Liverpool Predicted Lineup vs Brighton | EFL Cup
Liverpool travel to the sunny South to face off against Brighton & Hove Albion in the latest round of the EFL Cup. This trip closes off a three game road trip for Arne Slot's Reds following trips to Leipzig and Arsenal last week. Last time out in the EFL Cup, Liverpool faced West Ham United and despite an early own goal from Jarell Quansah, rallied to finish the game with a 5-1 victory margin.
The Merseyside club are coming off an unbeaten nine-game run and remains undefeated away from home all season.
Team News
Brighton & Hove Albion
The Seagulls are coming into this clash with a series of injuries affecting them, with the likes of Joao Pedro, Yakuba Minteh, and Lewis Dunk to name a few. Georginio Rutter also misses out as he is cup-tied having already played with Leeds United in the competition. This leaves Brighton very short-handed depth-wise and options-wise for the kick-off.
Liverpool
Liverpool have their share of injuries as Arne Slot confirmed earlier today in his press conference. Conor Bradley, however, is a bright spot as he has been confirmed to be back in training and could feature in tomorrow's game. Outside of this, no new injuries to report from the Boss.
Here's how we see both teams setting up for the clash tomorrow night;
Predicted Teams
Brighton & Hove Albion - (4-4-2)
Steele (GK); Lamptey, Van Hecke, Igor, Estupinan; Adingra, Baleba, Wieffer, Mitoma; Enciso, Ferguson
Liverpool - (4-2-3-1)
GK: Caoimhin Kelleher - If this was a lower-tiered team and not a Premier League team, Vitor Jaros could have taken this spot, but, Brighton can be decent in attack and having someone with the skill of Caoimh as your backup, while Alisson recovers, is a blessing and a curse. But the goalkeeper position is one where confidence and minutes are paramount. Continuing momentum from previous performances is key here.
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold - Some might be asking, why not Conor Bradley? This is purely based on Arne Slot's comments on Bradley's fitness. He only recently came back to training and may not be up to full fitness, so playing him too quickly could set him back. A split of the halves between himself and Trent would be ideal, but with the depleted Brighton back line missing Lewis Dunk, Trent could cause havoc with his long ball placement and set-pieces.
CB: Ibrahima Konaté - Similarly to Trent and Conor, we would split the halves between Ibou and Virgil. Keeping both of their legs warm and fresh for the return fixture against Brighton in the Premier League. This could easily be Virgil van Dijk's spot and then have Konaté come on at halftime. But, we thought of letting the more senior of the defenders rest in the first half before seeing out the game in the second half.
CB: Jarell Quansah - Following his substitution in the first Premier League fixture against Ipswich, Jarell found himself warming the bench for a number of games, before coming on to start against West Ham in the previous EFL Cup game. It didn't exactly go to plan for the young Englishman, bagging himself an own-goal in the first half couldn't have helped his confidence. But, I expect big things from our young star and this is the perfect game to make a statement and gain himself more minutes for future games.
LB: Joe Gomez - While Konstas Tsimikas performed admirably last weekend against Arsenal, Andrew Robertson looked a shadow of his former self. Arsenal have quick, dribbling wingers, looking to cause problems in one-on-one matchups and to isolate the fullbacks. Brighton have the same with Adingra and Mitoma. How do you stop this? Play your six-foot-two pacey center-back with the ability to play both fullback positions. We feel Joe Gomez starting against Arsenal may have prevented the effectiveness of Saka and Martinelli. Hopefully the same is true in this clash.
CDM: Tyler Morton - The young Englishman has been spending his time with the underage youth teams of late, with sparing appearances in the first team and taking trips with the team to their Champions League fixtures. Tomorrow night would be a great opportunity to see if Tyler Morton can become a more featured member of the depth for most games. Being one of the most press-resistant midfielders in the Championship for Hull City last season, the 21-year-old has the ability, but does Slot trust him yet? That remains to be seen.
CDM: Wataru Endo - Endo, the model of professionalism in the squad, and hailed as superb by Arne Slot in his recent press conference, should start this game. One of the best defensive midfielders of last season, fallen out of favor with this system and assumed to be not wanted by the head coach, Endo has been stellar in his performances when he plays. Last time out against West Ham United he finished his 82-minute performance with 94% passing accuracy, eight recoveries, and seven defensive actions. Winning 75% of his aerial duels, for a man who's only five-foot-ten!
RW: Darwin Núñez - Darwin has the ability to play all across the front three, able to outpace both center-backs and full-backs alike. His flexibility allows the other forwards to switch and swap with him through the game and cause havoc to the Brighton back-line. Arne Slot praised his ridiculous work ethic and ability to outrun most players on the pitch. This will be helpful on the right-hand side to allow Trent to overlap and Darwin to cover him in the attacking phases of the game. Darwin has been defending like a defensive midfielder and running the channels like a winger. Excited to see his contribution in tomorrow's game again!
CAM: Dominik Szoboszlai - Having not started against Arsenal, and then providing stability when he came on for Alexis Mac Allister in the second half. Dom needs to start this game. He provides a lot of pressing prowess and with the reduced back-line of Brighton, this could play right into our hands and allow the forwards to feast, if he can get his final pass on target to the wingers running in behind.
LW: Luis Diaz - Diaz spent a lot of his time defending in the match against Arsenal to help out Andy Robertson. Having Joe Gomez behind him and a more solid defensive presence will allow Lucho to do what Lucho does best, attack the defenders off the dribble and cut inside or lay it off to the overlapping midfielders to play crosses into the box. Cody Gakpo could overlap outside him to provide channels for Darwin and Szoboszlai to run into and get crosses delivered.
ST: Cody Gakpo - Another massively flexible forward that can play either wing or centrally, Cody, Lucho and Darwin can all interchange and cause Chaos to the defensive line of Brighton. Playing with his back to the goal, playing Szoboszlai through on the run along with full-backs joining the attack, Cody can be the link up man along with the overlapping left winger outside of Luis Diaz to provide service to the box for the taller players such as Darwin coming in at the back post over Brighton's full-backs.
Key Players
Brighton & Hove Albion
Evan Ferguson - The young Irishman got his shooting boots back recently, with a fantastic goal against Wolverhampton Wanders in the 85th minute. He is a very raw, physical striker with the ability to score from nothing, and will be a real test of Jarell Quansah, but with the help of both Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté, he should be kept under wraps. Don't be surprised if he gets on the scoresheet.
Liverpool
Trent Alexander-Arnold - The Scouser needs a 'get right' game, as the last two instances against both Chelsea and Arsenal have been slightly lacking, especially with his long ball accuracy. While he provided both pre-assists in the Arsenal game, his overall play was disappointing, especially having defensive troubles against Martinelli of Arsenal. Let's hope this is a turnaround performance from the Liverpudlian.
Score Prediction
Brighton & Hove Albion 1-3 Liverpool
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