Did Albion really play that well at Anfield - or did they get away lightly?

That felt like a relevant question in the cold light of a wet and grey Easter Monday morning on Merseyside.

By then, the mild excitement and reassuring feelgood of that bright finale from the Seagulls had faded and been put into context.

The answer to the question was probably: A bit of both.

Let’s be clear. There was a LOT to appreciate in the way Roberto De Zerbi’s side set about upsetting the title race.

A huge amount of effort and work, good organisation, some real quality under pressure and a great strike from Danny Welbeck.

They had Anfield feeling uneasy - howling for decisions and calling for the final whistle.

David Coote umpires in the Nottinghamshire Premier League as a hobby and one wonders whether his mind wandered to the tranquillity of the summer game as he was booed off by an Anfield crowd claiming injustice.

Albion had time to plan this game and they set up differently.

Jurgen Klopp spoke about his side having more, and better, possession than in any previous game against De Zerbi’s side.

But De Zerbi said he changed his normal gameplan and was happy for Liverpool to have that possession.

Some players in blue and white had their best games in a while - or yet.

Four members of that starting XI are in their first Premier League seasons and a fifth, Jakub Moder, has barely played for two years.

Moder, Carlos Baleba and Jan Paul van Hecke can all point to very pleasing individual performances as part of their overall development.

De Zerbi said: “We could play better in terms of quality, in terms of style of play but it’s tough because Baleba (was born in) 2004, Jakub it’s the second time he played in that position.

“(Tariq) Lamptey is not a real winger and we couldn’t play with more quality.”

It looked for half an hour as is they was going to be a memorable afternoon for Simon Adingra but his threat was snuffed out.

Adingra’s first-half performance felt better watching it in the stadium than it did seeing it back on TV.

That is probably because, in the stadium, you could feel the unease around you whenever he got the ball in that first half-hour.

You weren’t zooming in with the cameras.

You had a constant wide angle and could see the space in behind beckoning him if he just managed to evade one tackle.

So lots about which to be proud and pleased.

Although he played in an inadvertent part in the equaliser, the decision to start with Joel Veltman felt like a sensible one.

There were a couple of times when Liverpool broke from Albion corners and the Dutchman either stopped them or delayed them just enough.

And he played a huge part in the chance from which Adam Lallana almost levelled.

Bart Verbruggen gave another of the various reasons to be encouraged.

Valentin Barco made his Premier League debut - on down the left flank ahead of Ansu Fati.

It felt like Roberto De Zerbi wanted Barco to whip in crosses with both Evan Ferguson and Danny Welbeck on the field.

All very creditable. But De Zerbi and his squad want to go to Anfield with a strong team and they want to win there.

(Cue comparisons about which players were missing from the two teams and who was hardest hit).

Maybe the late push for an equaliser - the sights and sounds of this much-changed Albion side troubling Liverpool - gave too much of an afterglow.

Of course, De Zerbi was asked about his comments regarding his future during a brief post-match press conference in quite a weirdly set-up media room.

(We were all sat about ten yards back and could barely hear RDZ at times as he spoke quite quietly during to a somewhat subdued mood).

He said how much he would love to go to Anfield with all his players and try to beat Liverpool.

De Zerbi was told by a reporter from Merseyside that some of his recent comments might make people think he was difficult to work with and maybe that was unfair.

He did not really answer that one but that was the point when he spoke about there being no need to extend his contract.

It was actually in his general answer about the game that he dropped another hint about what he wants for next season.

Having initially spoken about his disappointment at the result, he added: “I think we have to be happy and we have to be proud for the performance because playing without seven injured players and very important players and competing how we did for Brighton is great.”

Listening back, that felt a bit like damning with faint praise.

Or maybe just being realistic given the opposition and his selection problems.

So ended another eventful Albion weekend.

How did we manage during those 16 days without a match or press conference?

De Zerbi was in cheerful mood on Saturday, by the way. Not downbeat or miserable.

He walked into the media room with fitness coach Vincenzo Teresa and asked whether we would rather talk to him instead.

It was all light-hearted and jokey.

But it turned out De Zerbi himself had plenty to say.

What his team did on the pitch said a lot about his coaching, tactics, selection and the belief he has developed.

They went to Anfield without seven players on a Super Sunday which was all about the top three and, yes, there were times when it looked they might be hammered.

But they might have got a point.

Maybe it was Liverpool who got away with one.