Liverpool can preserve another 100% record and avoid Graeme Souness’ folly at Brighton

Liverpool kept up their 100 percent record at Anfield in this season’s Premier League with a win on Sunday, and could preserve their perfect run away to Brighton tonight.

Liverpool’s last visit to Brighton saw them win 1-0 last season thanks to a 50th-minute Mo Salah penalty.

It was the highest-ever attendance at the Amex Stadium with 30,682 and still remains so.

The Reds have won all three meetings with Brighton at the Amex: two in the league and one in the League Cup.

Their five Premier league clashes with have seen Liverpool win them all, scoring 13 and conceding two.

 

Another Club Record?

BOURNEMOUTH, ENGLAND - Saturday, December 7, 2019: Liverpool's Mohamed Salah (L) celebrates scoring the third goal with team-mate Andy Robertson during the FA Premier League match between AFC Bournemouth and Liverpool FC at the Vitality Stadium. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

Liverpool have won 12 league games away from Anfield this season.

Their club record is 13, set on three previous occasions including last season.

 

Away Drought

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - Thursday, July 2, 2020: Liverpool’s goalkeeper Alisson Becker looks dejected as Manchester City score the third goal during the FA Premier League match between Manchester City FC and Liverpool FC at the City of Manchester Stadium. The game was played behind closed doors due to the UK government’s social distancing laws during the Coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic. This was Liverpool's first game as Premier League 2019/20 Champions. (Pic by Propaganda)

But the Reds have not scored in the last five games away from home since Sadio Mane netted the winner at Norwich on February 15.

Since then, 462 minutes (seven hours, 42 minutes) without finding the net on the road.

Not since 1992 (February to April) under Graeme Souness had Liverpool failed to trouble the scorers in five successive away games (that came in a sequence of eight).

 

The Premier League Record

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Sunday, July 5, 2020: Liverpool’s Sadio Mané celebrates scoring the first goal during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Aston Villa FC at Anfield. The game was played behind closed doors due to the UK government’s social distancing laws during the Coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

Liverpool require 12 points from their remaining five games to set a new Premier League points record of 101—beating Man City’s 100 tally set in 2017/18.

Their defeat at Southampton last Sunday means City can only accumulate a maximum of 81 points. Liverpool were on 82 before the lockdown came in March.

Jurgen Klopp’s men have an unassailable 23-point lead at the top of the table.

The biggest winning points margin in Premier League history is the 19 points set by Aston Villa in 1896/97 (converted to three points for a win) and by City in 2017/18.

 

Potter’s History

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Saturday, November 30, 2019: manager Graham Potter before the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Brighton & Hove Albion FC at Anfield. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

Graham Potter faces Liverpool for the second time in his managerial career.

During his playing career, he appeared as a substitute when the Reds won a League Cup tie 2-1 against Stoke in October 1994 and was an unused sub for Southampton in a 2-1 league defeat two years later.

 

Prolific Own Goals

BRIGHTON & HOVE, ENGLAND - Saturday, June 20, 2020: Brighton & Hove Albion's Neal Maupay (R) celebrates scoring the winning second goal in injury time during the FA Premier League match between Brighton & Hove Albion FC and Arsenal FC at the AMEX Stadium. Brighton won 2-1. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

Albion’s leading scorer in the league is Neal Maupay, with nine. Next on the list is Leandro Trossard and own goals—both with four.

The last eight games involving Brighton have produced a miserly total of 12 goals.

 

This Season’s Scorers

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Wednesday, June 24, 2020: Liverpool’s Fabio Henrique Tavares 'Fabinho' (L) celebrates scoring the third goal with team-mate Mohamed Salah (R) during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Crystal Palace FC at Anfield. The game was played behind closed doors due to the UK government’s social distancing laws during the Coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

Brighton: Maupay 9, Trossard 4, own goals 4, Connolly 3, Dunk 3, Webster 3, Gross 2, Jahanbakhsh 2, Mooy 2, Murray 2, Andone 1, Duffy 1, Propper 1, Roberts 1

Liverpool: Salah 21, Mane 20, Firmino 11, Oxlade-Chamberlain 7, Origi 5, Wijnaldum 5, own goals 5, Milner 4, Van Dijk 4, Alexander-Arnold 3, Henderson 3, Jones 3, Keita 3, Fabinho 2, Matip 2, Robertson 2, Hoever 1, Lallana 1, Lovren 1, Shaqiri 1


* Statistics courtesy of LFC statistician Ged Rea (@ged0407).