Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi has insisted his team are underdogs heading into Sunday’s FA Cup clash with Liverpool despite the Seagulls dismantling Jurgen Klopp’s men 3-0 in the Premier League only fifteen days ago.
The Reds weren’t just beaten on the South Coast, but they were and will need a much better performance this weekend to avoid a repeat of what Klopp called a “horror show” performance.
The Italian coach also had high praise for the former Borussia Dortmund manager, someone he recognizes as “one of the best coaches in the world.”
“We will play Liverpool, they are a superior team,” said De Zerbi (quoted by Sussex Live). “We would like to get to the next step of the FA Cup. We know that the match will be very difficult, we would like to play a brave match, to try to win.
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“Not, [we are not favourites]. The table is as it is, but Liverpool is always a great team. it will be a different game [to the Premier League game], but also the last game was difficult. It’s always against Liverpool. We need to create the right conditions to win the game, we can play better than against Leicester.
“Jurgen Klopp is one of the best coaches in the world. His story reflects that, I have great respect for him. I know that Liverpool is a great team, we have a lot of respect for them. But we would like to repeat if possible, if we play like the last game”.
Klopp described Liverpool’s latest trip to Brighton as the worst of his career and therefore his players should have extra motivation to perform well at the Amex.
We will still be without the likes of Arthur Melo, Virgil van Dijk, Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz at the weekend, which of course is a big blow, but we still have immense quality to draw on against De Zerbi’s men.
Mo Salah will be hungry to find the back of the net after going three goals without a game, while Darwin Nunez will be keen to return to the starting XI after returning to full form recently.
It seems all is set for an intriguing counterattack on the south coast; let’s hope we get to the top to ensure our FA Cup defense continues.
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