Sadio Mane (£12.1m) only makes the Liverpool bench, as manager Jurgen Klopp continues to carefully manage his injury-ravaged squad. There are four changes to the side that beat Leicester last weekend, with Mo Salah (£12.2m) recovering from the coronavirus to start his second game in 72 hours.
It’s a disappointment to Mane’s owners, who were hoping his scoring drought of one goal from eight games in all competitions could end against Brighton – a side he has never scored against in four appearances.
Takumi Minamino (£6.0m) steps in to start his first league game of the season and the in-form Diogo Jota (£6.8m), whose ownership has shot up to 22%, plays again after notching eight goals since his £40m summer move from Wolves.
Long-term injuries to Virgil van Dijk (£6.3m) and Joe Gomez (£5.3m) have forced Klopp into patching up his defence. As Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.2m) isn’t yet back from his calf injury, trust has been placed in youngsters Neco Williams (£3.9m) and Nathaniel Phillips (£4.0m) to play alongside Fabinho (£5.4m) and Andrew Robertson (£7.2m).
Jordan Henderson (£5.4m) also makes the bench, having picked up a knock on international duty with England, so the versatile James Milner (£5.3m) moves away from right-back to join Georginio Wijnaldum (£5.3m) in midfield.
Whilst the champions have a below-par away record by amassing only four points from four trips, they travel to a Brighton side who haven’t won at home. Defeats to Chelsea and Man United were respectable but the Seagulls also couldn’t find a way past West Brom or Burnley.
Thanks to beating Aston Villa last weekend, they are now seeking their first back-to-back league wins since November 2019. However, the impressive Tariq Lamptey (£4.8m) was sent off in injury time at Villa Park, depriving Graham Potter’s side of a huge attacking threat.
Adam Lallana (£6.2m) also makes way from the starting line-up, after being withdrawn at half time due to a groin strain. Joel Veltman (£4.3m) and Aaron Connolly (£5.3m) replace the pair.
Another attacker low on goals is Neal Maupay (£6.3m), without a goal since his spree between Gameweeks 2 and 4. This hasn’t been helped by the disciplinary problems that saw him dropped for the recent visit to Tottenham.
Leandro Trossard (£6.0m) is named on the bench, after missing two matches with a thigh problem.
BRIGHTON XI (3-5-2): Ryan; Dunk, Webster, Veltman; Gross, Bissouma, White, March, Connolly; Maupay, Welbeck
LIVERPOOL XI (4-2-3-1): Alisson; N Williams, Fabinho, Phillips, Robertson; Milner, Wijnaldum; Minamino, Jota, Salah; Firmino
