Brighton v Liverpool: Premier League – live
Liverpool may have taken the phrase ‘on the beach’ a little too literally in the last week – with manager Arne Slot pictured at Wayne Lineker’s beach club in Ibiza alongside former EastEnders actor Dean Gaffney Dean Gaffney (no, really) and the rest of the squad in other cultural destinations like Dubai for Trent Alexander-Arnold’s leaving do – but let’s see what sort of shape they are in tonight.
Brighton (a) is a tough gig, even when the champions are firing on all cylinders and actually have something to play for, so this will likely be a tough test for Slot’s brave boys. The Seagulls are still in with a shot of Europe: finishing eighth is still a viable (although not certain) route to the Conference League. There are two ways that the eighth-placed team can get a place in the Conference League:
1)
Chelsea finish seventh and win the Conference League. Champions League: 1st to 5th, Man Utd or Spurs as Europa League winners. Europa League: 6th, Crystal Palace as FA Cup winners, Chelsea as Conference League winners (7th). Conference League: 8th
2)
Chelsea finish sixth and win the Conference League, while Newcastle finish seventh. Champions League: 1st to 5th, Man Utd or Spurs as Europa League winners. Europa League: Newcastle (7th), Crystal Palace as FA Cup winners, Chelsea as Conference League winners (6th). Conference League: 8th
In either of these scenarios, the Premier League would have 10 teams – half of the Premier League – playing in Europe next season. Here is the current league table before kick-off. Brighton are ninth but only need a draw tonight to go into the final day in pole position to claim eighth.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 36 | 46 | 83 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 37 | 34 | 71 |
| 3 | Newcastle | 37 | 22 | 66 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 37 | 20 | 66 |
| 5 | Aston Villa | 37 | 9 | 66 |
| 6 | Man City | 36 | 24 | 65 |
| 7 | Nottm Forest | 37 | 13 | 65 |
| 8 | Brentford | 37 | 9 | 55 |
| 9 | Brighton | 36 | 3 | 55 |
| 10 | Fulham | 37 | 2 | 54 |
| 11 | AFC Bournemouth | 36 | 12 | 53 |
| 12 | Crystal Palace | 36 | -2 | 49 |
| 13 | Everton | 37 | -3 | 45 |
| 14 | Wolverhampton | 36 | -13 | 41 |
| 15 | West Ham | 37 | -18 | 40 |
| 16 | Man Utd | 37 | -12 | 39 |
| 17 | Tottenham Hotspur | 37 | 2 | 38 |
| 18 | Leicester | 37 | -45 | 25 |
| 19 | Ipswich | 37 | -44 | 22 |
| 20 | Southampton | 37 | -59 | 12 |
So, quite the cherry for Brighton to play for, particularly as they have never won a major honour and would likely be the runaway favourites to win next season’s Conference League if they qualify. There’s a bigger question over whether the budgets of English teams in European’s minor competitions (West Ham 2023, Spurs/Manchester United 2025, etc) renders the rest of said competitions rather predictable but this is just a humble preamble and we won’t be answering those questions here!
Instead, let’s look forward to a sun-drenched evening of football in Sussex, as the best team in England visit one of the nation’s most exciting sides.
Kick-off: 8pm BST.