A week after thrashing arch-rivals Manchester United 5-0 at home and a few days before their midweek Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid on Wednesday, former champions Liverpool take on Brighton at Anfield on Saturday, with a chance of taking the top spot in the English Premier League.
Liverpool are currently on 21 points from nine matches, just a point behind Chelsea with defending champions Manchester City (20) a further point behind in what is promising to develop into another tight race for the Premier League title. Liverpool has been unbeaten in the league so far and looking good to continue the run.
The Reds have been playing a superb brand of football and looking good to challenge for all four titles this season and have a squad that could sustain the pressure of putting up a strong squad in all competitions despite the busy schedule.
However, they have some injury concerns and on Friday in the pre-match press conference, manager Juergen Klopp had mixed news to offer — midfielder Naby Keita, who was felled by Paul Pogba with a strong challenge last Sunday, is fit to play while Fabiano and Thiago Alcantara are still unavailable.
“Naby Keita looks good, he was obviously lucky (in the challenge that Paul Pogba was sent off for last weekend), so I think he will be ready. Fabinho doesn’t look that good, it’s a bit more complicated… he wasn’t in team training yet, so that’s never a good sign. Thiago (Alcantara) did team training for the first time yesterday, he did most of the session, but that doesn’t mean he’s ready to play,” said Klopp.
The Reds may have some unfinished business to settle as Brighton had beaten them in the same fixture last season and Klopp said they are a dangerous side going by their recent performances. Though Brighton lost to Manchester City on Sunday and to Leicester City in the League Cup on penalties on Thursday, they are a tough side and capable of causing trouble for any side.
“We know what they are capable of… in the second half (against Manchester City), they were incredible, the way they kept the ball, it’s not easy to do that against City [so] we have to be really good. This is not a game where you dominate an opponent, they will have their moments … we have to run a lot, we have to close gaps. It will be a tough one, but I’m looking forward to it,” Klopp said.
In other matches over the weekend, table toppers Chelsea face Newcastle United in London, Manchester City will host Crystal Palace while Arsenal will travel to Leicester on Saturday. Also on Saturday, Burnley will meet Brentford while Watford will take on Southampton.
On Sunday, Manchester United will hope to pick up the pieces from last week’s disaster against Liverpool when they meet Tottenham Hotspur in a clash between two teams trying to get into the top five and in contention for European action. In other matches, fourth-placed West Ham will hope to maintain their superb run when they take on Aston Villa at home while bottom-placed Norwich City take on Leeds United and Wolverhampton meet Everton in a late crash.
