Liverpool welcome Brighton & Hove Albion to Anfield in a huge midweek Premier League clash affecting both ends of the table.
Victory would keep Liverpool third whereas Brighton could climb as high as 15th with a win.
Team News
Joel Matip is ruled out for rest of 2020-21 season for Liverpool with ankle ligament damage.
James Milner is a doubt with a hamstring injury which saw him substituted in Sunday’s win at West Ham and could join Sadio Mane (knock), Fabinho (undisclosed), Naby Keita (muscle), Diogo Jota, Joe Gomez and Virgil Van Dijk (all knee) on sidelines.
Brighton could be without Alexis Mac Allister after the midfielder suffered a gluteal injury.
Joel Veltman (knock) is also a doubt and could join Tariq Lamptey (hamstring), Alireza Jahanbakhsh (ankle), Jose Izquierdo, Florian Andone (both knee) and Jason Steele (undisclosed) on sidelines.
Stat Attack
- Liverpool have avoided defeat in seven previous Premier League meetings against Brighton (W6, D1).
- Brighton have scored just one goal in three previous Premier League trips to Anfield (L3).
- Liverpool have picked up the only red card awarded in seven previous Premier League clashes against Brighton, with Alisson sent off during a 2-1 home win in November 2019.
- If Leandro Trossard starts for Brighton, this would be his 50th Premier League appearance since joining the Seagulls in Summer 2019.
- No team has scored more league goals so far this season in England’s top flight than Liverpool, who have managed 43 goals in 21 matches.
Prediction
Liverpool endured a tricky first half at West Ham on Sunday but delivered a clinical second half display to take advantage of poor defensive cover by the Hammers to maximise their free space to full effect.
Brighton though won’t offer any such free space and after such a strong attacking performance in which they stretched Tottenham beyond their wider limits, in turn creating more opportunities than they would of had, I reckon that the Seagulls could well cause some unexpected issues for the Reds here.
This though is Liverpool’s to lose given not just their form in this fixture but also because they do seem to have turned a corner and really could do with a win here to boost their title hopes given the gulf in quality.
Prediction: Liverpool 2-1 Brighton
Result: Liverpool 0-1 Brighton