Attempts have been made by Chris Sutton and Paul Merson to forecast the outcome of Liverpool’s Premier League trip to Brighton & Hove Albion.
Both Chris Sutton and Paul Merson think Liverpool will upset Brighton & Hove Albion this afternoon in a thrilling match to avenge their Premier League loss to Tottenham Hotspur last week.
Up until last Saturday, Liverpool had not lost in any competition since April 1. Following Manchester City’s blunder against Wolverhampton Wanderers, they had the chance to continue that streak and take the league lead, but expectations were dashed when a goal by Luis Diaz that had been erroneously disallowed cost them at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The team led by Jurgen Klopp rallied to defeat Union Saint-Gilloise in the Europa League midweek, but before the break another challenging road test awaits in the form of fellow high flyers Brighton.
Three times last season, Liverpool failed to overcome their opponents, drawing once at Anfield and losing twice at the AMEX in league and FA Cup play.
Three times last season, Liverpool failed to overcome their opponents, drawing once at Anfield and losing twice at the AMEX in league and FA Cup play.
But when you ask the experts who will win tonight, the Reds are without a doubt the clear favourite.
Merson began by making comments about the match versus Spurs in his weekly predictions for Sportskeeda that he would later repeat in a contentious discussion with Mike Dean on Soccer Saturday.
“Currently, the rules in the Premier League effectively say that if someone makes a mistake, don’t correct it and get on with the game,” the Arsenal legend began. “That’s not good enough – change the rule! Common sense is not as common as we think it is.
“If you break the rule during the game, no-one’s going to die. The referees could have stopped the game and said that they made a mistake. Show it on your big screens and give the goal – not one Tottenham fan could’ve moaned about it. The goal was miles onside and it was obvious.”
By saying that Brighton is one of those teams who are really dangerous when the pressure is off, he ultimately predicted that Liverpool will win 3-1 at the AMEX. Prior to getting utterly destroyed by Aston Villa, they were pressured to finish in the top four the other day. If Brighton can defeat this Liverpool team, I will be astonished.
“Liverpool are a very good team – they’re better than what people think they are. They were bang unlucky last week, and it wasn’t only because of VAR. This will be an open football game with a lot of goals, but I don’t see how Brighton’s defence can live with Jurgen Klopp’s side. Liverpool have got more firepower than Aston Villa and should be able to beat Brighton.”
Sutton expressed a similar viewpoint while assessing the situation in his BBC Sport forecast. The Premier League champion predicted a close but still high-scoring match and predicted Reds 3-2. He started by sharing his personal opinions on Klopp’s request for a rematch against Tottenham.
The legendary Blackburn Rovers player said, “I assume the Reds will request a replay if they lose this game. Although I admire Reds manager Jurgen Klopp, if it happened, football would become a complete farce. Everybody would demand a repeat of every game if a disputed decision had been made that they disagreed with.
“Of course they were unlucky against Tottenham and that was a horrendous decision to disallow Luiz Diaz’s goal, but Liverpool have to take a bit of responsibility themselves over the red cards for Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota – I really cannot understand why they appealed against Jones’ sending-off.
“Brighton beat Liverpool twice at the Amex Stadium last season – 3-0 in the league and 2-1 in the FA Cup – but this is a different Liverpool side, especially in midfield. I can see Alexis Mac Allister shining on his old patch, and taking home the points.”
Celebrity guests KSI, actual name Olajide Olatunji, who called the 4-3 thriller, and Tommy Fury, who agreed with Sutton’s 3-2 decision, squared off against Sutton.