The Opposition View: Liverpool

It’s all going rather well for Liverpool so far this season, isn’t it? Jurgen Klopp’s Reds have dropped just two points in the Premier League so far, opening up an eight point gap to Leicester City in second. The title is theirs to lose.

And yet mention this to a Koppite – as we did when talking to Scott Groom from Anfield Index – and they’ll tell you that it isn’t done and dusted by a long way.

This is the sort of approach we like in our football fans. The whole “If a football club can cock something up, it’s going to be my football club,” attitude that most Brighton supporters share through years of bitter experience.

Aside from Liverpool’s inevitable coronation as Premier League champions, we also grilled Scott on missing out to Manchester City in the title race last season, winning a sixth Champions League title and whether he felt there was any way that the Albion could pull off a shock result at Anfield – and despite the fact he likes Brighton, no was the answer to that!

Liverpool lead the Premier League table with 37 points out of 39. This has got to be the season when the Premier League trophy finally ends up at Anfield, right?
This is the question no Liverpool fan really wants to answer – but I guess given our start to the season, it’s pretty hard to avoid it! It’s been nothing short of a brilliant start, and I think I speak for every Red in saying that we couldn’t really have hoped for much better.

Regardless of the performances at times, getting points on the board is all that really matters, and it seems that Klopp has toughened up his team even further to enable them to do that in any situation this season.

Taking all of this into consideration, it’s not hard to see why people are claiming we’ll win the league. To say that the title is heading to Anfield though is getting too far ahead of ourselves, and a lot of Kopites will say that too I’d imagine.

There’s nothing that anyone associated with the club wants more than to see Jordan Henderson lift the Premier League trophy in May, but that’s a very long way away yet. So much can, and probably will, happen in between now and then. We all know that football is the beautiful game largely due to its unpredictable nature, so I’m not nailing my colours to the mast just yet.

Did you expect Liverpool to be quite so good this time around and for things to be quite so comfortable so far?
Comfortable isn’t exactly a word I’d use – have you seen how many times we’ve left it until the 94th minute this season?! I think things going on around the team have benefited us, but that doesn’t come into the discussion.

Liverpool just have to keep on doing what they’re doing and focus on one game at a time. It’s not really a surprise based on last season’s form, but the strength in depth and character has been mind-blowing at times.

To come back from so many losing positions, to keep finding ways to win when we haven’t been at our best has really been quite something. I just hope we’re not using up all of our luck up so soon into the season!

What are your expectations for the rest of the campaign ahead? Could Liverpool match Manchester City’s domestic treble of last year or Manchester United’s treble of 1999?
Again, it’s tough to say. But based on current form, this Liverpool side will take some stopping. There will be days like Wednesday night against Napoli when they don’t fire on all cylinders – but they’re capable of turning it on at any moment.

We’ve set ourselves up very nicely domestically going into the busy Christmas period, and despite the disappointing draw against Napoli, we’re still top of our group in the Champions League and can qualify in that position.

I guess the difficulty lies with the Club World Cup clashing with the League Cup tie against Aston Villa. That’s likely to stunt our efforts at one domestic trophy, and if it does, it’ll be interesting to see how seriously we contest the FA Cup when that rolls around.

But I don’t think three trophies in one season is beyond the realms of possibility. Having won our first for a while last season, it’s given us the taste for more and the experience to manage such situations with greater ease and confidence. I’d be disappointed not to add another trophy at least to the Anfield cabinets by the end of the season, put it that way.

Speaking of City, how did you take missing out on the title on the final day of last season? I suppose winning the Champions League helped soften the blow a bit!
What more could we have done last season, really? There were a few silly draws here and there, like at home against Leicester City and that marginal defeat at the Etihad, but it was just a miraculous season for both Liverpool and City.

It was tough to take in some respects, but knowing that we did so well and couldn’t have done much more made it that bit less painful – and like you say, that night in Madrid acted as a pretty good tonic too! The league and Champions League are the biggest competitions we can win, and we won one and came within a whisker or winning the other.

I think the fact that we came so close and look to be in a position where we can make sustained bids for the title for years to come also helped me deal with it. This isn’t a one-time only title challenging side like in 2013-14 – we’ll be serious contenders for years to come now and I just feel that domestic success is coming sooner rather than later.

Both our meetings finished 1-0 to the Redmen last season. What did you think of Brighton in those clashes?
I like Brighton as a club, they’re honest, hard-working and capable of beating anyone on their day. If this game was at the Amex I’d be a little more worried, but I’m not sure the Seagulls will be able to come away from fortress Anfield with a result.

Brighton look steady, play some attractive football and have picked up some decent results so far – like the 3-0 home win over Spurs. But I just think there’s a big jump in quality in the two sides. You’ll give us a good game, but that first goal is crucial. If we get it and get it early, it could be a cricket score.

That doesn’t sound great from our point of view! Are there any weaknesses in this Liverpool team that Graham Potter can try and exploit?
Fabinho is suspended as well as most probably injured, so that’s a big, big loss for Liverpool. Our number three has been instrumental to our game for more than a year now and his impact on the team, both on and off the ball, won’t truly be realised until we have to go without him like on Saturday.

We have able deputies in that position in Georginio Wijnaldum, Henderson and James Milner, but Fabinho’s been a class above of late, so his defensive nous and eye for a pass will be missed. The shield in front of the back four may now be showing its first chink, so that could be one area Potter may be highlighting to his players to exploit.

Finally, a prediction for Saturday please?
I can’t see anything other than a Liverpool win. It’s Anfield, we’re unbeaten in the league so far this season and we’ll be out to prove a point and keep that eight-point cushion over Leicester and nine-point gap over City intact heading into December.

I fully expect Brighton to sit deep and try to condense the space between their midfield and defence, making space to create for Liverpool hard to come by. But that leaves the flanks free where we’re so dangerous with Robertson and Alexander-Arnold.

Counter attacking play and set pieces will be seen as opportunities for Brighton, but as I said earlier, if Liverpool get that first goal early, it could be a bad day for you. But the longer it goes on, the more inpatient the crowd could grow – although we do love late goals this season! I’m going 3-0 Liverpool. Sorry!

Thanks to Scott for answering our questions. You can follow him on Twitter and check out his Liverpool musings on both LFC Transfer Room and Anfield Index.