Verdict: Away win
Best odds: 1/2
Bookmaker: 888sport
After what’s been an eventful week when it comes to English football, the Premier League rolls on in the face of all the controversy, and the first match on Saturday will be played at the Amex where Brighton and Hove Albion will be welcoming Liverpool.
Brighton and Hove Albion
Brighton have enjoyed a fine season. For a while they were certainly the greatest positive surprise the Premier League had produced this term, it even looked as if they might in the end secure a place in Europe for next season.
However, their form didn’t hold out long enough for something like that to happen, and they’re currently in 13th place in the table with 33 points from 27 matches. They’re still pretty comfortable regarding potential relegation (Burnley top the red zone with 21 points) and that’s probably the very thing they had hoped for at this point before the season started.
Nonetheless, Graham Potter has been widely lauded as an exciting manager, a great prospect in the game, and has already been linked with several top clubs.
All that aside, the Seagulls recent form makes a grim read for their supporters at the moment. They lost five of their last six matches in all competitions, starting with the exit from the FA Cup at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur in the fourth round by 3-1 in North London. A brief respite followed as they triumphed 0-2 away to Watford, but then came defeats: 2-0 away to Manchester United, 0-3 at home to Burnley, 0-2 at home to Aston Villa, and 2-1 away to Newcastle.
Team News
Centre-back Adam Webster has been ruled out with injury, while midfielder Enock Mwepu, a goalscorer at Anfield, and 19-year-old winger Jeremy Sarmiento are huge doubts.
Players who could come back into the fold are former Liverpool man Adam Lallana and Yves Bissouma, which would obviously improve Potter’s selection in the middle of the park significantly. Upfront, Neal Maupay could come in at the expense of Danny Welbeck from the last game, with Tariq Lamptey and Leandro Trossard by his side.
Liverpool
Having narrowly secured a place in the Champions League quarterfinals at the expense of Inter Milan, Liverpool enter this weekend with mixed feelings from that encounter. Nonetheless, they desperately need the three points to maintain a realistic chance in the Premier League title race, and Brighton’s poor recent form probably makes this a perfect moment for the Reds to get some revenge on the hosts after the Seagulls produced a stunning comeback to leave Anfield undefeated earlier in the season.
Liverpool are sitting second to Manchester City at the moment, with a six-point gap to overcome, but they have a game in hand on the defending champions. It’ll probably be exciting right down to the final round of the season.
Meanwhile, Jurgen Klopp’s men have already secured one trophy this season, beating Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final last month.
Liverpool’s recent form has been very good. Their last-six run consists of a 3-1 win at home over Norwich City, a 6-0 thrashing of Leeds United at home, the goalless cup final which ended in a win over Chelsea on penalties, a 2-1 win over Norwich in the FA Cup, a 1-0 home triumph over West Ham, and a 0-1 home defeat to Inter in the second leg of their Champions League clash (they had won the first leg in Milan by 0-2).
Team News
It’ll be very interesting to see the lineup Klopp names for this clash, considering he’s got the full squad at his disposal. Forward Mohamed Salah, centre-back Virgil van Dijk, right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, midfielder Fabinho and Alisson Becker in goal are nailed on to start, but the other six positions are up for grabs.
Kostas Tsimikas has proven a worthy backup for Andy Robertson on the left defensive flank, the remaining centre-back position will likely be between Joel Matip and Ibrahima Konate, and the two places in midfield will be decided between Jordan Henderson, Thiago Alcantara, James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Naby Keita, Harvey Elliott and Curtis Jones. Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz, Takumi Minamino and Divock Origi will all be hoping to accompany Salah upfront.
UPDATE:
Speaking to the press ahead of the match, Klopp has revealed that there have been COVID-19 issues in Liverpool’s ranks, but he didn’t give any names.
Conclusion
Brighton did manage to run away from Anfield with a point for their effort, but this time Liverpool will surely put their foot down and look to settle this contest in their favour with minimal fuss.
Verdict: Away win
Best odds: 1/2
Bookmaker: 888sport
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