MatchBrighton & Hove Albion v Liverpool: Team news

Curtis Jones will be sidelined for Sunday’s 2pm BST kick-off on the south coast as he begins a three-match domestic suspension following his red card against Tottenham Hotspur.

Cody Gakpo is also unavailable as he continues to recover from the injury he sustained during the first half of that defeat away at Spurs.

The Netherlands forward is targeting a return after the international break that follows the trip to Brighton. “There is a good chance [of that],” said Jürgen Klopp.

“He is already out of the brace, walks normal around, so from all the very, very bad opportunities and possibilities injury-wise, I think he nearly got the best but is still injured.”

Diogo Jota must sit out the clash with the Seagulls, too, having been sent off for two yellow cards as a substitute versus Tottenham.

Thiago Alcantara, Stefan Bajcetic and Conor Bradley are continuing their injury rehabilitations, while Caoimhin Kelleher was absent for the midweek win over Union SG in the Europa League.

“We expect a really tough game, a really tough game against one of the best sides in the league, best-coached team in the league, I would say, because where they’re coming from,” said Klopp ahead of the fixture, which his side lost in the league and Emirates FA Cup last term.

“And yes, Graham [Potter] did already a lot of stuff and that’s a really smart move from Potter to [Roberto] De Zerbi, to be honest. But they made really big steps and super-consistent, different formations, different players, line-ups – wow, in the end you always see Brighton football and I couldn’t respect that more.

“But I’m really looking forward to the game because we have to put a few things right, because you can look once silly but you should not look a second time silly.

“It still can happen because they are really good, but we have to do better and we will give it a proper try to do better definitely.”

The home side will be without Pervis Estupinan due to a recent muscle injury and Julio Enciso is a long-term absentee.

Former Liverpool duo Adam Lallana and James Milner are doubts for the clash at Amex Stadium, while Tariq Lamptey is also being assessed ahead of the encounter.

“It is difficult for James, he didn’t work with the group until yesterday [Friday],” said Seagulls head coach Roberto De Zerbi. “I don’t know if it’s the best solution to take a risk with him, especially in this moment because we are suffering with injuries.

“We have to see tomorrow about Lamptey, I don’t want to take a risk. The other players are good. We have to change some things from the Marseille game.”

De Zerbi said of his approach to juggling league duties with Europa League participation this term: “We are playing a very long season.

“And to manage playing these competitions, I have to change, I have to give the players the right time to adapt to the new sport – because we are playing a new sport this season.

“Last season we prepared game by game and we could spend a normal week of work. Today we have to prepare the game in one meeting, and for this I speak of different challenges, different sport.

“After that I have to know better the physical quality of my players; who can play three games in a row, who can’t play so many games, the mental energy, I have to understand.

“You can understand [by] playing and watching the game, you can’t understand before. Unfortunately I have to decide the first XI before the game and not after the game.”

Last match

Marseille 2-2 Brighton (October 5): Steele, Lamptey, Dunk, Van Hecke, Veltman, March, Dahoud, Gross, Mitoma, Fati, Welbeck.

Liverpool 2-0 Union SG (October 5): Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Quansah, Tsimikas, Endo, Gravenberch, Elliott, Jota, Salah, Nunez.