By Sam McGuire
There’s not a lot at stake at the Amex, but it still looks set to be an intriguing match-up.
Liverpool have eased up
We’ll address the elephant in the room. Liverpool haven’t won a game since securing the title with a 5-1 victory against Spurs. They lost to Chelsea (3-1) before giving up a 2-0 lead against Arsenal, at Anfield, last Sunday.
The team don’t seem to care though. The title is secured.
They’re enjoying themselves. The squad have been in Dubai all week while Arne Slot was pictured in Ibiza. The Reds really are on the beach. On the pitch they’re going to just be going through the motions.
Well, all but one player, anyway.
Mohamed Salah continues to chase records
Salah needs two assists in the final two matches to become the first player since Thierry Henry to register 20+ goals and 20+ assists in a single season. He’s also just one goal involvement away from matching a record currently held by Andrew Cole and Alan Shearer.
Everyone else might be on the beach, mentally, but Salah is still focused on influencing things in the final third. In truth, he should’ve had at least one assist in his last outing. He put it on a plate for Luis Díaz, only to see David Raya pull off a remarkable save to thwart the Liverpool No. 7.
He spent the rest of the game trying to assist teammates, even opting to pass up opportunities to shoot in favour of creating an opportunity instead.
The Liverpool No. 11 is going to be looking to finish the season on an individual high as well as a collective one. He has a good record against the Seagulls, scoring the winner when the two sides met at Anfield last time out.
What will happen with Trent Alexander-Arnold?
For a second successive week, Alexander-Arnold has been a hot topic of debate.
He replaced Conor Bradley at Anfield last weekend and every touch was met by a chorus of boos from the Anfield crowd. This has divided opinion online, but it is quite clear that Liverpool fans are not happy with his decision to leave the club to join Real Madrid.
It soured the atmosphere on Merseyside last weekend.
Does Slot risk ruining the feel good vibe again by naming him in the starting XI? Does the Dutchman risk having him in the squad at all?
There are plenty of unknowns right now.
The Seagulls are soaring, kind of
Brighton are doing well over recently weeks. They’ve taken eight points from a possible 15, losing just one of their last five in the Premier League.
However, they have scored at least two in three of these matches. They beat an in-form Wolves side 2-0 last time out and managed to hold Champions League chasing Newcastle United to a 1-1 draw.
They have the quality and the personnel to cause problems.
Injury issues
The hosts are without some key names in James Milner, Solly March, Ferdi Kadıoğlu and Georginio Rutter. They do, however, still have a talented squad to pick from, so naming a competitive XI to face the champions should not be an issue for Fabian Hürzeler.
Liverpool, meanwhile, have everyone available to them with the exception of Joe Gomez. Slot has some big decisions to make ahead of the game. He has too many players for his matchday squad.
Prediction
We’re going to go with a narrow 2-1 win for the hosts.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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