Seeking a second scalp over their Merseyside counterparts in the space of two weeks, Brighton & Hove Albion host holders Liverpool in the fourth round of the FA Cup at the Amex Stadium on Sunday lunchtime.
The Seagulls powered past Middlesbrough 5-1 to progress to round four, while Jurgen Klopp's team edged Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 in a replay following a 2-2 draw at Anfield.
Match preview
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Scoring goals at an incredible rate has been the theme of Roberto De Zerbi's managerial career thus far, and his Brighton side were in a merciless mood during their trip to the Riverside Stadium in the third round of the FA Cup, as Alexis Mac Allister's brace alongside strikes from Deniz Undav, Adam Lallana and Pascal Gross put Boro to the sword.
Finding the back of the net more than once at the King Power would have surely been a prerequisite against a troubled Leicester City side, but the Seagulls' momentum was derailed somewhat at the home of the Foxes in the Premier League, as it took a late Evan Ferguson header to rescue a point in a 2-2 draw.
However, Brighton remain in a healthy sixth place in the Premier League table courtesy of the sides around them dropping points last weekend too, but the FA Cup represents another shot at European qualification for the soaring Seagulls.
Brighton were dumped out in the fourth round of the competition by Tottenham Hotspur last season, but they have managed to reach the fifth round in three of the last five editions of the FA Cup, including a run to the semi-finals in 2018-19 before Manchester City sent them packing.
Now unbeaten in four matches across all competitions, Brighton can boast at least two goals from each of their last six games - making the net ripple 19 times at an average of over three goals per game in that run - although two wins from their last six at the Amex is hardly an intimidating record.
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The most recent of those South-coast successes was the 3-0 thumping of Liverpool on January 14, though, and both the Reds and Chelsea could have done with lessons in attacking from De Zerbi during their low-key goalless stalemate at Anfield last weekend.
In what was Jurgen Klopp's 1,000th game as a manager, the Liverpool boss admitted that he was grateful his landmark game did not turn out the same way as Arsene Wenger's - a 6-0 thumping at the hands of Chelsea, who had an early Kai Havertz goal ruled out and could not find the breakthrough despite an eye-catching cameo from Mykhaylo Mudryk.
There was not much to write home about in Liverpool's FA Cup third-round replay with Wolves, except for the long-range Harvey Elliott screamer that sent the defending champions into round four, and back-to-back clean sheets will certainly be welcomed by the Anfield faithful ahead of a trip to free-scoring Brighton.
However, in each of Liverpool's last three FA Cup runs as defending champions, they have failed to progress beyond the fourth round each time, and they have also been dumped out in this round in the 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2020-21 editions.
Winning just five games away from home in all competitions this season will not do wonders for the Reds' confidence either, and while they thumped Brighton 6-1 in the 2011-12 FA Cup, most will expect the Seagulls to be racking up the goals in this fixture now.
Team News
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In what was previously an all-too familiar sight for Liverpool supporters, Lallana came off injured in the first half of Brighton's draw with Leicester last weekend, and the 34-year-old will not be available for the clash with his former club here.
The Englishman is joined in the infirmary by long-term knee victim Jakub Moder, as well as Levi Colwill - who is facing up to six weeks out with a quadriceps injury - and Facundo Buonanotte, who damaged his spine on international duty recently.
In Lallana's absence, Pascal Gross will likely move into a midfield role as Alexis Mac Allister shifts further forward, allowing either Joel Veltman or Tariq Lamptey to come in at right-back.
Having revealed his desire to leave Brighton following a rejected £60m bid from Arsenal, Moises Caicedo is supposedly set to miss out as well after missing training on Saturday, which could open the door for Billy Gilmour to start.
As for Liverpool, the quintet of Virgil van Dijk, Arthur, Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz and Roberto Firmino all remain sidelined by injury, and Klopp has now ruled Fabio Carvalho out of the contest with an unspecified issue. Nat Phillips is also dealing with a nasty cold but could leave before the end of the month anyway.
While plenty of Premier League teams will rotate heavily for the weekend, Klopp is unlikely to sanction too many changes, although Trent Alexander-Arnold and Darwin Nunez can expect to earn recalls to the starting lineup after starting on the bench against Chelsea.
Eighteen-year-old midfielder Stefan Bajcetic was recently rewarded with a new deal following his breakthrough period, and the Spanish teenager will hope to keep Fabinho at bay once again.
Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:
Sanchez; Veltman, Dunk, Webster, Estupinan; Gilmour, Gross; March, Mac Allister, Mitoma; Ferguson
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Kelleher; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Konate, Robertson; Thiago, Bajcetic, Henderson; Salah, Nunez, Gakpo
We say: Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 Liverpool
With Liverpool demonstrating a greater sense of defensive resilience in their last couple of games, there should not be a repeat of the 3-0 Amex thumping from two weekends ago, but backing Klopp's disjointed side to win is still a tall order.
Brighton boss De Zerbi was not afraid to name a strong XI against Boro, and his charges are capable of troubling even the tightest of defences, so the Reds' FA Cup defence may very well come to an end here.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Ben Knapton
