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Brighton v Liverpool – Match Preview

Karolina Kurek

On Sunday afternoon, Jurgen Klopp takes his side down to the southeast of England for the fourth round of the Emirates FA Cup. The clash with Brighton won’t be a walk in the park for the travelling Reds but a real battle for a desired place in the last eight.

Overview

Liverpool proceed to the contest on the back a goalless draw with Chelsea. On the positive note, it was the second consecutive clean sheet for the Reds. The last time the Merseysiders managed to achieve such feat was in October after narrow victories to West Ham and Manchester City.

Liverpool were gasping for a replay with the out-of-form Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield to find the winner following a 2-2 draw at Anfield. The Reds edged Wolves out 1-0 in the replay to advance to the next round, keeping their hopes of defending this cup alive. Other than that, Jürgen Klopp’s team fell short of ideal and were toothless.

The change at the helm hasn’t affected Brighton’s performance this season, instead it’s reinforced them collectively. Roberto De Zerbi came to the Premier League side for a reason.

The Seagulls progressed to round four in emphatic fashion, they outplayed Middlesbrough 5:1 at Riverside Stadium. The result speaks volumes about Brighton’s form at away grounds. They rate fifth in the Premier League standings for the highest number of away points claimed. At home, they are slightly worse off as they rate 13th. Though it shouldn’t be an unsettling indicator. Brighton have been unbeaten in all competitions for four games.

Team News

Klopp has offered an update of our long-term absentees during the media duties. To put it simply, we need to stay patient as recovery from some injuries is a long-standing process that requires more time.

Luis Diaz (knee), Roberto Firmino (calf), Arthur (thigh) Diogo Jota (calf) and Virgil van Dijk (hamstring) will remain sidelined. Unfortunately, Nathaniel Philips and Fabio Carvalho will join them. The former is the latest defender that has been ruled out of the contest and will miss out due to a proper cold whereas the midfielder will be out with an unspecified issue.

James Milner could return to the line-up. The gaffer confirmed that the 37-year-old had missed one training session due to personal reasons.

For Brighton, Jakub Moder (knee) and Levi Colwill (quadriceps) are long-term absentees and will spend an extended time in the treatment room. Former Red player, Adam Lallana is currently healing a muscular problem and is deemed a doubt. I don’t think Roberto de Zerbi will take any risk in terms of fielding the Englishman in the starting line-up should he not be 100 percent fit.

Head to Head

Liverpool have held a decent record against Brighton at the Amex Stadium until the last clash when they were demolished 3:0 in the Premier League.

Hence, the Reds will aim to make up for that embarrassing result which hopefully was the exception. The previous five meetings between the two at the Amex Stadium ended in three wins, one draw and one defeat for Liverpool.

Are there replays in the FA Cup fourth round?

Should the encounter end in a tie, FA Cup regulation states that a replay will be mandatory.

Summary

For a large portion of this season, I was a huge optimist when it comes to Liverpool’s game improvement. I don’t think we will hit the heights of 2021/22 campaign at any point this season, we will rather struggle until the end of it.

Liverpool were beaten 3-0 by Brighton in January. There shouldn’t be a repeat of such a miserable score, given the improvement of the defensive performance but I wouldn’t back us to end on the winning side. I believe Brighton emerge victorious after a hard-fought clash.

Follow Karolina on Instagram: @96karolinakurek

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