Brighton brings firepower to Anfield as Liverpool searches for answers

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When you think of top-of-the-table clashes, teams like Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City come to mind — not Brighton.

But third-place Brighton travel to Anfield this week to face fifth-place Liverpool in a massive game for both clubs.

Liverpool clearly are still a work in progress. They won their third in a row in the Champions League on Tuesday in typical fashion: Started horribly, gave up two bad goals to Villareal before scoring four in a row, yet then surrendered a late third to the Spanish squad to make a nervy finish.

Brighton offers a much stiffer test. The Seagulls sit four points ahead of Liverpool and two points behind heavyweight Arsenal.

Brighton have the most goals scored, 23, and the best goal difference at plus-18 after just six games. That’s stunning.

They’ve scored four more than City, the next closest team, and are level with Arsenal with the best defensive record with just five conceded.

While the Reds will be pleased with expensive signings Bradley Barcola and Florian Wirtz looking much better, and with teen phenom Rio Ngumoha showing blistering form of late, defensively they look lost at sea.

Brighton have been the epitome of a balanced attack. They have three players who have three goals already and another three who have scored twice each. Ten different players have found the back of the net for Brighton in the league so far.

Compare that to just four who have scored for Liverpool. If you shut down leading scorer Alexander Isak, who has five goals on the season, you likely get all the points.

Captain Virgil van Dijk looked every day of his 35 years on Tuesday in the Champions League, being culpable in both of the early goals the Reds gave up. If he’s that profligate against Brighton on Sunday, it’s going to be a happy trip back to the south coast for Brighton’s supporters.

The one to watch though is Ngumoha, who changed the game last weekend when he came on as a sub. He started on Tuesday and terrorized Villareal’s back line.

The 18-year-old got two assists, the youngest Liverpool player in history to get multi assists in a European game and the third-youngest to do so in the entire history of the competition.

Stock up

Manchester City: If we can put aside the 114 charges of financial impropriety they’ve been found guilty of, they’re still perfect in the Premier League with six wins out of six. You can’t believe rumours until the appeals are over and the punishment has been doled out, but there were reports this week they will suffer a points deduction so severe they won’t be able to escape relegation. In the meantime they keep winning. Not only are they six-for-six in the league, they walloped AEK Athens 5-1 in the Champions League this week. They have an intriguing match at Aston Villa this week who once again have started the season terribly, but are rounding into form. This will be a test for City, but so far their rebuilt midfield that brought in Enzo Fernandez and Elliot Anderson has been controlling the middle of the pitch and that’s likely where this week’s game will be won.

Arsenal: Just the one slip up against Brighton all season, five wins and the one loss so far. They’ve looked less than convincing the past couple of games, including needing an 80th-minute winner from Noni Madueke to beat 19th-place Nottingham Forest last week, but they still won and followed that up with a strong 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich in the Champions League. They now host Everton on Saturday, who are coming off a thorough beating at Chelsea’s hands. Everton are stingy defensively, but have the fewest goals scored in the top 11 teams. If Arsenal find the back of the net they should take care of business here.

Aston Villa: Unbeaten in four and two wins in the past three have Unai Emery’s squad looking more like the team they were last year that qualified for the Champions League. Though they sit 12th, they’ve looked much better of late as they integrate some new players into the squad, but they walloped Viking 4-1 in the Champions League on Wednesday. They are still struggling for goals with just seven through six games. Only four teams in the whole division have scored less. If they’re to get anything out of City, they need to be more ruthless in front of goal.

Stock down

Newcastle: It’s a genuine wonder how long the Saudi investment arm will want to keep pouring money into Newcastle. They already bailed on their first sports-washing enterprise, LIV Golf, and the stuttering form of the Magpies isn’t making a case for progress. They lost 1-0 at home to Villa last week but the reality is, just a goal down, fans started streaming to the exits with 10 minutes to go as there was little belief the team has what it takes. They go to Crystal Palace on Sunday in a game you’d like to think they can win, especially as Palace have given up a shocking 17 goals so far, the worst in the league. With three losses in their past four for Newcastle, they can’t let this one slip.

Nottingham Forest: Their owner, Evangelos Marinakis, has built a reputation as the least-patient man in the Premiership and he spent a lot of money bringing over manager Oliver Glasner from Palace. But three losses in a row and just five points from six games has them squarely in the relegation zone, just above Sunderland. They have a Friday night match with newly promoted Ipswich, who sit nine places above them in the table. Lose to them and Glasner may want to hide if Marinakis shows up at the training ground.

Manchester United: Mired in 13th, United show little belief. Four draws and a loss in their past five have seen them drop down the table and this year, with Champions League demands they didn’t have last season, it’s giving less time on the training ground for manager Michael Carrick. To make matters worse, they were thoroughly thumped 4-1 by Como — respectfully, hardly a European super power — in Champions League play. Post-match, captain Bruno Fernandes seemed to call out Carrick, questioning the team’s tactics. Struggling Bournemouth got on track last week with a solid win against Sunderland, but United need a win. Mediocrity at both ends of the pitch, 10 goals scored versus 10 given up, United have to figure out if they’re going to be tighter defensively or more dangerous in attack because right now they’re neither and, on the heels of a European embarrassment, a loss here could cost Carrick his job.

Crisis Club

Sunderland: Rock bottom and having had four losses in a row, the Black Cats need some positivity. Leeds come north sitting in seventh place having given up the third-fewest goals in the league.

This weekend’s Premier League schedule

Friday: Ipswich vs Nottingham Forest.

Saturday: Aston Villa vs Manchester City; Arsenal vs Everton; Coventry vs Fulham; Chelsea vs Tottenham.

Sunday: Crystal Palace vs Newcastle; Hull vs Brentford; Liverpool vs Brighton; Manchester United vs Bournemouth; Sunderland vs Leeds.

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