Brighton v Liverpool preview: Tricky Seagulls host inconsistent Reds
That victory against the Toffees leaves Roberto De Zerbi’s men with the chance of opening the calendar year with two consecutive league wins for the first time since 2013.
With his side winning four of their last six league games (L2), De Zerbi is slowly winning over the Amex Stadium faithful after a poor start saw him fail to oversee victory in any of his first five (D2, L3).
Their red-hot form will have them confident they can break their home PL duck against Liverpool at the sixth time of asking (D1, L4), with the added incentive of knowing a win will see Brighton leapfrog their visitors in the table.
Liverpool have broken in the new year in completely contrasting fashion, with a 2-2 draw against Wolves in the FA Cup following up a shock 3-1 defeat to Brentford in the league.
Defeat in West London halted a four-game winning PL streak for Jürgen Klopp’s men, who are now staring down the barrel of starting the calendar year with two league defeats for the first time since 1993.
The Reds can ill afford to fall to such fate as they already find themselves seven points off the top four, but having already lost half of their PL away games this campaign (W2, D2, L4), there’s no guarantee that revival starts on the road.
Fuelling doubts over their credentials, Liverpool must do so without injured talisman Virgil Van Dijk, although this could strangely be a blessing considering the Reds have actually avoided defeat in the last 14 league matches he’s failed to start (W11, D3).
Players to watch: Leandro Trossard’s hat-trick earned his side a draw in the reverse fixture at Anfield, meaning Brighton have lost only one of the last 17 PL matches when he’s found the net (W13, D3).
Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah also has a knack of producing the goods against Brighton, clocking up 12 goal contributions (G6, A6) in 11 matches against the Seagulls.
Hot stat: There have been goals scored during both halves in ten of Brighton’s last 12 league matches.
