Europa League Action Sees Liverpool Win Big And Brighton & Hove Albion Record Historic Victory

Liverpool maintained their perfect record in this season's UEFA Europa League as they thrashed Toulouse 5-1 on Thursday night at Anfield.

Jurgen Klopp's side wasted no time in getting in front in the game as Diogo Jota dropped deep to receive the ball before driving forward and slotting away the opening goal for the home team. However, Liverpool's lead lasted just seven minutes as Thijs Dallinga received the ball with plenty of space ahead of him and pushed forward to grab the equaliser for Toulouse.

Liverpool responded by going back in front on the half-hour mark as Trent Alexander-Arnold played a superb cross into the box, which was met by a header from Wataru Endo. This marked the Japanese international's first goal for Liverpool since joining from VfB Stuttgart this past summer.

Darwin Nunez then extended Liverpool's lead a few minutes later with an emphatic strike into the roof of the net. In the second half, Nunez was involved in Liverpool's fourth goal as his close-range effort towards an open net somehow cannoned off the post and fell into the path of Ryan Gravenberch, who eventually put the ball in the back of the net.

The goal was well deserved for Gravenberch as he put on a fantastic display in the midfield for Liverpool. The Dutchman was replaced by Mohamed Salah for the remaining 20 minutes of the contest and the Egyptian forward also got in on the scoring act as he put away a close-range effort that went in off the crossbar in the dying moments of the game.

On top of Group E with nine points, Liverpool are already in a great position to qualify for the knockout stages and look set to confirm their advancement with group games to spare.

Also, in the Europe League, it was a memorable night for Brighton & Hove Albion as they defeated Ajax 2-0 to record the club's first-ever win in European competition. Prior to Thursday night's win, Roberto De Zerbi's side had lost at home to AEK Athens and drawn away to Marseille in what was a difficult start to the club's inaugural European campaign.

Brighton took the lead against the Dutch side just before halftime as Kaoru Mitoma had his shot parried by Ajax keeper Diant Ramaj, but the ball went straight to Joao Pedro who put away the opening goal of the game. This continued Pedro's brilliant form in Europe this season as it was his fourth goal in just three games.

Not long after the break, Brighton's lead was doubled as Simon Adingra set up Ansu Fati with a terrific pass and the Spanish winger on loan from Barcelona scored with a calm finish into the bottom left corner.

Brighton's win leaves them third in Group B, level on four points with AEK Athens, with the Greek side higher due to the head-to-head record between the two teams.

West Ham United were also in Europa League action on Thursday with David Moyes' side suffering its first defeat in the competition this season, losing 2-1 away to Olympiakos. The Premier League side went a goal down after 33 minutes as Kostas Fortounis scored from an impressive strike from outside the penalty box.

Olympiakos doubled their lead in first-half stoppage time as Rodinei whipped an in-swinging cross from the right-hand side into the penalty area and it was helped in by West Ham's stand-in captain, Angelo Ogbonna. West Ham looked to get back into the contest in the second half but had to wait until the 87^th minute for something to occur as substitute Lucas Paqueta scored through a superb volleyed strike.

West Ham could not find another goal to earn a point and subsequently fell to defeat. Despite the loss, Moyes' side remains on top of Group A with six points, ahead of SC Freiburg who have the same number of points but lost to West Ham on matchday two, so the Premier League side have the better of the head-to-head record.

Elsewhere, Aston Villa were also in action on Thursday, in the UEFA Europa Conference League, where they defeated AZ Alkmaar 4-1 away from home. It was a brilliant performance from Unai Emery's side with all four foals coming before the hour mark.

Leon Bailey and Youri Tielemans netted for Aston Villa in the first half before Ollie Watkins and John McGinn scored early on in the second period. Ibrahim Sadiq pulled a goal back for the Dutch side to deny Emiliano Martinez a clean sheet.

Aston Villa sit second in Group E, level on six points with Legia Warszawa, but behind the Polish side in the head-to-head record between the two, having lost to them on the opening matchday.