Liverpool vs Brighton & Hove Albion Preview

Four points separate third from fifth in the Premier League, and Sunday’s meeting at Anfield puts that gap directly on the line. Liverpool host Brighton & Hove Albion with the visitors sitting third and the hosts fifth, and the contrast between the two sides’ league campaigns so far is plain from the numbers. Brighton have scored 23 league goals in seven games, more than anyone else in the division, and their goal difference of +18 is the best in the top flight. Liverpool have 12 points from three wins, three draws and a defeat, meaning they have dropped points in four of their seven league games, and their nine league goals are the fewest of anyone in the top five. The gap to leaders Manchester City already stands at nine points for Liverpool and five for Brighton. Kick-off is at 2pm GMT, with both clubs coming off European fixtures in midweek.

Results across all competitions paint a brighter picture for Liverpool than the league table does. They have won four of their last five and arrive on a three-match winning run, the latest a 4-3 victory over Villarreal at Anfield in the Champions League on Tuesday. Three days before that, they won 2-1 away at Brentford in the league, and the run began with a 6-3 win at LASK in Europe, meaning they have conceded three goals in each of their last two Champions League outings. The one defeat in the sample came at home to Manchester City on 11 October, a 3-0 loss, and further back still they won 1-0 at Bournemouth in September. Thirteen goals scored across those five games is a healthy return, but ten conceded is a figure that stands out against Sunday’s opponents.

Brighton’s numbers over the same stretch are hard to argue with: four wins and a draw from five, 14 goals scored and none conceded. Their most recent outing was a goalless draw away to Jablonec in the Conference League on Thursday, which ended a four-game winning run but still made it five clean sheets in a row. Before that, Crystal Palace were thumped 5-0 at home in the league, and Kauno Zalgiris were beaten 4-0 in Europe three days earlier. Further back in the sample sit a 2-0 win at Sunderland and a 3-0 home win over Arsenal in September, a result that looks even more notable with Arsenal now second. The turnaround is the one potential issue: Brighton play on Sunday just three days after the trip to Jablonec, while Liverpool have had five days since the Villarreal game.

Across the last five meetings, Liverpool hold a 3-2 lead in wins and there have been no draws, but the more telling detail is that the home side has won all five. Brighton took the most recent of them, 2-1 on their own ground in the league in March, and the one before that went Liverpool’s way, a 3-0 FA Cup win at Anfield in February. Liverpool have won all three games at Anfield in this sample, adding a 2-0 league win in December 2025 and a 2-1 victory in November 2024, and Brighton failed to score on their last two visits. Brighton’s two wins both came at home, with a 3-2 result in May 2025 the other.

Brighton go into the weekend third on 16 points, with Liverpool fifth on 12. On current standings, a Brighton win would take them to 19 points and above Arsenal into second, two behind leaders Manchester City, while a Liverpool win would lift them to 15, above Chelsea into fourth and within a point of Brighton.

In the UK, the match is live on Sky Sports Premier League, with streaming on Sky Go UK, SKY GO Extra and NOW. Viewers in the USA can watch on NBCSN or stream through Peacock and fuboTV, while in Ireland it’s on Sky Sports Premier League and in Australia it’s streaming on Stan Sport.

Possible Lineups

Liverpool — Form

Brighton & Hove Albion — Form

Head to Head

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Table

Premier League Standings