Liverpool vs Brighton: Match preview, head-to-head, team news, key players | OneFootball

Liverpool host Brighton & Hove Albion at Anfield on Saturday afternoon, aiming to end their two-game winless run in the Premier League.

The defending champions played a 3-3 draw at Leeds United last weekend. Brighton, meanwhile, scored in stoppage time to secure a 1-1 home draw with West Ham United.

Match preview

Liverpool will aim to build on their solid defensive performance in the 1-0 win over Inter Milan in the Champions League in this fixture.

The Reds are 10 points behind table-toppers Arsenal, but just three shy of fourth-placed Crystal Palace.

Finishing in the top four is now the Reds’ most realistic target now, and they must string together a run of victories to achieve that.

Liverpool are favourites here, given Brighton struggles on the road (collecting eight points from seven games). The Seagulls also have just one win at Anfield in the Premier League era.

However, Brighton will be encouraged by Liverpool’s defensive frailties, particularly from set-pieces — an area where the visitors have excelled, scoring six goals.

The visitors are also in a better form than the Reds, collecting 11 points from their last six games, three more than the hosts have gathered over the same period.

Head-to-head

Liverpool have recorded nine wins, three losses and four draws in their 16 Premier League meetings with Brighton.

Team news

Giovanni Leoni and Cody Gakpo are ruled out for the hosts, while Conor Bradley will miss out due to suspension. Mohamed Salah, Federico Chiesa, Wataru Endo and Jeremie Frimpong are doubtful.

Adam Webster, Solly March and Stefanos Tzimas are sidelined for Brighton, while Yasin Ayari, James Milner and Kaoru Mitoma could sit this one out.

Key players

Liverpool

Dominik Szoboszlai: The Reds’ best performer this term has scored in each of his last two games.

Hugo Ekitike: Leads the club’s league top-scorers’ chart with five goals.

Brighton

Danny Welbeck: He has seven league goals and has scored twice against the Reds in Brighton colours.

Yankuba Minteh: Has seven league goal involvements this term.

Stats from 11v11.com, transfermarkt.com, sofascore.com & whoscored.com