Fresh from their historic thumping of Manchester United at Old Trafford, Liverpool resume Premier League duties with Saturday's visit of Brighton & Hove Albion.
While Jurgen Klopp's side were scoring for fun at the Theatre of Dreams, the Seagulls were on the opposite end of a 4-1 thrashing to the other Manchester club.
Match preview
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Scintillating. Breathtaking. Phenomenal. Words that could be used to describe Liverpool as a whole or Mohamed Salah alone, as football aficionados run out of words to describe the record-breaking attacker after his three-goal showing at Old Trafford.
Naby Keita and Diogo Jota also made the net ripple against Man United - who also saw Paul Pogba sent for an early bath - as Liverpool's remarkable goalscoring rate continued in a game that did not quite cost Ole Gunnar Solskjaer his job in the Old Trafford dugout.
A much-changed Liverpool side struggled to score for an hour against Preston North End in Wednesday's EFL Cup clash before Takumi Minamino's outstretched leg helped his side break the deadlock, while a cheeky Divock Origi scorpion kick put the tie to bed as Liverpool advanced to the quarter-finals.
Seeking to stretch their unbeaten Premier League run to 20 matches this weekend, Liverpool remain second in the table - one point behind leaders Chelsea - and Klopp's side have scored at least two goals in 13 of their last 14 top-flight encounters during that remarkable run.
All in all, Liverpool's stunning rate of scoring at least two goals per game has now stretched to 11 successive matches in all competitions, but only eight of their 27 league strikes this term have come at Anfield, where Brighton have pleasant memories of last season's battle.
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Brighton's resilience in the early stages of the 2021-22 season has certainly been admirable, but the results have not been coming for Graham Potter's side in the last few weeks, as Man City ran riot at the Etihad Stadium in gameweek nine.
Phil Foden starred with a brace while Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez also got in on the act, and the Seagulls' hopes of an EFL Cup run were also dashed in midweek, as Leicester City prevailed on penalties following a 2-2 draw in that last-16 tie.
Now winless in five across all competitions, Brighton are just about managing to cling on to fifth spot in the table but are level on points with Tottenham Hotspur, while Arsenal, Leicester City, Everton and Manchester United are all within touching distance as well.
However, the Seagulls can take solace in the fact that their unbeaten away run in the 2021-22 Premier League is still intact - taking eight points from their four road fixtures so far - and they have only conceded twice on the road in that solid streak.
A Steven Alzate winner saw Brighton march to a memorable 1-0 win at Anfield in the Premier League last term, and they also held the Reds to a 1-1 draw at the Amex last November in a game that was remembered more for Klopp's post-match rant at Des Kelly.
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Team News
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Liverpool are facing an injury crisis in midfield ahead of this game, with Thiago Alcantara, James Milner and Harvey Elliott set to miss out while Fabinho and Keita are uncertain, but the latter has a stronger chance of returning.
As a result, Jordan Henderson could be joined by Curtis Jones and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the engine room, while Caoimhin Kelleher is ill but was never likely to earn the gloves anyway.
Jota and Roberto Firmino are both well-rested, but Klopp also has next week's battle with Atletico Madrid to keep in mind, so the latter may be kept fit for that battle.
As for Brighton, last year's match-winner at Anfield Alzate is out until 2022 as he recovers from surgery, while Danny Welbeck is Potter's second long-term injury concern.
Dan Burn was forced to make way against Leicester in midweek, and there are fears that the defender could be out for a substantial period of time as well, but Adam Webster has made a timely return to action.
Adam Lallana is in line to start against his former club after being granted a complete rest in midweek, as Marc Cucurella and Neal Maupay also return to the first XI.
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Jones, Henderson, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Salah, Jota, Mane
Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:
Sanchez; Dunk, Duffy, Webster; Veltman, Gross, Lallana, Moder, Cucurella; Trossard, Maupay
We say: Liverpool 3-0 Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton have proven to be a tough nut to crack away from home this term, while Liverpool have become renowned for their goalscoring exploits on rival territory more so than at Anfield.
However, the Seagulls have lost a good chunk of momentum in recent weeks, and we expect Klopp's well-rested big-hitters to help steer the hosts to a resounding win.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Liverpool win with a probability of 60.69%. A draw had a probability of 22.3% and a win for Brighton & Hove Albion had a probability of 17.05%.
The most likely scoreline for a Liverpool win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.25%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (11.34%) and 2-1 (9.8%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.58%), while for a Brighton & Hove Albion win it was 0-1 (5.72%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 4.2% likelihood.
