Premier League leaders Liverpool will be looking to recover from their FA Cup shock exit when they visit Brighton at Amex Stadium on Saturday. The Reds won the reverse fixture 1-0 in August, Mohamed Salah scored the only goal of the match in the first half. That was the fifth consecutive win for Liverpool over Brighton, but also the narrowest one since 2011. Overall, Liverpool have won seven of the last ten direct matches in all competitions, while the Seagulls have not won a match against the Reds since a 2-0 FA Cup triumph all the way back in 1984.
Brighton are on a four-match unbeaten run in all competitions, a good string of results after a three-game losing streak before Christmas. They started 2019 with a 2-2 draw at West Ham, a good result that could have been even better considering that the Seagulls had a 2-0 lead 60 minutes into the match. They followed that up with a good 3-1 victory at Bournemouth in the FA Cup at the weekend, they will face West Brom in the fourth round. The Seagulls are currently thirteenth in the Premier League table, ten points above the relegation zone. They will play without Mat Ryan and Alireza Jahanbakhsh, who are both away at the Asian Cup, while Jose Izquierdo is injured.
Liverpool had a very bumpy start to the new year, first they suffered their first Premier League defeat of the season as they lost 2-1 at title rivals Manchester City and then they suffered a surprising 2-1 FA Cup loss at Wolves on Monday. Manager Jurgen Klopp did employ a somewhat experimental starting eleven in the FA Cup match, but the players that he did send in should have been able to win that game. The Reds still have a four-point advantage over the Citizens at the top of the table, but they can't afford any more slip-ups now. Central defenders Dejan Lovren, Joel Matip and Joe Gomez are all injured, so midfielder Fabinho might be employed as a makeshift defender. Jordan Henderson and Adam Lallana are injury doubts for the away side.
Probable line-ups:
Brighton: Button - Montoya, Dunk, Duffy, Bernardo - March, Stephens, Propper, Locadia - Gross - Murray
Liverpool: Alisson - Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho, Van Dijk, Robertson - Wijnaldum, Henderson, Keita - Salah, Firmino, Mane
My prediction: Liverpool to win 3-1, the Reds have surely woken up after the defeat at Wolves, but Brighton won't be easy to beat.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Brighton win - 9.50
Draw - 5.50
Liverpool win - 1.28
01/11/19, 08:01:09 PM
