After 18 days without a game, Liverpool are back at Anfield in search of their third league victory of the season while Brighton travel north with a new manager in tow.
Liverpool v Brighton
Premier League (7) | AnfieldOctober 1, 2022 | 3:00 p.m. (Pacific Standard Time)
After the postponements due to the death of the Queen and the first international break of the season, we have had to endure a long wait between one Liverpool game and the next.
But wait no more. Jurgen Klopp’s men are back, finally, and the first of 13 games in 42 days coincides with the start of the new Seagulls era.
Here are 10 key things to know before kickoff.
1. It’s been a long break
On the day of the match, Liverpool have not played for 18 days and have not played for 28 in the Premier League.
As Opta’s Michael Reid made it known, excluding the pandemic-forced hiatus, 28 days is the longest gap between league games in a single season for the Reds since 1979!
Brighton, on the other hand, last played on 4 September, in a 5-2 win over Leicester, to see them go into the clash without a game for 27 days.
It’s safe to say there will be a number of cobwebs to fly for both teams.
2. Does Brighton have a new manager?
They do, his name is Roberto De Zerbi.
Graham Potter left Brighton for Chelsea in early September, removing a key piece of the puzzle for a club currently sitting fourth in the table after collecting 13 points from six games.
Brighton appointed De Zerbi ten days after Potter’s departure, with the Italian joining after spells with Shakhtar Donetsk and Sassuolo in recent years.
His style of play is not too dissimilar to the one Potter instilled in the club, but De Zerbi has expressed that he prefers to “control the game”, with a possession-based system being used easily.
With this his first game in charge, Klopp and company will have plenty to ponder as they weigh both Brighton and their new manager.
3. Will Lallana appear?
Adam Lallana has been sidelined with a calf injury but is expected to be part of Brighton’s traveling squad, a starting place is unlikely.
However, Enock Mwepu will be absent due to illness, in what could be one of the few changes for Brighton in what is De Zerbi’s first game.
Brighton could continue with a three-man defense at Anfield, with Leandro Trossard selected for the XI alongside the likes of Danny Welbeck, Moises Caicedo and Lewis Dunk.
Possible Brighton XI: Sanchez; Veltman, Dunk, Webster; Lamptey, MacAllister, Caicedo, March; Gross, Trossard; welbeck
4. 3 return to practice, 4 remain out for the Reds
After injury after injury before the international break, the hope was that the gap between games offered a circuit breaker for the Reds, we really needed it.
Jordan Henderson was the first to swap the treatment room for the pitch after returning to full fitness to join the England team and feature for five minutes, increasing midfield options.
Ibrahima Konate has taken an important step and needs to train well before being in contention for Saturday’s team, while Caoimhin Kelleher and Calvin Ramsay are slowly coming together.
Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Curtis Jones and Andy Robertson are all unavailable, but Klopp expects the left-back to return “next week or the week after.”
5. Klopp’s possible XI
It’s exciting to finally be contemplating who could make the Reds this weekend, it’s been too long.
The back five are likely to remain unchanged from the last outing, against Ajax, and the same could be said of the midfield despite Henderson’s return to fitness, meaning Harvey Elliott would retain his place.
In attack, the coach does not lack options, especially in the central role with Darwin Núñez, Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota to choose from.
Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz are likely to be safe starters and it could be that Firmino opts for having been the underdog during the international break, game management is key in the next two months.
Predicted Reds XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; Fabinho, Thiago, Elliott; Salah, Diaz, Firmino
6. Trent in the spotlight
Speaking to the press before Saturday’s game, Klopp was, of course, asked about Trent Alexander-Arnold after failing to play a minute for England.
The coach did not want to create headlines but made it clear that his decision would not be the same as Gareth Southgate’s:
“There are stories out there all the time about him saying he’s not a good defender, but that’s not true.
“He’s a good defender, he doesn’t always defend well, that’s also true, but we’re working on that, he’s a young player, he’s 23 years old.
“There is room to improve, definitely, but we only discuss it on the level that we discuss it because his offensive impact is so extreme for us that it could be for every team in the world.
“My point of view, it is an easy choice. Whichever team he coaches at the moment, I would sign him because he’s exceptional.”
7. It’s exam time!
We have a quick quiz for you before the match, we want to see if you can name all of Liverpool’s scorers against Brighton since 2011.
There are 18 to name and only three minutes to do it, let us know how it goes in the comments section!
8. Did you know?
If Mohamed Salah scores against the Seagulls, he will move to eighth on the club’s league all-time goalscoring list ahead of Sam Raybould and just two behind Jark Parkinson.
The No. 11 currently has 120 league goals for Liverpool, and another strike against Brighton on Saturday will also move Salah ahead of Sir Kenny Dalglish as the club’s top scorer against the Seagulls.
The Egyptian has two Premier League goals so far this season, the last at Man United in August.
9. The man in the middle
The referee for Saturday’s game is Andy Madley, who found himself in a troublesome spot in his last league outing.
West Ham suffered a 2-1 loss to Chelsea with both the referee and VAR being criticized as “an absolute disgrace” after a late goal was disallowed for the Hammers after an alleged foul.
No action has been taken against officials or those who commented on the decisions.
Madley has overseen the Reds on six different occasions in the Premier League, the most recent being a 2-2 draw at Fulham on the opening day of this season.
The VAR is Simon Hooper.
10. Follow the game live with us!
Frustratingly, the first game back for Liverpool is at 3pm, which means the game isn’t live on UK TV, but we’ll have a full world guide for you on Saturday.
What will be live, however, is the This Is Anfield matchday live blog, with Sam Millne at the helm to keep you entertained and up to date with all the action from 2.15pm
Up the reds!
