(Video) What Trey Nyoni did on Sunday will have delighted Iraola as much as Liverpool’s goals

Trey Nyoni underlined his burgeoning talent with a vital moment during Liverpool’s 2-o win over Brighton on Sunday.

The teenage midfielder came on in place of Florian Wirtz in the 65th minute after the German twisted his ankle, and it didn’t take him long to produce a piece of brilliance which will have delighted Andoni Iraola as much as the two goals that the Reds scored.

A well-worked move from the Seagulls led to Maxim De Cuyper taking possession just inside the home side’s penalty area, with a clever touch duping the otherwise rock-solid Ronald Araujo.

The Belgian then seemed primed to score from penalty spot range, but Nyoni put in a heroic goal-saving block to clear the danger for Liverpool, earning some enthusiastic congratulations from Jeremy Jacquet once the ball had gone out of play.

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Nyoni looks increasingly at home in LFC’s first team

It’s a sign of how much Nyoni is trusted by Iraola that the 19-year-old has played in nine of our 12 matches so far this season, with almost a third of his senior appearances for the Reds coming in the past two months (Transfermarkt).

As Graeme Bailey explained, the teenager’s emergence was the main reason why Liverpool didn’t pursue a midfielder in the final days of the summer transfer window even after selling Curtis Jones to Inter Milan.

It seemed a very risky standpoint from FSG at the time, but it looks increasingly as though their faith in our number 42 is being vindicated, with the youngster putting in a particularly excellent performance in the recent win away to LASK in the Champions League.

Liverpool Echo reporter Ian Doyle wrote that Nyoni ‘made [a] real difference’ with his defensive contribution after replacing Wirtz against Brighton, with his block from De Cuyper coming just a couple of minutes after entering the pitch.

The teenager ended the game with a perfect pass completion rate of 12/12, won 100% of his duels, made three clearances and lost the ball just twice from 18 touches (Sofascore), getting through a copious amount of work to help the Reds preserve their clean sheet.

Had it not been for his block from De Cuyper, who otherwise would surely have scored, the final 25 minutes at Anfield would’ve been unbearably tense.

With each game that passes, Nyoni looks increasingly at home in the Liverpool first team, and his last-ditch heroics were every bit as important to yesterday’s results as the two goals that his team scored.

You can see Nyoni’s heroic last-ditch block below, via @premierleague on X:

19 years old and rising to the occasion 🌟

🔴 @LFC pic.twitter.com/ym92bQH3fd

— Premier League (@premierleague) October 26, 2026