Reds to return to winning ways against Brighton?

Brighton are the second of three successive fixtures at Anfield for Liverpool.

And the Reds were certainly unsuccessful in the first.

By their very high standards, the draw against Napoli was deeply underwhelming – more due to the fact of losing integral defensive midfielder Fabinho until the new year.

After Dries Mertens’ volleyed opener, the Reds’ relied on Dejan Lovren’s stomping header from a Milner set-piece to take a point to set up a decider with RB Salzburg in Austria in a fortnight’s time.

The visitors, Brighton and Hove Albion, had an equally frustrating encounter at home to surprise title challengers Leicester City.

Having not had a shot on target in the entire match, it probably came to no surprise that Ayoze Perez’s and Jamie Vardy’s strikes resulted in Graham Potter’s side succumbing to another defeat at the Amex Stadium.

However, with Brighton committing to a more expansive and developmental project, Potter has been rewarded with a new four-year deal earlier this week.

Brighton are yet to score at Anfield in the Premier League era, and have just one goal against them since their promotion in 2017. The Reds are yet to keep a clean sheet at home since May though.

Team news

The visitors have several missing names including consistent full-back Bernardo da Silva and explosive winger Jose Izquierdo.

Youngster Aaron Connolly is expected to return after missing the Leicester game, with Solly March also expected to be available.

Liverpool will for sure be without the aforementioned Fabinho,

From the Dugout

Klopp remains cool on Fabinho:

“Will it be exactly like Fabinho? Of course not. Nobody is like the other one. But it will be a good one.

“It’s an opportunity for somebody else. Hendo [Jordan Henderson] played in that position, Gini [Wijnaldum] played in the position already. Adam Lallana played in the position.

“It’s not that they aren’t as good as him, it’s that they are different, have different qualities. We just have to make it work. That’s always the job.

“Fab couldn’t have played all the games from now until March, that was clear anyway.”

Potter hopes for ‘off day’:

“We’ll have to embrace the challenge and everything it brings.

‘Teams like Barcelona will go there and they’ll tell you that it’s a big atmosphere.

‘The supporters get properly behind the team – there’s a real history and tradition to it which makes it a special place. The environment can be really powerful, but that’s one of the big challenges for us to rise to.

“It’s all part of what we have to do to get a result. You have to deal with everything that surrounds the game as well as what happens out on the field.”

Head-to-head

Liverpool wins: 17

Draws: 8

Brighton wins: 4