Brighton vs Liverpool preview, prediction, team news and head-to-head

• Over 3.5 goals

• Both teams to score

• Liverpool to score first

• Liverpool to win

After enduring a miserable run of just one win in 13 Premier League matches from the beginning of December (D6 L6), Brighton have since turned a corner, winning three of their last four games.

Their only setback during this spell was at home to leaders Arsenal (1-0), with the Premier League's Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel revealing that the Seagulls were wrongly denied a penalty following a missed VAR intervention – the 18th VAR errors logged by the independent panel this season.

Fabian Hurzeler’s side quickly bounced back from that slender loss to the Gunners by beating Sunderland 1-0 at the Stadium of Light last weekend, moving the 12th-placed Seagulls onto 40 points and just five behind the top seven with eight games remaining.

For Liverpool, it is a third game in the space of six days, and they will be on a high after thumping Galatasaray 4-0 to reach the Champions League quarter-finals.

The performance at Anfield was a big improvement from the 1-1 draw against relegation-threatened Tottenham last Sunday, where the Reds missed the chance to go fourth in the table.

It was the “perfect game” in the eyes of head coach Arne Slot, who needed an important victory in this convincing fashion to ease the pressure on his shoulders.

Liverpool are looking to complete their first league double over Brighton since 2019-20, following their 2-0 victory in the reverse fixture at Anfield in December.

Getting the better of Brighton this season has not been an issue for Liverpool, though, as they have already beaten the Seagulls twice by an aggregate score of 5-0, including last month’s 3-0 FA Cup fifth-round win at Anfield. Not since 2021-22 versus Arsenal have the Reds won three matches without conceding against an opponent in the same season.

Brighton head into Saturday’s clash with Liverpool having won two of their last three home league meetings with the Reds (D1); before this, they had previously prevailed in only one of their first 13 encounters (D6 L6). They secured a 3-2 win in this exact fixture at the Amex last season.

Brighton Premier League form: 🟥🟥🟩🟩🟥🟩

Brighton form (all competitions): 🟥🟥🟩🟩🟥🟩

Liverpool Premier League form: 🟥🟩🟩🟩🟥🟧

Liverpool form (all competitions): 🟩🟥🟩🟥🟧🟩

Brighton will be without long-term absentees Stefanos Tzimas and Adam Webster for the visit of Liverpool, but Kaoru Mitoma could return from injury. The Japan international picked up a knock in the 1-0 loss to Arsenal at the beginning of the month and subsequently missed last weekend’s victory over Sunderland.

If fit, Carlos Baleba could rival 40-year-old ex-Liverpool midfielder James Milner for a place in the first XI, with Yasin Ayari, Jack Hinshelwood and January arrival Pascal Gross also battling for a place in the middle of the pitch.

Mohamed Salah is Liverpool’s top scorer (10) and top assister (seven) against Brighton in the Premier League. However, the Egyptian is a doubt and will be assessed after he “felt something” against Galatasaray and came off in the final 15 minutes.

Alexander Isak has returned to individual training but remains absent along with Wataru Endo, Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni.

Hugo Ekitike, who scored both goals in Liverpool’s 2-0 league win over Brighton three months ago, is expected to lead the line, while in-form Dominik Szoboszlai is set to continue in the number 10 role and will be looking to score for the third game in a row in all competitions.

Brighton: Verbruggen; Wieffer, Dunk, Van Hecke, Kadioglu; Ayari, Baleba; Gomez, Gross, Minteh; Welbeck

Liverpool: Alisson; Frimpong, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Mac Allister, Gravenberch; Salah, Szoboszlai, Wirtz; Ekitike

This should be a good game, an open one that both Slot and Hurzeler will enjoy. Brighton have shown they can cause problems for the so-called bigger teams and are on a decent run.

Liverpool will know the importance of signing off for the international break with a win to boost their hopes of a top-four finish.

We expect this to be a game full of goals with Liverpool coming out on top.

Correct score prediction: Brighton 2-4 Liverpool