Brighton vs. Liverpool
Venue: Amex Stadium
Kick off: 4PM
Brighton & Hove Albion play host to Liverpool in the Premier League this afternoon looking to extend their unbeaten run in all competitions to five matches.
Liverpool make the journey to the Amex Stadium looking for a positive response after suffering back-to-back defeats to Manchester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The disappointment of surrendering a 21-game unbeaten record in the Premier League and suffering a second early exit in a cup competition this season has the potential to linger at Anfield as Jurgen Klopp looks to win his first trophy with Liverpool.
However, losing a hard-fought game at rivals Manchester City will only further motivate the club’s first-team squad to get back to winning ways, and being edged out by Wolves in the FA Cup has freed up space on what could have been a demanding fixture schedule during the closing months of the campaign.
No manager will like losing any game of football but behind the scenes, Klopp will be keen to look at the successive setbacks in a positive light and it may make his job easier going forward.
Klopp’s position in the dugout at Anfield is effectively untouchable, but there is an increasing demand for success and an argument that this could be Liverpool’s best chance to win a Premier League title for some time.
A four-point gap remains between Liverpool and Man City and with Klopp’s men playing earlier than City over the next two weekends, there is an opportunity to increase the pressure on Pep Guardiola’s side.
Liverpool have also been provided with a favourable run of fixtures from this weekend until February 24, with the game at Manchester United representing their next showdown against an established top-six club.
Man City face Arsenal and Chelsea over the same period, and a maximum return for Liverpool over the next six weeks could potentially leave them in a stronger position ahead of the trip to Old Trafford.
Injury issues in defence could possibly cause problems for Klopp, but this is a team who have scored in every domestic fixture this season aside from their stalemate at home to City in October.
Brighton possible XI: Button, Montoya, Dunk, Duffy, Bong, March, Stephens, Gross, Propper, Locadia, Murray.
Liverpool possible XI: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho, Van Dijk, Robertson, Henderson, Wijnaldum, Shaqiri, Firmino, Mane, Salah.