Brighton & Hove Albion will be bidding to end their three-game winless run in all competitions on Sunday when they host Liverpool at the Amex Stadium for a Premier League fixture.
The Seagulls have lost a bit of momentum since last week, losing to Chelsea and Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup and Premier League, respectively. They showed great character to recover from a two-goal deficit to take a point against Marseille at Stade Velodrome on Thursday evening in the Europa League—their first-ever point in the continental competition.
Roberto de Zerbi’s men should take a lot of confidence from their comeback at Marseille and look to go into the international break by beating Liverpool, who head to the south coast off the back of a routine 2-0 win over Union SG in the Europa League group stage.
Brighton Team News
Roberto de Zerbi revealed ahead of the game at Marseille that Pervis Estupinan will be out for a month with a muscle injury. Estupinan has joined James Milner (knock), Jakub Moder (knee), and Julio Enciso (knee) on the sidelines.
Goalkeeper
Jason Steele is expected to take his place between the sticks, having started Brighton’s 2-2 draw with Marseille in midweek.
Defence
Pervis Estupinan’s absence means Tariq Lamptey should operate as a left-back for the foreseeable future. He will likely join Joel Veltman, Lewis Dunk, and Adam Webster in the backline of the Brighton lineup.
Webster is expected to replace Jan Paul van Hecke from the Marseille game and partner Dunk in central defence, with Veltman a certain starter at right-back in the Brighton lineup.
The Brighton backline will need to be at their absolute best to keep an in-form Liverpool attack at bay on Sunday.
Midfield
Pascal Gross returned from the injury and made a telling impact by scoring in Brighton’s 2-2 draw with Marseille. He should pair up with Mahmoud Dahoud in the double pivot in the middle of the park. The duo will look to feed the offensive players from deep, as well as protect the Brighton backline that has been fragile in recent games.
Joao Pedro, who came off the bench and scored the penalty to earn Brighton a draw against Marseille, will hope for a start this time around in the no.10 role in the Brighton lineup.
Attack
While Danny Welbeck has performed extremely well so far this season, De Zerbi could opt for Evan Ferguson to lead the Brighton attack against Liverpool. Ferguson has the qualities to trouble the Reds’ backline, and he will expect quality service from wide attackers Kaoru Mitoma and Solly March.
Welbeck, Ansu Fati and Simon Adingra could be introduced in the second half to add more attacking impetus to the side.
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