Liverpool vs Brighton
England Premier League
Date: Wednesday, 3 February 2021
Kick-Off at 20.15 UK
Venue: Anfield.
Buoyed by a 3-1 win over West Ham United, Liverpool will be looking to melt Man City’s advantage in the Premier League standings when they host Brighton at their Anfield.
Sadio Mane was not missed at all in Sunday’s clash, with Mohamed Salah once again proving his worth.
The Egypt international is likely to prove a handful for Brighton defenders as he has always been impressing in Sadio Mane’s absence.
Roberto Firmino is pushing for a start, while Gomez, Jota, Keita, Matip, and Van Dijk remain sidelined with injuries.
Mane will be assessed ahead of the match. The Seagulls, on the other hand, did well to beat Kane-less Spurs thanks to Trossard’s goal, but they will have a much bigger fish to fry in the midweek clash.
The likes of Andone, Izquierdo, Jahanbakhsh, Lamptey, and Welbeck are all out of contention with injuries.
Liverpool vs Brighton Head-to-head
Teams Liverpool Brighton played so far 9 matches.
Liverpool won 8 direct matches. Brighton won 0 matches. 1 matches ended in a draw. On average in direct matches both teams scored a 3.44 goals per Match.
Liverpool vs Brighton Prediction
Liverpool in actual season average scored 2.29 goals per match. In 11 (73.33%) matches played at home was total goals (team and opponent) Over 1.5 goals. In 8 (53.33%) matches in season 2021 played at home was total goals (team and opponent) Over 2.5 goals.
Brighton average scored 1.18 goals per match in season 2021. In 9 (75.00%) matches played away was total goals (team and opponent) Over 1.5 goals. In 6 (50.00%) matches played away team was total goals (team and opponent) Over 2.5 goals.
Team News:
Liverpool are once again expected to be without Sadio Mane for this match after he missed out against West Ham due to a slight muscle problem.
The winger is not expected to face a long spell on the sidelines, but the quick turnaround in fixtures, coupled with Man City coming up at the weekend, means that Klopp will not want to take any risks over his fitness.
The champions have bolstered their defensive ranks with the deadline-day additions of Ben Davies and Ozan Kabak, but Nat Phillips's impressive outings recently could mean that he keeps his spot alongside Jordan Henderson, allowing Klopp to ease his new arrivals into his plans more.
Fabinho will again miss out but could be back in time for the Man City game, while Joel Matip has been ruled out for the rest of the season with ankle ligament damage and Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Diogo Jota also remain sidelined.
James Milner is a slight doubt with a hamstring issue while the game may also come too soon for Naby Keita, although the latter is not far away from being back in contention.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Curtis Jones are among the players who will be pushing for recalls, while Roberto Firmino is also expected to come back in after being rested at the weekend.
Mohamed Salah was the star of the show with a brace against the Hammers, ending a six-game goal drought in the Premier League and becoming the first Liverpool player since Ian Rush to reach the 20-goal mark in four successive seasons.
The Premier League's top scorer has a formidable record against Brighton too, directly contributing to nine goals in seven meetings at a rate of 63 minutes per goal involvement.
Brighton are again expected to be without Danny Welbeck, who won the controversial penalty which earned the Seagulls a point in the reverse fixture, due to a knee injury, although he could be back in time for the weekend.
Tariq Lamptey, Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Florin Andone are also still absent, while Joel Veltman and Alexis Mac Allister both picked up relatively minor muscle issues against Spurs and will be assessed.
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Phillips, Henderson, Robertson; Thiago, Wijnaldum, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Jones; Firmino, Salah
Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:
Sanchez; White, Dunk, Webster; Veltman, Gross, Bissouma, March; Tau, Trossard; Maupay