Match Preview – Liverpool v Brighton

Liverpool – the club
Liverpool are England’s most successful ever side in Europe having won the European Cup five times with a chance to add a sixth in a fortnight’s time against Real Madrid. Despite reaching the Champions League final this season, Jurgen Klopp’s side still may not qualify for next year’s competition as a Brighton win coupled with a Chelsea victory this weekend would see the Red’s finish fifth in the table. Given that we’ve lost five out of five league games away from home against the top six so far this season scoring only once along the way, that seems pretty unlikely. If it does somehow happen though you can bet your bottom dollar that Liverpool supporters will have a ready made excuse good to go having mastered the art of nothing ever being their fault including the Heysel Disaster and the “Munich 1958“ graffiti we spotted on our wall on our last visit to Anfield less than 100m from the Hillsborough Memorial. Classy.

Liverpool – the place
As a city, Liverpool has supplied Britain with some of our most famous entertainers including The Beatles and Cilla Black. Both were discovered in the cities famous Cavern Club which has also played host to the likes of the Rolling Stones, Queen, The Who, Black Sabbath and Elton John down the years. Its position as a port city on the banks of Mersey means that it has played an important role in some of the more glorious and inglorious moments of British history, trading in cargo, freight, coal and cotton at the height of the Industrial Revolution and people during the Atlantic Slave Trade.

Liverpool – the people
The people of Liverpool are easily identifiable due to their unique sense of fashion. That invariably involves wearing a shell suit, having a 1960’s style Beatles haircut and a thick and bushy moustache. They will also begin every sentence with a strange noise that sounds something like “Eh eh eh, calm down, calm down.” Thanks to advanced technological software such as Google translate, it is now possible to actually hold a conversation with a Scouser and have a vague idea of what is being said.

A good WeAreBrighton.com Memory of Liverpool away
Throughout the 1980s and early 90s, the Albion had a remarkable record against Liverpool in cup competitions. We famously knocked them out of the FA Cup in consecutive seasons including on the way to the final in 1983 but perhaps most famous of all was our meeting at Anfield in 1991. The Reds were firmly in control at 2-0 up before John Barnes was placed firmly inside of John Crumplin’s pocket from where there was no escape. Johnny Crumplin Football Genius was born and goals from John Byrne and Mike Small earn Barry Lloyd’s side the most unlikely of replays as the game ends 2-2.

A bad WeAreBrighton.com memory of Liverpool away
Not many sides go to Anfield and score four times, but the Albion managed it in the FA Cup Fifth Round in 2012. Unfortunately, only Kazenga LuaLua managed it at the right end as two own goals from Liam Bridcutt and one from Lewis Dunk gave Liverpool a 6-1 win.

Played for both
It wasn’t just in cup competitions that the side were closely linked throughout the 80s, but in personnel as well. Mark Lawrenson and Jimmy Case were just two of the names to play for both sides while the Albion’s cup final manager Jimmy Melia was also a Scouser. In more recent times, you probably don’t know this as it was hardly mentioned, but Craig Noone once worked on Steven Gerrard’s roof.

Dangermen
Having reached a Champions League final, Liverpool obviously have dangermen all over the pitch. Mo Salah has been the outstanding player in the top flight in his first season at Anfield while Virgil van Dijk is the world’s most famous defender. The Albion famously nearly signed him before he moved from the Netherlands to Celtic which makes you wonder what might have been had that deal been pushed over the line. The real threat to Brighton could come though from Dunk himself who has two goals in two games for Liverpool, a record that even surpasses Salah’s.

Betting
Liverpool to win by two goals seems like a decent bet – five of our six defeats away at the big six this season have been by that exact margin.

Prediction
A routine Liverpool victory, 2-0.