Liverpool finally return to action on Saturday afternoon, with Brighton without Graham Potter hoping to be a nuisance at Anfield.
It has been 17 days since the Reds beat Ajax 2-1 in the Champions League, with their season interrupted by the Queen’s death and then the international break.
However, now is the time for Liverpool to get going after a slow start to the campaign, and they welcome the Seagulls to Merseyside this weekend.
Potter’s departure to Chelsea represents a huge blow to the coastal side and it is now up to new manager Roberto De Zerbi to turn things around.
As always, we caught up with Brighton fan and football finance expert Kieran Maguire (@KieranMaguire) to hear about life after Potter, Liverpool’s woes and much more.
How would you rate Brighton’s start to the season?
If someone had offered us 13 points in the first six games, we would have ripped their hands off.
Having said that, it has been a relatively unchallenging start to the season in terms of opponents faced.
Winning at Old Trafford for the first time is something to savor, but it was a club in disarray that we came up against and Man United conceded four the following week.
Similarly, beating Leicester 5-2 was great, but again a week later they let six in, so perhaps not as great an achievement as some have made it out to be.
How big is the hit from Potter’s departure?
It is a great disappointment, he was the ideal coach for the club and perhaps the club was also ideal for him.
I suspect that if Chelsea have a run of three wins in 25 this season, as we did in 2021/22, they will struggle to be in a job, such is the level of scrutiny that club carries.
It’s part soap opera and part soccer club.
Potter is a measured, humane, proportionate and well-rounded person, as well as an excellent trainer, and will be missed on many levels.
He spent a night on the streets in a sleeping bag last year to highlight the problem of homelessness in Brighton, which has the highest rate in the country.
I wish him all the best in his professional career, but not at Chelsea with their current classless owners, although if anyone can make a ‘4-4-3 formation’ work, it would probably be Graham Potter!
He certainly left the club at the right time in terms of keeping his reputation high.
We are playing not only Liverpool but also Man City where I suspect we will have a lot of support from the Reds, Tottenham and Chelsea fans in October so the chances of us still being fourth in the table at the end of October are somewhere. between thin and none.
Do you have high hopes for Roberto De Zerbi?
It is very much a blank canvas with Roberto De Zerbi.
He has experience coaching a small club in one of Europe’s top five leagues and clearly wants his teams to take risks and play attacking football.
That puts him in a similar position to Potter.
By all accounts, he’ll be more demonstrative on the touchline, which some fans see as a sign of ‘passion’, but I’ve never been convinced that yelling and yelling correlates with good decision-making.
As for Liverpool, what do you think has gone wrong so far this season?
Too many very good players are not performing at their best.
Sadio Mane was perhaps a bigger loss than realized, as he could do the unexpected.
It’s also only a few games into the season and Liverpool could be on a long winning run, as has been the case so often in recent years.
In recent seasons we have become familiar with the clubs at the top who generate a lot of points, but it was in 2020/21 that Liverpool failed to win 18 Premier League games out of 38.
Where do you think they will end up?
Top three, but could go second.
Erling Haaland looks like an unstoppable force for City and looks like a bargain for them, so it’s hard to see anyone really challenging them, despite Arsenal’s strong start to the season.
Do you think Moises Caicedo would fit in at Liverpool?
I think Moises Caicedo would be perfect.
He’s got a good engine, he can score goals, he’s great at breaking up opposition play and often leaves you wondering how he tackles.
By all accounts, he’s also a great lad.
Caicedo is also young and can improve significantly if he chooses to focus on his technical and tactical learning.
Looking ahead to Saturday, where do you see the key battles taking place?
A big fear, as always, is keeping Liverpool at bay from open positions.
Historically we played three at the back with Potter and I have no idea what the formation will look like with De Zerbi.
Leandro Trossard is a great player for us, but he’s not always cut out to be a full-back, and the same goes for Solly March on the opposite flank.
Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister will have to guard the defence, but both have played that role well this season as Yves Bissouma decided he wanted to warm up on the bench at Spurs rather than play first-team football.
Finally, what is your prediction?
I suspect Liverpool will have a relatively quiet day.
The Reds will comfortably win 3-0 as Brighton take their time acclimating to the new manager.
