Matchday 22 has the Reds travelling down to the south coast to face off against Brighton and Hove Albion. Kick off is set for 10 am on Saturday.

Brighton Hove and Albion v Liverpool — 01/12/2019 1500 GMT

If you’re like myself, when Liverpool lose a match you can’t wait for the next one to roll around to wipe away the bad memories. That Liverpool have lost two matches in a row, means I am absolutely salivating for the Brighton match to roll around. As always, all three LFC Tampa Bay locations will be open, serving, and showing the match. So if you’re as anxious as I am, come on down and watch the match with your fellow LFC Tampa Bay Reds. With all that being covered, let’s get into the talking points.

Getting Back on Course

As I mentioned earlier, Liverpool have now lost two games in a row. This is the first time the Reds have lost back to back games this campaign, and it has led to some feelings of doubt both inside the fanbase and in the surrounding footballing world. It goes without saying, but the Reds desperately need to get back to winning ways.

It would have been nice to go a whole season, laying waste to every opponent we face, collecting the quadruple, having faced little adversity along the way. However, that there has never been a team to win the quadruple and only one team to go a whole season undefeated since Preston North End did in 1889 should have prepared us for the inevitability of this Liverpool team facing setbacks. To that point, if Liverpool are to finally join the Premier League winners club then they’ll have to do what every champion, except Arsenal, has done before them; bounce back from defeat.

Though the pundits and television commentators want to make it out as if Liverpool have lost their grip on the title race, the Reds are still 4 points ahead and in full control of their destiny. The best way to mute those rumblings and shift the pressure back onto our rivals is to get back to our ruthless, winning ways. That 4 point gap can only be made up if Liverpool continue to slip. Given how impressive this Liverpool side have been to this point, we shouldn’t doubt their ability to head down to Brighton and collect the 3 points.

Centerback Questions

Will Jurgen give Hoever another chance? Does Fabinho drop in at CB again? Do we switch formations?

The biggest selection issue facing Jurgen Klopp for the trip down to Brighton is who to play at centerback next to Virgil Van Dijk. With Dejan Lovren going off with a hamstring issue against Wolves and Gomez and Matip still fighting their way back to full fitness, Klopp has a decision to make as to who will partner our Dutch colossus. Will it be Fabinho, the youngster Hoever, or could Klopp tweak the system and go for something completely different?

The most obvious choice on paper would be to stick Fabinho back there. Though he isn’t an out-and-out centerback, he has the physical presence to deal with a Brighton side that is likely to be hoofing balls forward to Glenn Murray. Plus, the Brazilian didn’t look half bad dropped into a defensive line that featured a 16-year old, a youth team winger, Simon Mignolet, and Alberto Moreno, so, could do much better surrounded by regular first-teamers and with Virgil directing him.

The next option would be to give the youngster Ki-Jana Hoever a run out in the side. Though it may seem risky to stick a teenager in at centerback against a physical side like Brighton, we have seen Klopp take chances with youth before. Jurgen famously handed Trent his first league start away to United at the age of 18. Also, like with Fabinho, Hoever didn’t look out of place in a makeshift back line and could perform even better when dropped in next to more experience first team members. Given his meteoric rise within the ranks of Liverpool, from u-18’s all the way up to senior training in the space of 4 months, it might not be too surprising to see Hoever handed his full debut on Saturday.

The last option for Jurgen to handle his current centerback scenario would be to change the formation. In fact, it was this same fixture last year that saw Gini and Emre Can deployed as makeshift centerbacks either side of Lovren in a pseudo 3–4–3 formation. That the Reds came away from that match with a 5–1 victory might nudge Klopp in the direction of trying something similar again on Saturday.

Whichever method Jurgen decides to go with, the Reds will benefit from having 4/5ths of their usual back 5 in place. Whether it is Fabinho or Hoever, both will greatly improved by having Virgil next to them, Alisson behind them, and Trent and Robbo on the wings. If Klopp does decide to go with a back three, we have far better options than the previous trio of Emre Can, Gini, and Lovren to play this system. Though the situation is less than ideal, the Reds have the means to come through it with all 3 points.

Passing on the Pressure

Jurgen Klopp has the side focused on themselves, which should block any attempts to add outside pressure

Since the loss to Manchester City, the whole footballing world has been keen to pile the pressure onto Liverpool. The title race is on and the “unstoppable force” that is Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are now hot on the heels of the Reds. Everyone is waiting for this side to crack under the pressure of a title race that almost all of these Liverpool players have had yet to encounter.

Nothing has changed though. The goal of this group has been to win every game in the league since the 4th week of the season. Losing to City and being only 4 points up doesn’t change that. There is no new added pressure and there is no need to panic.

I wrote recently how Jurgen had deployed two key philosophies in tackling the league this season and that one of those philosophies was to only focus on winning the next game. Whilst losing to City was definitely disappointing, it has very little to do with the squad’s focus of winning the next match. As Klopp has said himself, regardless of what City or Tottenham or any other title rival do, this team is only focused on themselves and their next opponent.

Plus, in the grand scheme of things, Liverpool have nothing to lose. City were crowned Champions before the season even started and there are plenty of talking heads that claim they are still favorites to win it. Liverpool, even 4 points up, aren’t expected to win the title. If we do slip up, we were supposed to. If we do lose out to City come the final day, we were supposed to.

That’s not to say that ending the season without a title after being in the current position we are wouldn’t be devastating, but rather that, in reality, there is no added pressure on this Liverpool team that didn’t already exist earlier on in the season. Thus far, Jurgen and the Reds have done a record breaking job of handling that pressure.

Continuing to focus on the next game ahead and trying to win those games as many times as possible will leave all the pressure in Man City’s court. Whilst mathematically we can afford to drop points and still be in the lead, Man City and Tottenham must win every game in order to keep up and close the gap. This matchweek we play before both Tottenham and City. Winning before either of their games kick off will only add more to the pressure of winning every game for our title rivals.

Prediction

We stay in the domestic table where David has somehow managed to back his way into a point in the last match against City. Somehow David correctly picked City to score two goals, albeit in a loss, and technically gets a point for doing so. With that dubious point, David now leads the table 27 points to my 26 points.

I personally suspect Klopp to run out the 4–2–3–1 rather than opting to go with 3 at the back like he did last year in this fixture. Whilst we could definitely get away with a tweaked system given that Brighton are likely to only have the 1 out right attacking player in their line-up, this Liverpool is a far more well oiled machine than that Liverpool of that point of last season. Getting back to grips with our new favorite 4–2–3–1 might be preferred over switching it up again.

With that in mind, I’m personally leaning towards Hoever starting next to Van Dijk with Fabinho moving forward to take up his natural position as a midfielder. Gini takes up the other midfield position, with Keita moving forward to help break down what should be a packed in Brighton side. Mane, Salah, and Firmino fill in the rest of the attacking quartet.

I think the lads have a point to prove here and I always like a Klopp side after a loss, let alone two on the bounce. We score early and continue to go for it. The game is over by halftime and looks of bemusement can be seen on our rivals faces as they realize there is no real crisis to be had. Yes, I’m back to saying we’re going to thrash everyone by ridiculous scorelines. 6–0.

David’s Prediction: I think he’ll go Fabinho at the back with Gini and Milner in front of him for a 4–2–3–1. Shaq starts with the usual front three and you forget that Fabinho is even playing centerback because the ball rarely enters the half of the pitch he occupies. The Reds put their troubles behind them with three first half goals and add another on the back side of halftime for good measure before kicking it around til the clock runs out. 4–0 to the Reds behind a goal from Gini as well as one from Salah and a brace from Mane.