League leaders Liverpool will be hoping to continue their near-perfect
start to the Premier League campaign as they play host to a mid-table
Brighton who have lost their last two games.
Liverpool will be looking to extend their winning run in the Premier
League to five games when they host Brighton at their Anfield on
Saturday afternoon. The Reds are determined to put an end to Man
City’s dominance in the Premier League, and we are positive that they
will stick to their attacking style of play against Brighton.
Considering that Egypt superstar Mohamed Salah is likely to recover in
time to face the Seagulls, we believe that home win should be
considered.
Over the years Liverpool have turned their Anfield into a real
fortress, and they are likely to retain their eight-point advantage
over Man City. Brighton, who failed to impress in back-to-back losses
to the likes of Man Utd and Leicester City, are unlikely to spoil
Liverpool’s party at Anfield. In their last meeting in the English top
flight the Reds defeated the Seagulls 1-0.
Liverpool couldn’t conceivably have had a better start to the season,
with 12 wins and one draw from 13 games so far, beating every side in
the top six so far. Dropped points against the ‘big six’ proved their
undoing last season with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City taking more
points from the bigger games, and now that they’ve improved in that
regard to open up a healthy lead.
Jurgen Klopp will be hoping that they can maintain their exceptional
consistency against lesser opposition in the Premier League: they’ve
not lost a game to a side outside the big six since a 1-0 defeat to
Swansea in January 2018, and last season they dropped a total of six
points to teams that finished outside the top six: three draws from 28
games.
One small concern will be their lack of clean sheets compared to last
season. They’ve only kept two in the league; only Norwich and Spurs
have kept fewer. It’s also only three from 20 competitive games.
Joel Matip is still sidelined so Dejan Lovren will continue in defence
alongside Virgil Van Dijk, while Joe Gomez picked up a knock during
international duty. Otherwise expect Klopp’s best available XI, save
for the odd rotation or two with an extremely busy period of fixtures
coming up.
Liverpool have dropped just two points – a draw at Manchester United –
across their opening 13 matches in the Premier League this campaign.
This means they have created an eight-point gap at the top to
second-placed Leicester City, with title favourites Manchester City a
further point behind.
Brighton have had a mixed but generally positive campaign – they have
lost their last two games but had won three of their four immediately
preceding that.
Graham Potter’s side are currently 12th in the standings with 15
points from their opening 13 league games, but can’t expect to add to
their tally here, with a 2-1 home win a possibility.
Three of Liverpool’s last four matches have finished with them winning
by this exact scoreline while it has been the result in five of the
last nine. Meanwhile, Brighton have only not scored in one of their
last six games and have not conceded more than two in any game in any
of their last seven.
Given the lacklustre form of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United,
and their own superior form with three wins from four games going into
it, Graham Potter will have been disappointed that his Seagulls didn’t
put in a more competitive performance away at the fallen giants a
fortnight ago.
Potter’s men were clearly drilled by the methodical manager and played
in his image, registering 57% possession at Old Trafford, but they
failed to make that count as they lost 3-1. The Red Devils had 21
shots to Brighton’s six, and 11 on target to Brighton’s two, and their
goal was decidedly old-school with a ball lofted in to big centre-half
Lewis Dunk to head home.
They struggled in their last game as they failed to control the game
and break down the oppositions backline as they lost 2-0 at home to
Leicester.
Linked into the previous tip, this game is likely to be close fought
although the hosts should still win. Liverpool have not kept a clean
sheet in any of their last 10 games and not at all at Anfield this
season, but should still have enough to win this one.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Brighton. Matches. Win. Draw. Lose
Overall. 38. 9. 13. 16
Home. 19. 7. 8. 4
Away. 19.. 2. 5. 12
Liverpool. Matches. Win. Draw. Lose
Overall. 38. 21. 12. 5
Home. 19. 12. 7. 0
Away. 19. 9. 5. 5
NPFL
Club MP W D L GF GA GD Pts
Plateau Utd 5 4 1 0 10 4 6 13
Lobi Stars 5 3 1 1 9 3 6 10
Enyimba 5 3 1 1 9 4 5 10
Wikki Tourists 5 3 1 1 7 4 3 10
Akwa Starlets 4 2 2 0 5 2 3 8
Abia Warriors 5 2 2 1 4 2 2 8
Katsina Utd 5 2 2 1 4 3 1 8
MFM 5 2 2 1 4 3 1 8
Rivers Utd 5 2 2 1 4 3 1 8
Ifeanyi Uba 5 2 2 1 3 2 1 8
Warri Wolves 5 1 3 1 5 4 1 6
Sunshine Stars 5 1 2 2 3 5 -2 5
Heartland 5 1 2 2 3 6 -3 5
Akwa United 5 0 4 1 3 5 -2 4
Enugu Rangers 5 1 1 3 3 6 -3 4
Adamawa United 5 1 1 3 2 6 -4 4
Delta Force 5 1 1 3 7 12 -5 4
Jigawa G S 5 1 0 4 3 8 -5 3
Kano Pillars 4 0 2 2 0 2 -2 2
Nasarawa United 5 0 2 3 3 7 -4 2
EPL
Club MP W D L GF GA GD Pts
Liverpool 13 12 1 0 30 11 19 37
Leicester City 13 9 2 2 31 8 23 29
Man. City 13 9 1 3 37 14 23 28
Chelsea 13 8 2 3 28 19 9 26
Wolves 13 4 7 2 18 16 2 19
Sheff Utd 13 4 6 3 16 12 4 18
Burnley FC 13 5 3 5 20 18 2 18
Arsenal 13 4 6 3 18 19 -1 18
Man United 13 4 5 4 19 15 4 17
Tottenham 13 4 5 4 21 19 2 17
Bournemouth 13 4 4 5 16 17 -1 16
Brighton 13 4 3 6 15 19 -4 15
Crystal Palace 13 4 3 6 11 18 -7 15
Newcastle 13 4 3 6 11 20 -9 15
Aston Villa 13 4 2 7 19 20 -1 14
Everton 13 4 2 7 13 20 -7 14
West Ham 13 3 4 6 16 23 -7 13
Norwich City 13 3 1 9 13 28 -15 10
Southampton 13 2 3 8 13 31 -18 9
Watford 13 1 5 7 8 26 -18 8
LA LIGA
Club MP W D L GF GA GD Pts
Barcelona 13 9 1 3 35 16 19 28
Real Madrid 13 8 4 1 28 10 18 28
Sevilla 14 8 3 3 18 14 4 27
Atlético Madrid 14 6 7 1 16 9 7 25
Ath. Bilbao 14 6 5 3 15 9 6 23
Real Sociedad 14 7 2 5 22 17 5 23
Getafe CF 14 5 6 3 19 16 3 21
Granada 14 6 3 5 20 18 2 21
Levante 14 6 2 6 18 17 1 20
Valencia 14 5 5 4 20 20 0 20
Osasuna 14 4 7 3 17 15 2 19
Villarreal 14 5 3 6 27 22 5 18
Alavés 14 5 3 6 16 18 -2 18
Valladolid 14 4 5 5 14 18 -4 17
Real Betis 14 4 4 6 17 24 -7 16
Eibar 14 4 3 7 14 23 -9 15
RCD Mallorca 14 4 2 8 13 21 -8 14
Celta Vigo 14 3 3 8 10 20 -10 12
Espanyol 14 2 3 9 8 24 -16 9
Leganes 14 1 3 10 8 24 -16 6
SERIE A
Club MP W D L GF GA GD Pts
Juventus 13 11 2 0 23 10 13 35
Inter Milan 13 11 1 1 29 12 17 34
Lazio 13 8 3 2 30 14 16 27
Cagliari 13 7 4 2 25 14 11 25
Roma 13 7 4 2 23 14 9 25
Atalanta 13 6 4 3 31 21 10 22
Napoli 13 5 5 3 22 16 6 20
Parma 13 5 3 5 20 17 3 18
Verona 13 5 3 5 11 11 0 18
Fiorentina 13 4 4 5 18 20 -2 16
Torino 13 4 2 7 15 20 -5 14
Milan 13 4 2 7 12 17 -5 14
Udinese 13 4 2 7 9 20 -11 14
Sassuolo 12 4 1 7 22 23 -1 13
Bologna 13 3 4 6 18 22 -4 13
Sampdoria 13 3 3 7 9 20 -11 12
Lecce 13 2 5 6 17 27 -10 11
Genoa 13 2 4 7 15 27 -12 10
SPAL 13 2 3 8 8 19 -11 9
Brescia 12 2 1 9 10 23 -13 7
BUNDESLIGA
Club MP W D L GF GA GD Pts
Mönchengladbach 12 8 1 3 24 13 11 25
RB Leipzig 12 7 3 2 33 13 20 24
Bayern 12 7 3 2 33 16 17 24
SC Freiburg 12 6 4 2 21 13 8 22
Schalke 04 12 6 4 2 22 15 7 22
Dortmund 12 5 5 2 26 18 8 20
Wolfsburg 12 5 5 2 13 10 3 20
Hoffenheim 12 6 2 4 17 19 -2 20
Bayer 12 5 4 3 18 16 2 19
Eintracht 12 5 2 5 21 18 3 17
Union Berlin 12 5 1 6 15 17 -2 16
Augsburg 12 3 4 5 17 24 -7 13
Mainz 12 4 0 8 17 31 -14 12
Werder 12 2 5 5 19 26 -7 11
Hertha 12 3 2 7 17 25 -8 11
Fortuna 12 3 2 7 15 23 -8 11
FC Köln 12 2 1 9 11 27 -16 7
Paderborn 12 1 2 9 14 29 -15 5
LIGUE 1
Club MP W D L GF GA GD Pts
PSG 14 11 0 3 30 8 22 33
Marseille 14 7 4 3 18 17 1 25
Angers 14 7 3 4 18 16 2 24
Bordeaux 14 6 4 4 20 16 4 22
St-Étienne 14 6 4 4 15 17 -2 22
Montpellier 14 5 5 4 14 10 4 20
Stade Reims 14 5 5 4 10 7 3 20
Nantes 14 6 2 6 12 13 -1 20
Lyon 14 5 4 5 22 14 8 19
Lille 14 5 4 5 18 15 3 19
Brest 14 4 6 4 15 17 -2 18
Rennes 13 5 3 5 17 15 2 18
Strasbourg 14 5 3 6 15 14 1 18
Monaco 14 5 3 6 21 24 -3 18
OGC Nice 14 5 2 7 17 21 -4 17
Amiens SC 14 4 4 6 17 24 -7 16
Dijon FCO 14 4 3 7 9 15 -6 15
Metz 14 3 5 6 12 19 -7 14
Toulouse 14 3 3 8 15 27 -12 12
Nîmes 13 2 5 6 11 17 -6 11
WEEKEND FIXTURES
NPFL
Adamawa United vs Katsina Utd
Sunshine Stars vs Akwa United
Wikki Tourists vs Heartland
Akwa Starlets vs Warri Wolves
Rivers Utd vs Abia Warriors
Plateau Utd vs Kano Pillars
Jigawa G/ Stars vs Ifeanyi Uba
Nasarawa United vs Delta Force
EPL
Newcastle vs Man. City
Liverpool vs Brighton
Burnley FC vs C/ Palace
Chelsea vs West Ham
Tottenham vs Bournemouth
Southampton vs Watford
Norwich City vs Arsenal
Wolves vs Sheff Utd
Leicester City vs Everton
Man United vs Aston Villa
LA LIGA
Celta Vigo vs Valladolid
Alavés vs Real Madrid
Real Sociedad vs Eibar
RCD Mallorca vs Real Betis
Valencia vs Villarreal
Sevilla vs Leganes
Ath. Bilbao vs Granada
Espanyol vs Osasuna
Getafe CF vs Levante
Atlético Madrid vs Barcelona
SERIE A
Brescia vs Atalanta
Genoa vs Torino
Fiorentina vs Lecce
Juventus vs Sassuolo
Lazio vs Udinese
Inter Milan vs SPAL
Parma vs Milan
Napoli vs Bologna
Verona vs Roma
Cagliari vs Sampdoria
BUNDESLIGA
Schalke 04 vs Union Berlin
Hoffenheim vs Fortuna
Hertha vs Dortmund
FC Köln vs Augsburg
Paderborn vs RB Leipzig
Bayern vs Bayer
Mönchengladbach vs SC Freiburg
Wolfsburg vs Werder
Mainz vs Eintracht
LIGUE 1
Marseille vs Brest
Strasbourg vs Lyon
OGC Nice vs Angers
Lille vs Dijon FCO
Montpellier vs Amiens SC
Stade Reims vs Bordeaux
Nîmes vs Metz
Nantes vs Toulouse
Rennes vs St-Étienne
Monaco vs PSG
