MatchThe opposition lowdown: Brighton & Hove Albion

Recent form

Brighton enter the contest having won two, lost two and drawn two of their last six top-flight matches.

They have taken 55 points from 36 games this term, most recently defeating Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 away from home last weekend.

Ahead of the penultimate round of fixtures across the weekend, they sat ninth in the standings.

Key players

In the Premier League, Brighton have spread goals across their attack well so far this season.

Joao Pedro and Danny Welbeck have both scored 10 times, while Kaoru Mitoma has nine efforts to his name.

Yankuba Minteh has netted six times, while Georginio Rutter has scored on five occasions.

In terms of assists, Pedro again leads the way with six, while Welbeck has four alongside Mats Wieffer and Minteh.

Previous meetings

Brighton and Liverpool have faced each other twice already this season.

The first meeting between the two teams came in the Carabao Cup in late October, when the Reds prevailed 3-2 at Amex Stadium.

Cody Gakpo struck twice for Arne Slot’s side alongside a Luis Diaz effort to earn passage through on their way to the final of the competition.

In the Premier League, the Anfield fixture came just days later, with Liverpool again coming away victorious.

The Seagulls did take the lead in that encounter via Ferdi Kadioglu, before two goals in two minutes in the second half from Gakpo and Mohamed Salah earned the spoils.

Team news

Pedro is set to return to the Brighton squad following suspension.

Defenders Lewis Dunk, Igor Julio and Joel Veltman have recovered from their injuries and are also expected to be available again.

Mitoma will be monitored ahead of the contest, though Rutter and former Red James Milner look set to miss out.

Solly March has been ruled out for the season, while there was no update on Kadioglu in Fabian Hurzeler’s pre-match press conference.

• Full pre-match team news

What they said

Brighton head coach Hurzeler

“Our responsibility is to be ready on Monday to be the best-prepared team we can be, to play a high-intensity game, to be ready to compete with a lot of individual quality. That’s our responsibility.

“I love the word consistency and I think they [Liverpool] were the most consistent team. Not only regarding performance and not only regarding results, but when you see how many games Salah missed and how many games [Virgil] van Dijk missed or how many games [Alexis] Mac Allister or [Ryan] Gravenberch missed.

“They could build a great connection on the pitch and they could build on a foundation that was built during the season. That’s something that is so crucial in the Premier League. I think that the teams who have the highest availability of players and have a higher availability than other teams, they are also more successful and that’s what I think made the difference.”

Pre-match stats

• Brighton have lost just one of their last seven Premier League home games (won four, drawn two), going down 3-0 against Aston Villa in April.
• The Seagulls have scored in each of their last five league clashes and in 10 of the last 11 home and away matches.
• Brighton have claimed 17 points from losing positions this term, their highest tally in a single Premier League season.
• Their last 13 league matches have produced 49 goals, at an average of just under four per game.
• Brighton’s biggest ever Premier League points haul is 62, in 2022-23. Only in that campaign have they won more games (18) than this season’s 14.