Liverpool will be aiming to avoid equalling an unwanted 30-year-old record when they meet Brighton & Hove Albion at the Amex Stadium in Saturday's Premier League clash.
The Reds opened 2023 in miserable fashion in the Premier League, suffering a 3-1 defeat to Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium on January 2.
Ibrahima Konate's own goal and Yoane Wissa's header gave the Bees a healthy two-goal cushion before Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain pulled one back, but Bryan Mbeumo added a third for Brentford late on.
Liverpool have since played out a 2-2 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers in the third round of the FA Cup, and they are now out to avoid back-to-back defeats in the Premier League.
Should Jurgen Klopp's team suffer defeat at the Amex Stadium, it would mark the first time in 30 years that the Reds have succumbed to two successive defeats in their opening two games of the calendar year.
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The last Liverpool team to suffer that feat was Graeme Souness's team of 1992-93, who went down 2-1 to Aston Villa in their opening contest of 1993 before losing 2-0 to Wimbledon, although their third game of the year saw them beat Arsenal 1-0.
Klopp's side remain without a host of players for the trip to the Amex, with none of Diogo Jota, Arthur or Luis Diaz ready to return from their long-term injury problems just yet.
James Milner and Roberto Firmino will push to return from their hamstring and calf problems respectively, but key defender Virgil van Dijk will miss out owing to a thigh issue sustained against Brentford.
The Netherlands international is expected to spend at least a month out of action while he recovers, leaving Konate and Joel Matip to man the defence, with Joe Gomez and Nat Phillips in reserve.
However, Liverpool have impressively gone unbeaten in their last 14 Premier League games without Van Dijk in the starting lineup, collecting 11 wins and three defeats in that time.
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Furthermore, the Merseyside giants are out to record an 11th-straight unbeaten league game at Brighton's home ground, having not lost on the Seagulls' territory since a 1984 FA Cup defeat.
Liverpool won 2-0 at the Amex Stadium in the 2021-22 season, but three of the last five clashes between the two sides have ended in draws, including this season's 3-3 thriller at Anfield in October.
Leandro Trossard scored an iconic hat-trick in that game, but the Belgian attacker is another injury doubt for this contest due to a tight calf, which kept him out of the Seagulls' 5-1 FA Cup thumping of Middlesbrough at the weekend.
Liverpool sit sixth in the table ahead of the weekend's fixtures - just two places and one point clear of Brighton - and they could drop down to seventh on Thursday evening depending on the result of Fulham's West London derby meeting with Chelsea.
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