Liverpool vs Brighton & Hove Albion Prediction: Reds to edge past Seagulls again

Liverpool edged past Brighton & Hove Albion in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday but must play the Seagulls for the second time in less than 72 hours, this time in the Premier League at Anfield on Saturday (15:00).

Below you can find my Liverpool vs Brighton & Hove Albion prediction, complete with all the latest team news and match odds, as Fabian Hurzeler's charges seek to avenge their 3-2 defeat to Arne Slot's side at the Amex Stadium.

Team News

Liverpool made eight changes to their starting XI on Wednesday from last Sunday's 2-2 draw with Arsenal, with only Andy Robertson, Curtis Jones and Luis Diaz keeping their places in the lineup. Jones could start again on Saturday but I expect both Robertson and Diaz to drop to the bench, with Kostas Tsimikas and Darwin Nunez replacing the pair. Tsimikas will take over from Robertson at left-back while Nunez will start up top, allowing Cody Gakpo, who bagged a brace at Brighton in midweek, to keep his place on the left-hand side of the attack.

Mohamed Salah will return on the right while Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch could join Jones in midfield, which would mean Dominik Szoboszlai being benched.

At the back, Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and Trent Alexander-Arnold will come in for Joe Gomez, Jarell Quansah and Conor Bradley, while Caoimhin Kellher will replace Vitezslav Jaros between the sticks.

Alisson Becker, Harvey Elliott, Diogo Jota and Federico Chiesa remain injured for the Reds.

Football Odds

Brighton also made eight changes on Wednesday, with only defenders Jan Paul van Hecke, Igor and Ferdi Kadioglu keeping their starting spots from last Saturday's 2-2 draw at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Bart Verbruggen will return in goal in place of Jason Steele at Anfield, while the likes of Joel Veltman, Carlos Baleba, Kaoru Mitoma and Danny Welbeck are expected to be restored to the starting XI.

There's positive news on the injury front for the Seagulls, who could have Joao Pedro and Yankuba Minteh back in the squad.

However, captain Lewis Dunk and summer signing Matt O'Riley could miss out again alongside James Milner, Solly March and Adam Webster.

Georginio Rutter is available again after being cup-tied in midweek.

Liverpool vs Brighton & Hove Albion Odds

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Liverpool are 2/5 to beat Brighton for the second time in less than four days, giving the Reds an implied win probability of 71.4%, while the Seagulls are 13/2, or a 13.3% chance, to exact their revenge by claiming all three points at Anfield.

The draw is priced at 4/1, both teams to score at 4/7 and over 3.5 total goals at 1/1.

Salah (10/11) heads the anytime goalscorer market, followed by teammates Nunez (6/5), Gakpo (7/5) and Diaz (6/4), while Joao Pedro (11/4) and Welbeck (3/1) are most fancied for the visitors.

Match Result & Both Teams to Score - Liverpool & Yes @ 7/5

I managed to successfully tip both selections in my Brighton v Liverpool Carabao Cup preview on Wednesday, landing an anytime goal from Gakpo at 2/1 and both teams to score two or more at 3/1.

The pressure is on, then, to keep up my form in this fixture.

First of all, I'm picking Liverpool to win and both teams to score at 7/5. The second part is an easy one to explain as BTTS - Yes has been a winner in the previous four meetings between these sides, including Wednesday's cup tie, and six of the last eight stretching back to October 2021.

It's not often the case in the Premier League this season that both teams score in a Liverpool match, with only Manchester United (also three) recording as few as Slot's side.

However, two of those occasions have come in Liverpool's last two league games, a 2-1 win over Chelsea and 2-2 draw with Arsenal. Those contests arguably represented the Reds' most difficult of the season so far, and I'm expecting Brighton, who have only lost once in the top flight under Hurzeler, to cause similar problems for the Merseysiders.

Both teams to score has landed in 67 per cent (six) of Brighton's Premier League encounters, and with five goals struck in Wednesday's cup tie, I'd be surprised if we didn't see a few more goals on Saturday, at least one on either side.

To be honest, I wouldn't be shocked to see the Seagulls snatch a point at Anfield, despite the limitations they showed in midweek. Hurzeler is likely to revert to a more familiar starting XI in L4, one that has helped them go on a three-game unbeaten run in the league, and really, they should be on a three-match win streak as they were two goals up in the 88th minute against Wolves before throwing two of the three points on offer away.

However, I'm just about going to back Liverpool to pick up another win under Slot, who has made a mockery of pre-season predictions that he could start slowly in the post-Jurgen Klopp era.

The Reds lost 1-0 at home to Nottingham Forest on September 14 but have won their last four games at Anfield in all competitions, beating both AFC Bournemouth (3-0) and Chelsea in the Premier League there, as well as West Ham United (5-1) in the Carabao Cup and Bologna (2-0) in the Uefa Champions League.

Brighton will have their big boys back from the start on Saturday, but so will Liverpool, and the superior quality in the home side's ranks should see them through to all three points here.

Player to Receive a Card - Trent Alexander-Arnold (LIV) @ 7/2

I successfully backed an Alexander-Arnold card at 9/2 in my Liverpool v Nottingham Forest preview in September, and I'm going for it again this weekend, albeit at reduced odds of 7/2.

The Liverpool vice-captain was booked six times in the Premier League last season, up from five the previous campaign, while his second of this term came at Wolves on September 28.

He's kept himself clean since then but faces a big test of his defensive credentials on Saturday up against Brighton's wing wizard Mitoma, who has been fouled an average of 0.9 times per game, which is actually down slightly from 1.2 in 2023/24.

Mitoma and his teammates are sure to make life difficult for Alexander-Arnold this weekend, as they have done in previous seasons. The Liverpool No.66 has played Brighton nine times in his career and only against Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal (all four) has he received more yellow cards than the Seagulls (three).

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