an increasing number of admirers.
De Zerbi was winless in his first five matches at the club, but his impact is now evident in the results as well as the performances.
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De Zerbi praises his "fantastic team"
The Italian boss – whose first game in charge was the Anfield reverse fixture on 1st October, which finished 3-3 – was evidently delighted by what he saw.
Interestingly, he also highlighted a slight tweak that Liverpool made to their 4-3-3 shape.
“We are really happy for the result, for the quality of play,” said the 43-year-old when speaking to MyAlbionTV post-match.
“We expected another tactical disposition of the opponent but we understood immediately the different situation and we played a fantastic game.
“I have a fantastic team, with fantastic players and, for me, it is an honour to work with them.”
He was then asked about how this game compared to the experience of his Premier League debut at Anfield, which he described as “one of the best moments in my life” during Friday’s pre-match press conference.
“Yes, both are very important moments for me, but are very different, because in Anfield was my first game in Premier League.
“Different country, different language, different players. And now I’m getting to working here and, for this, it’s different.”
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Klopp acknowledges "a really low point"
For Liverpool, meanwhile, this result – a sixth league defeat of the season – represented the latest blow within a testing campaign.
They sit ninth, at time of writing, after Brentford’s 2-0 victory over Bournemouth on Saturday evening saw the Bees climb above them.
Having netted impressively in last weekend's 2-2 FA Cup draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers, Darwin Núñez was absent for this one, courtesy of an unspecified injury issue.
Even though it appears likely to be a short-term problem, that made the Uruguayan forward the latest in a long line of iinjury absentees at Anfield. Luis Díaz, Diogo Jota, Roberto Firmino and Virgil van Dijk are among those who are also currently sidelined.
Still, the drop off in performance levels when compared to last season’s quadruple push – and, indeed, much of the last five years or so – remains stark.
Good chances fell to Mohamed Salah and new signing Cody Gakpo, but Brighton never truly looked likely to relinquish control.
Klopp was quick to praise the opposition in his post-match press conference, before discussing some of the reasons why he felt his side endured such a disappointing afternoon.
“Congratulations to Brighton, they played an outstanding game,” said the German. “I really thought, in moments, we made it a little bit too easy for them but, in general, they played outstanding and we not.
“We tried to help the boys with slightly different organisation. I actually thought it could have worked pretty well. We had moments where it worked well, where we put them under pressure.
“But, in all situations where we won the ball, we lose the ball in the moment much too easy. So, it means we never get something going.”
The 55-year-old was then asked about the observation, which he made in his press conference after last Saturday’s Wolves draw, that his players weren’t winning enough challenges.
“Yeah of course, it’s something I don’t like. But it’s not that I think ‘Oh, you don’t win challenges’. It’s my job to organise the situation like that, that the boys arrive in the situations where they can have challenges.
“Yes then, of course, I said last week ‘I cannot win a challenge for them,’ that’s true, but it’s my job to organise it that they arrive there in the right moment. It’s my job to make the right lineup, all these things, to set up the right tactics. A lot of things. And I had really nice moments doing that.
“I’m not sure if it’s still because the game is only a few minutes ago, but I can’t remember a worse game. I honestly can’t. And I mean all, not only Liverpool. I can’t remember. And that’s my responsibility. So, yeah, that makes it a really low point for the moment.”
A low point does feel like an apt description for this particular display and result. There is, though, an evident desire to face up to that and several of the wider issues facing the Reds, at the moment – even if that appears unlikely to be in the form of further January recruitment.
It may seem unhelpful to have an additional game swiftly on the horizon, but Klopp and co might just be pleased to be back in action on Tuesday night when they go to Molineux for the FA Cup third round replay against Wolves.
The winner of that tie will, in fact, travel to face Brighton in the fourth round in late January.
Prior to that cup engagement, the Seagulls’ next outing comes in the Premier League at Leicester City next Saturday.