Liverpool vs Brighton & Hove Albion

Liverpool’s effort to fight their way back into the Premier League title race faces a potentially tricky challenge this week as in-form Brighton & Hove Albion arrive at Anfield.

September’s international break handed manager Jurgen Klopp an additional time to map out Liverpool’s bid to bounce back from the club’s worst seven-game Premier League start in a decade (W2, D3, L1). Already lagging a whopping nine points behind the title pace, the ‘Reds’ have no time to waste if they’re to close the gap on pacesetters Arsenal. Therefore, a return to Anfield comes in handy as the Merseysiders are unbeaten in their last 26 Premier League outings on home turf (W20, D6), registering 15 clean sheets during this span. But there’s no room for complacency in Klopp’s corner, considering his lads have won none of their last two home league meetings with Brighton (D1, L1) after racking up nine victories from 11 home H2Hs beforehand (D1, L1).

In the meantime, Brighton’s sensational Premier League start has seen them put four wins from six top-flight games on the board (D1, L1), heading into the international break in fourth! However, things have changed drastically since the visitors thumped Leicester City 5-2 in their most recent Premier League match-up. Manager Graham Potter, who inspired Brighton’s stellar domestic form, left the Amex Stadium to take over Chelsea, with former Shakhtar Donetsk boss Roberto De Zerbi taking his place in the dugout. The Italian tactician’s first assignment on the new job is to maintain his side’s superb 11-game Premier League form (W7, D3, L1), stretching back to the tail-end of last season. In fact, only Manchester City and Tottenham have picked up more points across the last ten Premier League rounds than the ‘Seagulls’ (23).