Preview: Liverpool vs Brighton & Hove Albion - prediction, team news, lineups

All eyes will be on Mohamed Salah when Liverpool welcome Brighton & Hove Albion to Anfield for an intriguing Premier League contest rich in subplots on Saturday afternoon.

The Reds and the Seagulls are both looking to return to winning ways in the top flight after failing to claim maximum points against Leeds United and West Ham United respectively last weekend.

Match preview

The future of Mohamed Salah at Liverpool continues to dominate the headlines, with question marks hanging over whether he has already played his final game for a club accused of ‘throwing him under the bus’ and managed by Arne Slot, who now has “no relationship” with the Egyptian.

There have been conflicting opinions over whether Salah should have been dropped for Liverpool’s last three Premier League games, including the 3-3 draw with Leeds last weekend. Few would dispute, however, that he has been well below his usual standards. This season, he is recording his lowest per-90 numbers for Liverpool in shots (2.6), shots on target (0.8), and touches in the opposition box (7.3).

Salah also ranks rock bottom out of 45 wide forwards to play 270 minutes or more in the Premier League this season for tracking back defensively (runs back into their own half to regain their defensive position), and his presence was not needed on Tuesday night when Slot omitted the attacker from his squad for a controversial 1-0 Champions League win over Inter Milan.

While Liverpool still have work to do in Europe to secure automatic qualification for the last 16, their hopes of retaining the Premier League title appear to have evaporated, after a run of just two wins in their last 10 matches (D2 L6) leaves them languishing in 10th place in the table and 10 points behind leaders Arsenal, thought the gap to fourth spot is only three points.

Liverpool have accumulated just 23 points and have conceded 24 goals in their first 15 Premier League games this season, the worst start by a reigning champion in both metrics since Leicester in 2016-17 (16 points, 26 conceded). Indeed, defensive frailties have been costly for the Reds, who have shipped 48 goals in 35 PL matches in 2025 - only twice before have they conceded 50+ goals in a calendar year in the division (51 in 2012 and 52 in 2014).

Slot and co can at least take some comfort from the fact that Liverpool have lost only one of their eight top-flight home meetings with Brighton (W5 D2), though that was the only other time they have ever faced them as the division’s reigning champions, losing 1-0 in February 2021.

Four days after suffering a 4-3 home defeat to Aston Villa, Brighton were presented with the perfect opportunity to capitalise on Chelsea’s stalemate with Bournemouth and climb into the top four with a win at home to relegation-threatened West Ham United last weekend.

However, the Seagulls were devoid of any creativity against the Hammers, with all four of their shots on target recorded from the 89th minute onwards, including Georginio Rutter’s late equaliser that rescued a point in a 1-1 draw at the Amex Stadium.

Head coach Fabian Hurzeler admitted his Brighton side “did not deserve” more than a point after a display lacking energy and intensity. The result leaves his team eighth in the Premier League table, level on points with Saturday’s opponents Liverpool and three behind fourth-placed Crystal Palace.

Brighton head into a busy festive schedule having failed to win any of their last eight Premier League games in December (D5 L3). Hurzeler has won a match in each of the other nine months he has taken charge of the Seagulls other than the final month of the year.

Back-to-back cleans sheets have been kept by Brighton in their last two away matches and they last kept three in a row between March and July 2020. The Seagulls are also bidding to win consecutive league games against Liverpool for the first time after winning 3-2 in their last meeting at the Amex in May.

Liverpool Premier League form:

Liverpool form (all competitions):

Brighton & Hove Albion Premier League form:

Team News

Liverpool will be without Cody Gakpo (unspecified), Giovanni Leoni (ACL) and Conor Bradley (suspended), while Jeremie Frimpong (hamstring), Federico Chiesa (illness) and Wataru Endo (unspecified) are all doubtful and will be assessed ahead of kickoff.

Although Salah has directly contributed to 17 goals in his last 18 games against Brighton (10 goals, seven assists), it remains to be seen whether he will feature in the matchday squad for the final time before leaving for Africa Cup of Nations duty with Egypt.

Dominik Szoboszlai, who scored an 88th-minute winning penalty against Inter, has arguably been Liverpool’s standout performer this season and he could continue on the right side of midfield if Salah is left out again.

Ex-Brighton man Alexis Mac Allister, Curtis Jones and Ryan Gravenberch will all be battling for starts in midfield, and Joe Gomez will likely continue at right-back in the absence of Bradley, while a recall for Florian Wirtz could see either Hugo Ekitike or Alexander Isak make way from the first XI.

As for Brighton, Stefanos Tzimas, Solly March, Adam Webster (all knee) and James Milner (muscle) all remain sidelined with injuries, the former of whom is facing months on the sidelines.

Kaoru Mitoma has been out since the end of September with an ankle problem and he will continue to be assessed along with fellow doubtful duo Yasin Ayari (muscle) and Tom Watson (unspecified).

Should Ayari pass a late fitness test, he will likely battle with Diego Gomez and Jack Hinshelwood for a start in centre-midfield alongside Carlos Baleba, while Rutter is expected to retain his starting spot behind striker Danny Welbeck after scoring his first PL goal of the season with his 19th shot last weekend.

Liverpool possible starting lineup:

Alisson; Gomez, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Jones, Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Szoboszlai, Isak, Wirtz

Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:

Verbruggen; Wieffer, Dunk, Van Hecke, Kadioglu; Baleba, Ayari; Minteh, Rutter, De Cuyper; Welbeck

We say: Liverpool 2-2 Brighton & Hove Albion

An early breakthrough will not guarantee victory on Saturday, given that the team scoring first has failed to win any of the last four Premier League meetings between Liverpool and Brighton.

Considering that the Anfield aura has faded in recent weeks, with Liverpool failing to win any of their last three home games and conceding seven goals (D1 L2), we can see the Seagulls claiming at least a share of the spoils from what could turn out to be an entertaining, end-to-end contest.

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