Brighton are best-coached team in the league, says Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp

LONDON – Brighton & Hove Albion are the best-coached club in the English Premier League and play “incredible football” despite losing their best players, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said ahead of Sunday’s away clash.

The Seagulls finished sixth last season to qualify for Europe for the first time in their history, but they lost two key midfielders in the close season, with Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo joining the Reds and Chelsea respectively.

Roberto de Zerbi’s men have started the season well with five victories in seven league games but are bottom of their Europa League group without a win, while their last top-flight match was a 6-1 humbling by Aston Villa.

Klopp, whose team have also won five league games so far, is not taking them lightly.

“Brighton had a few results which didn’t go exactly in their way, but that’s a normal situation in a development. They had a lot of changes, lost top players – one of them we got – and still play incredible football,” he said.

“We expect a really tough game against one of the best sides in the league, best-coached team in the league.

“They made really big steps and are super consistent – different formations, different players, line-ups. In the end, you always see Brighton football and I couldn’t respect that more.”

Mac Allister has settled slowly at the base of Liverpool’s midfield and Klopp admitted he is yet to find the perfect fit for the Argentinian World Cup winner just yet in his new-look midfield.

The 24-year-old’s deep-lying role differs significantly from the way he was used at Brighton, where he operated in an advanced position closer to the strikers.

But Klopp needed to fill his midfield holding berth following the departures of Fabinho and Jordan Henderson.

“He’s a fantastic player, super smart tactically and off the pitch as well,” the Liverpool boss said.

“We defend more compact and better than we did in our bad phases last year. We have small spaces and it’s really, really good because he sees the situations really well. He can play definitely the No. 6.”

Mac Allister is one part of Klopp’s midfield overhaul, with Dominik Szoboszlai arriving from RB Leipzig, Wataru Endo signed from VfB Stuttgart and Ryan Gravenberch bought from Bayern Munich.

Curtis Jones, an emerging graduate of Liverpool’s youth academy, has also featured regularly in midfield this season. He will, however, begin a three-game domestic ban, while Diogo Jota is suspended for one match.

Both players were sent off in the 2-1 loss to Tottenham Hotspur last weekend.

Cody Gakpo, Stefan Bajcetic, Caoimhin Kelleher, Thiago Alcantara are all injured, while Brighton have Pervis Estupinan, Jakub Moder, Julio Enciso, James Milner and Adam Lallana sidelined.
REUTERS, AFP