Liverpool travel to the Amex Stadium on Saturday 14th January to face Brighton & Hove Albion in a 3pm kickoff in the Premier League.
With victory, Brighton & Hove Albion can leapfrog Liverpool in the Premier League table and climb into seventh position, while Liverpool can also climb the table, momentarily into sixth with an away victory, as Fulham visit Newcastle on Sunday afternoon.
BUILD UP
The Seagulls enter the game following a 5-1 thumping over Middlesbrough in the third round of the FA Cup, while Jurgen Klopp’s side were held to a 2-2 stalemate with Wolves at Anfield following a controversial VAR call.
Brighton struck early in their emphatic win over Boro through Pascal Gross, moments before an equalizer from Chuba Akpom. Former Liverpool-man Adam Lallana, Deniz Undav and a double from Alexis Mac Allister ensured De Zerbi’s side advanced to the fourth round to set-up a tie with Liverpool or Wolves.
In their last Premier League outing, Brighton crushed Everton 4-1 at Goodison Park in a dominant victory. In each of Brighton's last seven Premier League games, both teams have scored. Their last league win at the Amex was in October - a 4-1 demolition of Chelsea, highlighting their problems in home fixtures recently.
Liverpool find themselves lucky to have not lost to Wolves at Anfield as the VAR cameras were not fully operating, leading to the referee agreeing with the linesman’s on-field decision, to disallow Toti’s winner, in what looked a certain goal.
Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah were on the scoresheet for the Reds on Saturday evening but the two goals were not enough for the Merseyside club to advance to the fourth round, resulting in a cup replay to be played on 17th January.
Following a similar pattern to that of their hosts, Liverpool have also scored and conceded in each of their last six games in all tournaments.
FORM
Brighton & Hove Albion Premier League form:
W W L W L W
Brighton & Hove Albion form (all competitions):
D L W LW W
Liverpool Premier League form:
L W W W W L
Liverpool form (all competitions):
W L W WL D
TEAM NEWS
Brighton
Roberto De Zerbi has ruled out a Leandro Trossard appearance due to his current attitude towards a transfer move away from the South-coast amid interest from Tottenham Hotspur. The other absentee is Jakub Moder due to his ACL injury. Alexis Mac Allister is set to return to the starting lineup for Brighton, replacing Adam Lallana. Evan Ferguson is expected to retain his spot up front.
Absentees:
· Jakub Moder (ACL)
· Leandro Trossard (Discipline)
Liverpool
There continues to be a long list of injuries for Liverpool this season – among those is Virgil Van Dijk, who will be missed against Brighton’s swift attacks. The defender is set to be out of action until mid-February. Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota and Arthur Melo are all still recovering from their injuries and are unavailable for selection. Darwin Nunez is a doubt for the game after sustaining a minor hamstring injury, while Roberto Firmino has suffered a setback in his recovery from a calf issue. James Milner has returned to training and is in contention to feature. A positive for the Reds is Cody Gakpo being expected to make his Premier League debut.
Absentees:
· Virgil Van Dijk (Hamstring)
· Arthur (Thigh)
· Luis Diaz (Knee)
· Diogo Jota (Calf)
· Darwin Nunez (Hamstring)
· Roberto Firmino (Calf)
Brighton Predicted XI: Robert Sanchez (GK); Tariq Lamptey, Lewis Dunk, Adam Webster, Pervis Estupinan, Moises Caicedo, Pascal Gross, Alexis Mac Allister, Kaoru Mitoma, Evan Ferguson.
Liverpool Predicted XI: Alisson (GK); Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joel Matip, Ibrahima Konate, Andrew Robertson; Fabinho, Jordan Henderson, Thiago Alcantara; Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Brighton record vs Liverpool: 5W-11D-20L
Brighton have won just one of their 11 Premier League games against Liverpool, drawing three and losing seven.
Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 10 away league games against Brighton (5W D5), winning four of their last five at the Amex Stadium.
Liverpool have lost three of their last seven Premier League games.
Leandro Trossard scored a hat-trick in the reverse fixture in September in a 3-3 draw at Anfield.
MATCH OFFICIALS
Darren England – Referee
Dan Robathan – Assistant Referee
Wade Smith – Assistant Referee
Tim Robinson – Fourth Official
Neil Swarbrick – VAR
Timothy Wood – Assistant VAR
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