Preview: Brighton & Hove Albion vs Liverpool – prediction, team news, line-ups

Connoisseurs of action-packed football will look forward to Sunday afternoon when Brighton & Hove Albion and Liverpool lock horns in a handsome-looking Premier League fixture at the Amex Stadium.

Brighton headed into their midweek Europa League clash against French giants Marseille in dire need of any encouraging result following a 6-1 rout at the hands of Aston Villa last weekend.

For the first time in their Premier League history, the Seagulls capitulated six times in a single game en route to relinquishing a three-match winning league streak, leaving Roberto De Zerbi deflated.

The Italian’s troops were seemingly on course to suffer another disappointment after finding themselves 2-0 down at the Stade Velodrome inside the opening 20 minutes of play. 

However, second-half goals from Pascal Gross and Joao Pedro salvaged a late 2-2 draw for Brighton, helping them get their first-ever point in major European competition. 

De Zerbi will hope his men could use that morale-boosting result in France as a springboard for their bid to post back-to-back Premier League wins over Liverpool for the first time. 

Jurgen Klopp’s side were on the receiving end of a 3-0 scoreline on their last visit to the Amex in January. But they’ve since turned their fortunes around in remarkable fashion.

Despite a catalogue of misses in Thursday’s Europa League home clash against Belgian outfit Royale Union Saint-Gilloise, Liverpool claimed a 2-0 win to retain their place atop Group E.

Another landslide victory at Anfield served to reinvigorate the Reds after referee Darren England’s scandalous mistake condemned them to a 2-1 loss at Tottenham Hotspur last weekend. 

Klopp’s faint attempts to force the Premier League to consider the game null and void will probably lead nowhere, with his side looking for a fresh start after being knocked down from a 17-match unbeaten league run.

Match Preview

Such has been Brighton’s season that the Amex faithful cannot be sure which version of their side will take the field, yet entertainment looks all but guaranteed. 

The Seagulls’ action-packed draw at Marseille helped them become the first Premier League club in the 21st century to score and concede 20+ goals across their opening ten competitive games.

Every Brighton game in the Premier League this season has featured 4+ goals and both teams on the scoresheet, while they’ve yet to share the spoils in any of their seven outings (W5, L2).

Their last three top-flight matches in East Sussex have yielded an identical 3-1 scoreline (W2, L1), suggesting De Zerbi could oversee another emphatic performance against Liverpool.

The Reds clawed back from a 2-0 deficit to hold Brighton to a thrilling 3-3 draw at Anfield on De Zerbi’s touchline debut in October 2022 before slumping to a horror defeat at the Amex. 

Liverpool didn’t have a solution for the Seagulls’ free-flowing frontline last season, and given their inability to keep an away clean sheet this term, that’s unlikely to change come Sunday.

Klopp’s men have capitulated on all five travels in all competitions this season, but before Joel Matip’s 95th-minute own goal against Tottenham, they hadn’t conceded more than once. 

However, their attacking set-up has worked wonders, netting multiple goals in eight of their nine competitive matches since a 1-1 opening-day draw against Chelsea. 

Team News

Long-term absentees Julio Enciso and Jakub Moder have got company in the treatment room after Pervis Estupinan sustained an injury in the build-up to Brighton’s trip to Marseille.

Former Liverpool ace Adam Lallana is facing the race against time to recover from a fitness problem and face his ex-comrades. 

Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota received red cards against Tottenham and will be unavailable for selection in the Reds camp.

Klopp lost Cody Gakpo to a knee injury against Royale Union SG, with the Dutchman joining Stefan Bajcetic and Thiago Alcantara on the sidelines.

Brighton & Hove Albion potential starting line-up:

(4-2-3-1): Bart Verbruggen; Joel Veltman, Lewis Dunk, Adam Webster, Tariq Lamptey; Billy Gilmour, Pascal Gross; Solly March, Joao Pedro, Kaoru Mitoma; Evan Ferguson.

Liverpool potential starting line-up:

(4-3-3): Alisson; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joel Matip, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson; Dominic Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch; Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz. 

We Say: Brighton & Hove Albion 2-2 Liverpool

With none of Brighton’s league games in 2023/24 ending level, now looks to be a perfect time to buck that trend. 

Since both sides are prone to conceding cheap goals but remain more than capable of scoring in abundance, we expect an enthralling contest.