Brighton can cause yet another upset this weekend as the high-flying Seagulls make a trip to Merseyside to take on Liverpool on Sunday.
The story of the season
The Reds have had a strange start to the season. You’d be hard pressed to find anyone who would say Andoni Iraola’s side have been great and yet they’ve lost just once across all competitions. And their 3-0 defeat to Manchester City arrived in difficult circumstances after Ryan Gravenberch was sent off. They drew their opening two matches against Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest but other than those three games, the Reds have triumphed in every other outing.
Iraola’s men have a knack for coming from behind this season to claim points. They fell behind twice against Newcastle to salvage a point and did the same against Nottingham Forest. Overturned a 1-0 deficit in wins over Atlético Madrid and Brentford before coming from 2-0 down to beat Villarreal 4-3 last time out.
Perhaps surprisingly, Liverpool have the third best defensive record in terms of Expected Goals Against. They rank eighth for xG and they’ve been underperforming in attack despite having three £100million forwards in Alexander Isak, Bradley Barcola and Florian Wirtz.
They’re facing one of the most in-form teams in Europe right now.
Brighton lead the way for goals scored in the Premier League this season with 23. They’ve also conceded the joint fewest goals (five). They’re bossing it at both ends of the pitch. As a result, only Arsenal (18) and Manchester City (21) have taken more points than the Seagulls (16).
Their only defeat of the season in the English top-flight arrived in August when they fell to a 4-3 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Still, it’s a game they scored three times in. Fabian Hürzeler’s side have 16 goals in their last five games in the Premier League too. The goals are flying in at an alarming rate.
They rank second for Expected Goals and top for Big Chances. They’ve kept the most clean sheets (five) and have the third highest possession average (60%). The Seagulls mean business.
Key Players
For the Reds, all eyes will be on Rio Ngumoha. He changed the game off of the bench against Brentford last weekend and then ran riot against Villarreal in mid-week, notching two assists and completing nine of his 10 attempted dribbles. With Víctor Muñoz a doubt, expect the 18-year-old to start on the right for the Reds. Especially with momentum on his side.
For the visitors, it has to be Pascal Groß. The 35-year-old has the joint-most assists (four) and only Erling Haaland and João Pedro (both on eight) have more goal involvements than him this season. He’s the main man for the Seagulls. Everything good they do revolves around him and if he can pull the strings at Anfield, they’re in for a positive result.
Team News
The hosts are without Giovanni Leoni, Hugo Ekitike, Conor Bradley, Jeremie Frimpong and Dominik Szoboszlai. Muñoz missed the game against Villarreal but could be back for the game at Anfield. He probably won’t be risked from the start though.
The away side have issues too. They’re without Yankuba Minteh, Stefanos Tzimas, Femi Azeez, Mats Wieffer, Kaoru Mitoma and Evan Ferguson.
Prediction
We’re going with a 2-2 draw. The Reds keep finding ways to pick up points and despite the injuries, their attack still looks like it can cause problems.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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