Liverpool face Brighton & Hove Albion in Saturday's Premier League clash at Anfield, where the Reds could potentially benefit from conceding the first goal.
All of the pre-game talk around Merseyside has inevitably been dominated by the Mohamed Salah situation, but the 33-year-old is reportedly set to be welcomed back into the squad for the top-flight battle.
Salah did not make the journey to Inter Milan for Tuesday's Champions League clash following his unprecedented outburst last weekend, accusing the Premier League champions of breaking promises and throwing him under the bus.
However, Salah and Arne Slot held constructive talks at the AXA Training Centre on Friday, and Salah will be welcomed back into the ranks on Saturday, thus proving a six-time Liverpool trophy winner correct.
Whether Salah starts against the Seagulls is another question entirely, though, as with the Egyptian out of the starting lineup, Liverpool have gone unbeaten in four games across all competitions.
Liverpool vs. Brighton: Why Reds conceding first may be a good thing
The former Chelsea, Roma and Fiorentina man is normally spared from defensive responsibility due to his devastating attacking qualities, whereas Dominik Szoboszlai will track back and help out with the rearguard effort.
Nevertheless, if the Premier League champions concede the first goal on Saturday, it could work in their favour, as the recent head-to-head history between Liverpool and Brighton suggests.
Indeed, across the last four Premier League meetings between the Reds and the Seagulls, the team scoring first has failed to win the game, since Brighton eased to a 3-0 victory in January 2023.
In this exact fixture last season, Ferdi Kadioglu opened the scoring for Fabian Hurzeler's side at Anfield, before Cody Gakpo and Salah completed the Liverpool turnaround in a 2-1 victory.
Slot's side then scored first at the Amex through Harvey Elliott before slumping to a 3-2 loss, continuing a trend which had begun in the 2023-24 season with Roberto De Zerbi and Jurgen Klopp at the helm.
That year, Brighton scored first at the Amex but were held to a 2-2 draw, before Danny Welbeck's second-minute opener at Anfield proved trivial in a 2-1 loss in March 2024.
Liverpool at risk of matching unwanted defensive record in Brighton clash
© Imago / Propaganda Photo
Liverpool may come off as more resilient defensively when Salah is not in the side, although that was not true when they conceded three goals against Leeds during the most recent Premier League gameweek.
Slot's men have now let in 48 top-flight goals in 2025, meaning that the current year could become just the third calendar year in which they have conceded 50 or more Premier League goals.
The Reds let in a club-high 52 in 2014 and 51 in 2012, leaving them at risk of breaking the former record if they concede five or more in games against Brighton, Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers before the end of 2025.