Brighton host Liverpool on Sunday and the Seagulls are focused on one thing: swooping for European qualification late in the season.
WATCH — Brighton v Liverpool
Fabian Hurzeler’s side have had a rollercoaster campaign and injuries have once again impacted them. But with two games to go they’re right there in the hunt for eighth place with Brentford, Bournemouth and Fulham. Brighton won 2-0 at Wolves last weekend to make it three games unbeaten and with a trip to Spurs on the final day, they’re playing against two teams with nothing to play for who are already ‘on the beach’ in the final weeks.
Premier League champs Liverpool will enjoy their trip to Brighton’s sandy beaches, and this week they’ve been celebrating their title win with trips away to Dubai and Spain. Arne Slot was seen leading some celebrations in Spain and the Dutchman has used the last few weeks to give fringe players a chance to impress him. They did that initially against Arsenal as they raced into a 2-0 lead, but they coughed up two goals in the second half to draw 2-2. That came after a defeat at Chelsea, as Liverpool have won the title easily and now it’s all about Slot planning for next season and using these final games to highlight where he can improve his squad.
How to watch Brighton vs Liverpool live, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 3pm ET Sunday (May 18)
Venue: Amex Stadium — Falmer
TV Channel: USA
Streaming: Watch live on NBC.com
Brighton team news, focus
There are plenty of injury concerns for Brighton, especially in defense. But they’ve found a way to drag themselves back into European contention this season and they must be applauded for that. They have so many talented attacking players with Minteh in fine form in recent weeks, while they have so much talent to bring off the bench to keep the tempo up.
OUT: Joao Pedro (suspension), Ferdi Kadioglu (toe), Georginio Rutter (ankle), James Milner (thigh), Solly March (knee) | QUESTIONABLE: Lewis Dunk (knock), Joel Veltman (knock)
Liverpool team news, focus
The booing of Trent Alexander-Arnold last weekend was unfortunate and Slot may not play him in the final two games to save him from the attention and negative focus. Conor Bradley looks set to be Liverpool’s right back next season and is a fine young talent, albeit a different type of right back to Trent. Slot is likely to mix things up across his side with Elliott, Jota, Quansah, Endo and Tsimikas all getting minutes. But he won’t rest Mohamed Salah who is pushing for plenty of individual records late in the season.
OUT: Joe Gomez (thigh - MORE)
Brighton vs Liverpool prediction
The Seagulls are desperate for the win and they will put Liverpool under pressure early. If they can score early, expect them to go on and win. Brighton 2-1 Liverpool.