Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Liverpool Prediction, 7/8/20

Having failed to win any of their last five away contests, newly-crowned champions Liverpool travel to East Sussex, where the local Brighton & Hove Albion will be hosting them on the back of a victory against Norwich City. Kick-off - at 15:15 PM ET on Wednesday, July 8.

Brighton Edge Out Norwich

Brighton & Hove Albion ended an eight-game winless run on the road in the Premier League (D5 L3) after banking a 1-0 victory against bottom-dwellers Norwich City at Carrow Road on Saturday. The Seagulls gave up 58% of ball possession and were outshot 12-8, but allowed the hosts to just a single shot on target, netting the only snipe of the game in the 25th minute through Leandro Trossard, who buried his 4th marker of the year. Brighton have now recorded three consecutive clean sheets on the road in all competitions for the first time since December 2016 and sit 15th in the EPL with a W8 D12 L13 record, nine points above the bottom three.

French striker Neal Maupay tops Brighton’s scoring table with nine league goals but has found the back of the net just once in his last six outings. Goalie Mat Ryan, meanwhile, sits 5th in the Premier League with 103 saves. He has recorded eight clean sheets in 33 fixtures this year and concedes a goal every 68 minutes on average. The Seagulls have netted the 14th highest quantity of goals during the ongoing campaign (35) while taking the 8th highest number of shots per game (12.5). The team is 7th in ball possession (52.7%) and 8th in passing accuracy (81.3%).

Liverpool Beat Aston Villa

The poor form of Liverpool after being crowned the new champions of England continued, as the team followed up last Thursday’s embarrassing 4-0 beat-down at Manchester City with an unconvincing 2-0 home win against troubled Aston Villa at Anfield on Sunday. The Reds controlled the ball 71% of the time, but were outshot 9-6 by a side sitting 17 placed below them, scoring the first snipe of the fixture through Sadio Mane in the 71st minute with just their second attempt on target. 19-year-old midfielder Curtis Jones also tallied for Liverpool, who remain unbeaten on own turf in the league this season (17 wins), extending their domestic triumph run in the EPL to 24 consecutive games. With two home outings remaining this year (versus Burnley and Chelsea), the team can still match Sunderland’s 128-year-old record of winning every home league game in a season.

Both Mane and Mohamed Salah are on double digits for Premier League goals for the Reds, having netted 16 and 17 times this year respectively. Goalie Alisson, meanwhile, resides 20th in the EPL with 53 saves. He has collected a league-high 13 clean sheets in 24 contests this season and allows a goal every 140 minutes of play. Liverpool have buried the 2nd highest number of goals during the current campaign (72), while delivering the 3rd highest amount of shots per game (15.2). The team is 2nd in ball possession (59.4%) and 3rd in passing accuracy (84.2%).

Prediction

Liverpool is entering Wednesday without a win in their last five away games in all competitions (D1 L4), having failed to score a single snipe in either of those contests. And while another blanking is pretty much out of the question here, with the Reds last failing to bank a goal versus Brighton back in January 1984, expect another tough match for the newly-crowned champions, who haven’t seemed the same fearsome side since their 1-0 defeat against Atletico Madrid back in February. They have beaten the Seagulls on the last eight occasions in all competitions. Still, the very last three meetings have been decided by just a single goal. In fact, Brighton have lost by more than one marker in only four of their previous 26 Premier League outings and in just one of the last nine, with that only occasion being the 3-0 home defeat to Manchester United on June 30.

Best bet:

Brighton & Hove Albion (Handicap +1.5) (-185)

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