Match Preview: Brighton v Liverpool
Never before has a side that was seven points clear at the top of the Premier League at the end of December not gone onto lift the title.
That means that, unless Liverpool manage to set an unwanted record for blowing the biggest lead held when Big Ben’s chimes sounded to reign in a new year, Brighton and Hove Albion are hosting the side who will be crowned champions come May.
There are still plenty of twists and turns to come of course, and if any team is capable of overhauling the Reds then it is Pep Guardiola’s outstanding Manchester City side. But it does look like the league is Liverpool’s to lose at this stage in proceedings, making their visit to the Amex one of the toughest home games the Albion will face.
Who are Liverpool?
Liverpool were founded in 1892 as the result of a quite petty argument between their city rivals Everton and a chap called John Houlding. Mr Houlding had been chairman of the Toffees and also owned Anfield, were Everton played at the time. After eight seasons at the ground, the Everton committee decided to move them across Stanley Park to Goodison Park and as a result, Mr Houlding founded Liverpool in order to ensure that his stadium didn’t go without use. The club lifted sporadic trophies through the first 70 years of their existence until the 1960s rolled around and Bill Shankly was appointed manager. In 1962, Shankly led the Reds to promotion out of the second tier and there was no looking back from that point on as the silverwar kept rolling into Anfield. Over the next 30 years, Liverpool would win 13 titles, five FA Cups, four League Cups, four European Cups and two Europa Leagues. They’ve never won the Sussex Senior Cup though, have they?
What are they like now?
It’s been 29 years since they were last crowned champions of England, but that could all change this season. Jurgen Klopp built an outstanding attacking side last year but their defence looked as solid as a sandcastle, which resulted in them to finish third in the table. Klopp has addressed that particular issue, spending big money on one-time Brighton target Virgil van Dijk last January and then taking the bold step of signing a woman to play in goal by bringing in Allison from Roma in the summer. Those two arrivals appear to have done the trick, with the Reds currently four points clear and having lost in the league just once all season. And even if they do somehow contrive to blow it, we all know it will be someone else’s fault and can look forward to a petition calling for Sergio Ramos to be banned or for a review of goal line technology. Liverpool are never to blame, you see.
Which players should we be worried about?
Liverpool actually have something of a defensive crisis going on at the moment, with van Dijk their only fit centre half. Not that it will make much difference as the Albion could quite feasibly score three or four and still be on the end of defeat. The Reds front three of Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah is frighteningly good and means that they have the ability to outscore nearly any team in the Premier League. We saw Liverpool’s attacking talents in their visit to the Amex last season when they ran out 5-1 winners and this time, Brighton are going into the game without December Player of the Month Bernardo and goalkeeper Maty Ryan who remains on Asian Cup of Nations duty with Australia. Gulp.
What’s the Albion’s record against Liverpool like?
Needless to say, Liverpool dominate the head-to-head with 16 wins from 28 games. Brighton have been successful on just four occasions, with two of those coming in the FA Cup in the 1980s when they memorably eliminated the outstanding Reds side of the era in successive seasons, winning 2-1 at Anfield in the fifth round in 1983 and 2-0 a year later in round four at the Goldstone.
What’s the best WeAreBrighton.com memory of Liverpool at home?
Last season’s 5-1 defeat wasn’t exactly good from a Brighton point of view, but we thoroughly enjoyed Lewis Dunk taking his record against Liverpool to two own goals in two games. That gives him a better goals-to-game ratio for the Reds than even Salah has managed. He’ll cost £70m if you want him to move to Anfield as a striker, Herr Klopp.
What’s the worst WeAreBrighton.com memory of Liverpool at home?
Seeing Steven Gerrard get a standing ovation from some sections of the Amex when he came on as a second half substitute in the third round of the League Cup in 2011 highlighted just how many plastic Reds supporters we had among our number in that first season at the new stadium.
Whose played for both sides?
The Albion and Liverpool used to frequently exchange players in the 1970s and 1980s with Mark Lawrenson, Jimmy Case and Michael Robinson among those who played for both clubs. The Reds were also responsible for supplying arguably the worst player ever to pull on a Brighton shirt when they sent Ashley Neal on loan to the Goldstone Ground in 1996.
Other than football, what is Liverpool famous for?
Liverpool has given Britain some of it’s finest musicians, most notably Cilla Black and the Beatles. It also has it’s own language, Scouse, which is extremely difficult to speak. One essential rule of the language is that every sentence must begin with the phrase “Eh, eh, eh”.
Where’s the betting value for Brighton v Liverpool?
Brighton have scored in every home game so far this season and are coming up against a Liverpool side with something of a defensive crisis going on. That makes the 6/5 on offer for both teams to score seem like a very generous price. You may also want to request-a-bet for a Dunk own goal given his fine record when it comes to scoring for the Reds.
Prediction
A similar showing to Chelsea’s visit to the Amex and exactly the same result – 2-1 to the visitors.
