Liverpool welcome Brighton & Hove Albion to Anfield in a fixture that feels more finely balanced than the league table might suggest. Arne Slot’s side start the weekend in 10th place on 23 points from 15 games, while Fabian Hürzeler’s Brighton sit eighth and, crucially, only three points outside the top four.
Liverpool’s most recent outing in any competition was a boost: a 1–0 Champions League victory over Inter Milan, a result that stretched their unbeaten run in all competitions to four matches. The picture in the Premier League is less encouraging. Slot’s team have managed just one win in their last five league games and have slipped down the table after a poor domestic run earlier in the autumn. Their home record has also been under scrutiny: Liverpool have won only two of their last seven matches at Anfield in the league, far below the standards of last season’s title campaign.
Off the pitch, the build-up has been coloured by ongoing tension between Slot and Mohamed Salah. The 33-year-old has publicly criticised the club and his manager after reduced game time, and there is open speculation about a move away, including reported interest from Saudi clubs. While Salah remains Liverpool’s third-highest scorer this season, his role and future are very much part of the backdrop to this fixture.
Brighton arrive with a more stable trajectory. Hürzeler’s team drew 1–1 at home to West Ham United in their last match, needing a stoppage-time equaliser from Georginio Rutter to take a point after a below-par first-half display. That draw followed a run in which Brighton have generally been competitive: they sit eighth, level in the wider European-chasing pack and just a single win away from the top-four places. Their recent away form has been uneven, but they did record a valuable victory at Nottingham Forest two weeks ago, showing they can still carry a threat on the road.
Form-wise, the contrast is clear enough. Liverpool are still dealing with the hangover of a “ridiculous” slump, as Slot himself called it, after a sequence that included six defeats in seven league matches and eight losses in 11 in all competitions earlier in the season. Brighton, meanwhile, have built their current position on a series of strong spells – including a run of successive wins last spring that pushed them firmly into European contention – and have recently shown resilience by taking points even when performances have not been at their best.
On the pitch, Liverpool are likely to approach this match with the usual expectation of taking the initiative at Anfield, especially after the Inter result. Slot will want control of possession, more composure in the final third than has been evident in some recent league games, and a reduction in the defensive errors that have cost his side points. Brighton will come knowing they are capable of unsettling bigger sides: under Hürzeler they have put together high-scoring wins and shown they can create chances through Joao Pedro, Rutter and others when they find their rhythm.
The stakes are clear. For Liverpool, this is an opportunity to translate European encouragement into domestic consistency, improve a patchy home record and begin closing the gap on the Champions League places. For Brighton, it is a chance to underline their presence in the top-four conversation, taking points off last season’s champions and strengthening their own claim to European football.
Given Liverpool’s situation in the table, Brighton’s proximity to the top four and the added layer of the Salah–Slot subplot, Anfield looks set for a tense, closely watched encounter where both form and narrative will be under the microscope.
