Everyone in football has a “bogey team” that they play against.
The outcome is never in your favor, regardless of what your team does, what lineup your manager chooses, or how brilliantly the players play.
The nightmare team for Liverpool over the previous four seasons has been Brighton & Hove Albion. In their last seven encounters with them, Jurgen Klopp’s team has only managed one victory.
One of Klopp’s lowest points during his eight-year Anfield reign occurred in their most recent Premier League defeat to them, a 3-0 setback in January, when Liverpool was soundly defeated by the home team led by Roberto De Zerbi.
In his remarks prior to the sides’ upcoming clash at the Amex Stadium on Sunday, Klopp praised Brighton for their “really big steps,” “super consistency,” and “different players and line-ups, but you always see Brighton football. I couldn’t be more impressed by that.” Due to the fact that we need to make certain corrections, I am genuinely looking forward to the game.
The Athletic dissected Brighton’s winning strategies and predicted what Liverpool may anticipate this weekend on the south coast.
going for the right side
It’s not unusual to direct your attack toward Liverpool’s right, aiming for the area behind Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Brighton’s attack was mainly centered on Liverpool’s right flank in both of the teams’ league encounters last season, including the setup for two of the goals in that 3-0 league triumph in January.
Similar circumstances occurred in Brighton’s 3-3 draw at Anfield a year ago this week, when all of their goals came from that wing.
Kaoru Mitoma was a constant threat at the Amex because of his pace, movement, and dribbling.
Three months prior, Mitoma was a significant contributor to Leandro Trossard’s hat-trick on Merseyside by providing the assist for the game’s final goal. By responding faster to second balls and playing at a pace that was too quick for Klopp’s players to react, Brighton took advantage of Liverpool’s defensive mistakes down the right.
We haven’t seen this matchup since Liverpool switched to a three-box-three formation late in the last campaign, but it will likely be more effective now that Alexander-Arnold is fully recovered from a hamstring injury. Brighton will probably continue to attack in this manner nonetheless.
performing all the lines
Brighton’s recent development has been supported by their possession confidence and patient, skillful play-building. This strategy depends on dribbling into areas of open space to catch the ball and facilitate ball advancement.
They effectively employed it against Liverpool. Trossard and Pascal Gross frequently positioned themselves on either side of an isolated Fabinho during the thrilling first 25 minutes of that 3-3 draw in October.
