Brighton and Hove Albion were once Liverpool’s whipping boys, but this season they’ve become a force to be reckoned with.
Despite the fact that several key players were sold and inspirational manager Graham Potter joined Chelsea, they continued to thrive under Roberto De Zerbi.
The Seagulls are also now scoring goals for fun, just like Liverpool did a few years ago. Brighton have scored 25 goals in their last nine games, while Liverpool only scored 17 times.
The hat-trick scored by Leandro Trossard to deny the Merseyside club all three points at Anfield earlier this season is still the stuff of nightmares.
Trossard is Brighton’s top scorer this season with seven goals, followed by Pascal Groß with six and 2022 World Cup winner Alexis MacAllister with five.
It is hard to think that the Seagulls could be running the Liverpool midfield ragged at the Amex Stadium today.
There is just so much apprehension about how a well-weighted pass from former Reds old boy Adam Lallana or Liverpool’s transfer target Moisés Caicedo gets to one of Brighton’s attackers up top, which then leads to a goal.
Liverpool have a good track record against the Seagulls, having won seven and lost only once in the last 11 league matches.
But it will count for nothing, given the form they are in right now.
The Reds have only won two and drawn three of their last six league meetings since 2020. How times have changed.
Liverpool have been poor since the start of this season. There are no two ways about it.
Much has been said about the midfield and how Jurgen Klopp should sign a midfielder or two to freshen things up.
But given the trust and faith Klopp has in them, putting in that extra effort to chase down opposing players or break down attacks is the least they could do.
Klopp’s gegenpressing philosophy has always been to defend from the top, so everyone needs to take up that extra responsibility to help defend.
After the harsh lesson taught by Brentford at the beginning of last week and being easily sliced up by Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Cup third round match last weekend, it is high time the players did what they do best.
They have to press the opposition from high up in the field and not leave themselves exposed in defence.
With Virgil van Dijk out injured for some time, Ibrahima Konate and Joel Matip should start at the heart of the defence, with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson playing down the flanks.
In the middle of the park, Thiago Alcantara should get the nod alongside Fabinho and Naby Keita, while Mohamad Salah, Darwin Nunez and new signing Cody Gakpo should also be retained in the starting 11.
Until reinforcements are brought in, Klopp will have to make do with what he has at his disposal.
There’s still time to make things right and get into the top four – the players need to chip in or ship out.
