Brighton goalkeeper Mat Ryan denied Liverpool striker Mo Salah a hat-trick with a brilliant late save but couldn't stop the Reds from scoring a 3-1 win in the EPL on Wednesday.
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Liverpool made it 30 wins - the fastest team in English football history to do so in a season - and need three more victories to set a new EPL record for most points.
Jordan Henderson scored in the eighth minute to add to Salah's sixth-minute strike to give the visitors a commanding 2-0 lead.
But Brighton replied just before halftime through Leandro Trossard, before Salah secured the points in the 76th minute.
Salah's brace took him to 19 league goals for the campaign, three behind leading goalscorer Jamie Vardy, but he was coy when asked about his chances of claiming the Golden Boot.
"Let's take it game by game," he told Sky Sports after winning the award in 2017-18, and 2018-2019 with teammate Sadio Mane.
At the Etihad, Manchester City rediscovered their scoring prowess with a dominant 5-0 win against Newcastle United.
Pep Guardiola's side bounced back from Sunday's 1-0 defeat to Southampton by overpowering Newcastle's defence with Gabriel Jesus and Riyad Mahrez scoring in the first 21 minutes.
Newcastle's Federico Fernandez added an own goal to Manchester City's tally on 58 minutes before David Silva's sublime free-kick and Raheem Sterling's stoppage time tap-in finished Newcastle off.
Asked what he liked about his side's performance, Guardiola' told BT Sport: "Everything. The commitment, we played well, the same level as the last game.
"It was another good performance and today, we scored the goals that we missed in the last game.
"But the team is always there. We are preparing for the games against Arsenal and Madrid."
Chris Wilder's Sheffield United earned a huge boost to their European qualification hopes after John Egan scored a last-minute winner for a 1-0 win against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The result lifts the Blades up to seventh with 51 points, just one behind Wolves in sixth, and Sheffield's current position could be enough to earn them a spot in next season's UEFA Europa League.
Wolves' loss followed defeat to Arsenal and completed a chastening five-day span during which they may have played themselves out of Champions League contention.
Elsewhere, Burnley moved up to ninth in the table by winning 1-0 at relegation candidates West Ham thanks to Jay Rodriguez's 38th minute header.
West Ham are just four points clear of the relegation zone in 16th on 31 points while ninth-placed Burnley have racked up 49 points.
Australian Associated Press
