Liverpool will be looking to bounce back from their 3-1 defeat to Brentford in the Premier League, as they travel down to Brighton to face the Seagulls on Saturday afternoon.
The Reds also only managed a 2-2 draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Cup Third Round since their last league tie.
Form:
Jurgen Klopp’s side were actually on a good run of results, not necessarily performances, before the loss at Brentford.
With four wins on the bounce against Tottenham, Southampton, Aston Villa and Leicester City, the Reds couldn’t stop the sting of the bees.
Liverpool now sit 7th in the Premier League, after Fulham beat Chelsea 2-1 last night to move above the Reds.
In contrast, Brighton are looking extremely strong at the minute with four wins in their last six games in the Premier League leaving them just one point behind Liverpool in 8th place.
Last time out in the Premier League, Brighton smashed Liverpool’s Merseyside rivals Everton 4-1 at Goodison Park and in truth, it could have been a lot worse for the Toffees.
The Seagulls then followed that win up with a 5-1 demolition of high-flying Middlesbrough in the FA Cup Third Round.
Players to watch:
For Liverpool, expect Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah to put in a bright performance at the weekend.
Trent has four assists in his last four games, whereas Mo Salah has two goals and two assists in the same number of games.
There are plenty of players to choose from for Brighton, Solly March and Alexis MacAllister are both in fine form.
March has provided a much needed creative spark to De Zerbi’s side as well as a finishing touch on a few occasions lately.
Of course, MacAllister is still just off the back of contributing largely to Argentina’s World Cup triumph and celebrated his homecoming with two goals against Middlesbrough last time out.
Honourable mentions to both Kaoru Mitoma and Evan Ferguson who are both in fine form in front of goal, as well as Liverpool linked Moises Caicedo who is running things in midfield.
Team News:
Liverpool are definitely without Virgil Van Dijk, Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, Roberto Firmino and Arthur Melo for their trip to the Seaside on Saturday.
Darwin Nunez is also a serious doubt for the game, after missing training with a ‘minor injury’ on Thursday.
James Milner and Stefan Bajcetic should be available to return to first-team selection after recent injuries.
Brighton are facing no injuries ahead of the game, but De Zerbi has confirmed that Leandro Trossard will not be selected in the matchday squad as he continues to train away from the first-team.
Prediction:
I think this could be a really difficult game for Liverpool and I expect quite a few goals in this one.
I’m gonna go with Brighton 2-2 Liverpool, with Salah scoring both goals for the Reds.