Key events
Conor Bradley is back in Liverpoolâs starting line-up. Hereâs Will Unwin:
If Roberto De Zerbi wants advice on how to impress the Anfield crowd he should seek Conor Bradleyâs counsel. The full-back stepped in for the injured Trent Alexander-Arnold in late January and has not looked back since his first Premier League home game against Chelsea.
Bradley scored once and assisted two in a 4-1 thrashing as he announced himself to Liverpool fans. De Zerbi brings his Brighton side to Anfield on Sunday with his name under consideration to replace the departing Jürgen Klopp. Another fine showing would make a timely statement, although the home fans will be hoping for a valiant defeat for the Italian.
Bradley is the type of player who would thrive under De Zerbiâs all-action style. A year ago, the 20-year-old was scoring the winner against Exeter in League One while on loan at Bolton but has quickly become an invaluable cog for Liverpool, flying up and down the right flank. He already has a Carabao Cup-winnerâs medal and is aiming to follow it up with the Premier League and Europa League success.
Much more here:
Roberto De Zerbi has a chat now:
[Previous good results against Liverpool] are reat memories, but today is another thing. Itâs a tough game. We want to play well, we want to make points and play a good game. We are spending a very tough moment in terms of injured players but we want to keep an eye on the result, because we have another 10 games and we want to try to reach the European positions, because we can do it.
Possession is important in every game, especially against Liverpool and other big teams. I think this season they are playing very well. I think theyâre changing something in tactical disposition. Itâs a tough game but we want to play in our style, in our way.
Jurgen Klopp has a chat with Sky:
I didnât think a second about the other game, to be honest, itâs just about us. Itâs always a challenge when the boys are coming back [from an international break] to find a common way again. We had a day more, I hope we use that properly. The opponent is strong, theyâre different to all other teams in the league. Itâs interesting, Iâm looking forward to it, but itâs a challenge.
Brighton are a possession-based team. They struggle from time to time defensively but when you have the ball like they have, you have a formation like they have, we had not enough possession against them in the other games because thatâs the best way to deal with them â we told the boys it would be cool if they had the ball more. I like preparing for these games. It hasnât worked out recently but the longer you donât win against these guys the more likely you do win the next one.
The teams!
Team news is in. Andy Robertson has failed a fitness test and is replaced in the Liverpool line-up by Conor Bradley. Brighton make four changes.
Liverpool: Kelleher, Bradley, Quansah, van Dijk, Gomez, Mac Allister, Endo, Szoboszlai, Salah, Nunez, Diaz. Subs: Konate, Adrian, Gakpo, Elliott, Tsimikas, Gravenberch, Clark, McConnell, Danns.
Brighton: Verbruggen, Veltman, Dunk, van Hecke, Lamptey, Baleba, Gross, Estupinan, Adingra, Moder, Welbeck. Subs: Igor, Webster, Lallana, Barco, Steele, Ferguson, Fati, Buonanotte, Chouchane.
Referee: David Coote (Nottinghamshire).
Team news is IN! ð
This is how the Reds line up to take on Brighton â #LIVBHA
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) March 31, 2024
Preamble
Brightonâs record against Liverpool of late really is astonishingly good. In their first three Premier League seasons the Reds did the double over them, but since the summer of 2020 Brighton have won three and lost only one of eight meetings and have come away from Anfield with a 1-0 win and two high-scoring (2-2 and 3-3) draws, the last of those having been Roberto De Zerbiâs first match as manager.
Talking of whom, Ruben Amorim may have overtaken De Zerbi in the bookmakersâ reckoning as most likely replacement for Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, but the coaches will provide an intriguing subplot to this match â though with any luck thereâll be enough action on the pitch for people to forget about them for a while.
Hereâs Will Unwinâs thing to look out for in this game:
An Anfield audition for De Zerbi?
Whisper it, but Jürgen Klopp is leaving Liverpool at the end of the season and they need someone to replace him. One of the names linked to the Anfield hot seat is Roberto De Zerbi, who brings his lively brand of football to Merseyside on Sunday. The Italian has solid credentials, but the question is whether he can step up to a club vying for silverware. The new Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes once recommended De Zerbi to take over at former club Bournemouth, indicating his views. It might help that Hughes is an Italian speaker and very knowledgeable about European football. One thing that could help De Zerbi is the fact that he has Adam Lallana on his coaching staff, even though the midfielder is still playing, not to mention James Milner in his ranks. Sunday will, to some degree, be an audition for De Zerbi, and were he to end up at Anfield on a permanent basis fitting Milner and Lallana into the boot room might help the transition.
