Premier League: Liverpool head to Brighton with City in their sights

The Premier League title race is very much on and Liverpool can move to within three points of Manchester City with a win at the Amex Stadium. Here are our top tips for the game.

Liverpool can keep pressure on City

Whereas Manchester City demolished Manchester United 4-1 last weekend, Liverpool only scraped a 1-0 victory over West Ham. A few days later the Reds suffered a 1-0 defeat by an Inter team which spent the final 30 minutes playing with 10 men.

It would be a mistake to read too much into either result. Liverpool may have lost to Inter on the night, but the fact they held an aggregate lead influenced how the second leg of that Champions League tie played out. And while they were certainly not at their best against West Ham, the Reds have now won seven games on the bounce in the Premier League.

They are likely to extend that winning run to eight in Saturday’s early kick-off. Much of the focus on Liverpool inevitably centres on their array of attacking talent, a pool which now includes Luis Diaz as well as Sadio Mane, Diogo Jota, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino. But Jurgen Klopp’s side have kept a clean sheet in four of their last five league outings.

Given that Brighton have failed to score in three of their four most recent matches, an away win to nil looks like excellent value at 2.58.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp will be hoping to see his side hand Brighton a fifth straight reverse

Brighton keen to avoid fifth straight loss

Brighton have fallen four places in the table after a run of four straight defeats. Graham Potter has plenty to ponder as he attempts to stop the rot against Liverpool, which kick-starts a tough run of fixtures including two meetings with Tottenham Hotspur and a trip to Arsenal.

Brighton will not get sucked into the relegation battle but their hopes of a top-half finish will begin to fade unless they turn their form around quickly. The Seagulls are only two points off Southampton in ninth, but the fact the goals have dried up is cause for concern.

Albion have also been starting games slowly. In each of their last three matches they have fallen behind within the first quarter and gone on to lose all three first halves. Liverpool are attractively priced at 2 to hold a lead after 45 minutes.

Diaz to continue fine start

When Liverpool signed Luis Diaz in January, it was assumed the Colombian would take a while to bed in. In fact, he has made a brilliant start to life at Anfield. The forward’s ability to hit the ground running has helped Klopp’s side absorb the loss of Jota and Firmino, who have both suffered injuries in recent weeks.

Diaz did not start against Inter on Tuesday, so he could come back into the XI for the trip to Brighton. He has scored one goal in his four Premier League appearances so far and has continually got himself into good scoring positions. He is priced at 2.78 to find the net at some point on Saturday.

Recommended bets

Liverpool to nil @ 2.58

Liverpool first half @ 2

Luis Diaz anytime @ 2.78