Brighton & Hove Albion hold Liverpool in the fourth round of the FA Cup at the Amex Stadium on Sunday, looking for a second win over their Merseyside opponents in two weeks.
Liverpool vs Brighton: Preview
The theme of Roberto De Zerbi’s managerial career has been scoring goals at an incredible rate. His Brighton side were merciless during their trip to the Riverside Stadium in the third round of the FA Cup. As Alexis Mac Allister’s brace, along with strikes from Deniz Undav, Adam Lallana, and Pascal Gross, put Boro to the sword.
Finding the back of the net several times at the King Power Stadium would have been a must against a problematic Leicester City team. But the Seagulls’ momentum was disrupted somewhat at the Foxes’ home in the Premier League. As a late Evan Ferguson header salvaged a point in a 2-2 draw.
In what was Jurgen Klopp’s 1,000th game as a manager, the Liverpool manager expressed gratitude that his game did not end in the same manner as Arsene Wenger’s. A 6-0 thrashing at the hands of Chelsea, who had an early Kai Havertz goal ruled out. And could not find the breakthrough despite an eye-catching cameo from Mykhaylo Mudryk.
Except for the long-range Harvey Elliott screamer that sent the defending champions into round four. Additionally, there wasn’t much to write home about in Liverpool’s FA Cup third-round replay with Wolves. Although back-to-back clean sheets will certainly be welcomed by the Anfield faithful ahead of a trip to free-scoring Brighton.
However, Liverpool have failed to go beyond the fourth round in each of their previous three FA Cup outings as defending champions, and they have also been eliminated in this stage in the 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2020-21 editions.
Winning only five games away from home in all competitions this season will not help the Reds’ confidence. And while they thrashed Brighton 6-1 in the 2011-12 FA Cup. Most would expect the Seagulls to score in this match.
Team News
For Liverpool, Virgil van Dijk, Arthur, Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz, and Roberto Firmino are all out due to injury. Klopp has also ruled Fabio Carvalho out due to an unidentified ailment. Nat Phillips is also sick, although he may be able to depart before the end of the month.
While many Premier League clubs will rotate significantly this weekend. Klopp is unlikely to make too many changes. With Trent Alexander-Arnold and Darwin Nunez are expected to earn starts after coming off the bench against Chelsea.
Stefan Bajcetic, an eighteen-year-old midfielder, was recently awarded a new contract. Following his breakout, a Spanish youth will seek to hold Fabinho at bay once more.
Predicted Line-up
Kelleher; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Konate, Robertson; Thiago, Bajcetic, Henderson; Salah, Nunez, Gakpo
What Anfield Home Predicts?
Liverpool’s defensive resilience has improved in recent games. So a repetition of the 3-0 Amex thrashing from two weeks ago seems unlikely. But supporting Klopp’s fragmented team to win is still a hard ask.
Our prediction: Liverpool 2-2 Brighton
