Brighton will be without in-form right-back Tariq Lamptey for Saturday’s visit of Liverpool, while there are doubts over whether Adam Lallana can face his former club.
The Reds head to the Amex for a lunchtime kickoff this weekend, with Jurgen Klopp expected to ring the changes following a Champions League defeat to Atalanta less than 72 hours earlier.
Brighton, meanwhile, have had a full week to prepare for the game, though manager Graham Potter’s hands are tied to an extent due to injury and suspension.
Most notably, Lamptey will sit out having picked up a red card for two bookable offences in the space of four minutes late on in their 2-1 loss at Aston Villa last time out.
The 20-year-old has been a key outlet for the Seagulls so far this season, and his absence at right-back will be a big blow, with centre-back by trade Joel Veltman likely to step in against Liverpool.
Potter is boosted by the return of Leandro Trossard from injury, however, with the Belgian back available after an adductor injury.
Trossard scored in the 3-1 loss for Brighton in the same fixture towards the end of last season, and could reclaim his place in the side at the expense of Solly March, who is struggling with a minor issue himself.
In his pre-match press conference on Thursday, Potter revealed that Lallana is yet to be cleared to feature having complained of tightness in his groin last weekend.
The ex-Liverpool midfielder was replaced at half-time at Villa Park, and the Brighton manager explained that he will continue to be assessed before a late decision is made over a possible reunion with the Reds.
Brighton have few other injury problems, however, though Potter was supportive of Klopp’s calls for the return of the five sub rule, and his criticism of the fixture schedule.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t pass that through as a league,” he said of the five sub rule, having been one of those to initially back it when the vote was made in September.
“Historically and culturally in this league, we are used to Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday.
“It’s part of the challenge of playing over here in the UK.
“The bit from Jurgen which I get is [kicking off at] 12.30pm [on Saturday] seems an extreme one when you are playing at 8pm on Wednesday.”
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