Reuniting three days on from a five-goal thriller in the EFL Cup, Liverpool and Brighton & Hove Albion vie for precious Premier League points at Anfield on Saturday afternoon.
The Reds conquered Fabian Hurzeler's side 3-2 in Wednesday's last-16 knockout clash, but last weekend's 2-2 draw with Arsenal left Arne Slot's men trailing Manchester City in the top-flight standings.
Match preview
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As is customary with Big Six sides, the consensus from supporters was that an early EFL Cup exit would not have been disastrous for defending champions Liverpool, but the Reds remain on course for a record-extending 11th crown thanks to their successful South Coast feats.
Continuing his love affair with the EFL Cup, Dutch hotshot Cody Gakpo scored his third and fourth goals of the 2024-25 tournament with a pair of powerful second-half strikes, before Luis Diaz ensured that Simon Adingra and Tariq Lamptey's goals would only be mere consolations.
Before attention turns to a quarter-final trip to Southampton, Slot's men have a daunting November schedule to navigate; the international break will provide some respite, but the Reds must also pit their wits against Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid in a pair of colossal Champions League ties over the next few weeks.
The Merseyside titans lost their grip on first place in the Premier League table owing to last weekend's four-goal stalemate with Arsenal, where they came from behind twice to snatch a point, but they will reclaim top spot if they can better Manchester City's result against Bournemouth.
Slot's only competitive setback so far may have come at home to Nottingham Forest in September, but Liverpool have strung together a four-game winning sequence at Anfield since that shock 1-0 defeat, scoring multiple goals in each of those wins against Chelsea, Bologna, West Ham United and Bournemouth.
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Brighton had a couple of Jarell Quansah misdemeanours to thank for their pair of responses in Wednesday's EFL Cup tie, but their second-half defensive collapse ultimately proved costly, just as it did against Wolverhampton Wanderers in Premier League gameweek nine.
Danny Welbeck and Evan Ferguson had ostensibly propelled the Seagulls to a routine win over Gary O'Neil's team, but Wolves bit back hard as Rayan Ait-Nouri cut the deficit in half before a last-gasp, deflected Matheus Cunha strike triggered pandemonium in the away end.
Mats Wieffer - who reunites with his former Feyenoord boss Slot this weekend - was the guilty party in injury time, squandering a four-on-one attacking situation before Cunha denied Brighton a third straight Premier League win, which would have taken them into the top four.
The visitors' sixth-placed standing under the Premier League's youngest-ever permanent manager is still commendable, as is their commitment to entertaining the neutrals; Brighton's last seven games have seen a total of 30 goals at an average of over four per match.
That seven-game streak has seen Brighton both score at least twice and concede at least twice in six of those contests, and Wednesday's loss was just their third defeat in their last 10 matches against Liverpool, although one of the other two was a 2-1 reverse in this exact fixture in 2023-24.
Team News
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One player exited the Liverpool infirmary before the EFL Cup success over Brighton, as Conor Bradley came through the full 90 in midweek, but Harvey Elliott (foot), Diogo Jota (abdominal), Federico Chiesa (fitness) and Alisson Becker (hamstring) are still out.
Slot is not expecting any member of the injured quartet back before the international break - he offered a one-word reply of "no" when asked if Jota will return within the next two weeks - but he is not exactly bereft of options for change.
The Dutchman rotated heavily in midweek and will now recall Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Darwin Nunez and Alexis Mac Allister to the starting lineup to name but a few, and it will be interesting to see whether Kostas Tsimikas is given the nod at left-back over Andy Robertson, who started against both Arsenal and Brighton.
Meanwhile, Brighton's defensive efforts against Liverpool on Wednesday were not helped by the absence of Lewis Dunk, who hurt his calf in the warm-up to the Wolves draw, and a question mark is hanging over his head for Saturday's match too.
However, Matt O'Riley (ankle) and Joao Pedro (ankle) are training again and might be involved, but all of Solly March (knee), James Milner (thigh) and Adam Webster (thigh) are confined to the visitors' infirmary, while the status of Yankuba Minteh (muscle) is up in the air.
Georginio Rutter is also available again after being cup-tied in midweek and could reprise his attacking partnership with Danny Welbeck, while Jack Hinshelwood battled back from a minor injury to come off the bench on Wednesday and may slot straight back into midfield.
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Kelleher; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; Mac Allister, Gravenberch; Salah, Szoboszlai, Gakpo; Nunez
Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:
Verbruggen; Veltman, Van Hecke, Igor, Estupinan; Adingra, Hinshelwood, Baleba, Mitoma; Rutter, Welbeck
We say: Liverpool 3-1 Brighton & Hove Albion
Goals at both ends of the pitch are usually a guarantee whenever Hurzeler's Brighton are involved, but the Seagulls' attacking success in midweek should mean little against the meanest defence that the Premier League has to offer.
As Slot is likely to revert to his strongest possible XI - even with Bayer Leverkusen on the horizon - Liverpool should return to winning ways in the Premier League with relative ease.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ben Knapton
