English FA CUP

2026-02-14 - Liverpool vs Brighton

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Liverpool v Brighton
Football: English FA Cup Fourth Round
Saturday 14th February 2025 - Kick Off 8pm
This game is live on TV

Liverpool

In a week in which the two teams immediately above them were held to draws by relegation threatened opponents, Arne Slot's Liverpool had to find a way to earn a big result at the Stadium of Light. They might have been playing an opponent that had not lost at home all season, but this is not the time for excuses and Liverpool should have taken a lot of confidence from the 0-1 win.

The manager knows the defence of the Premier League title won last season has not been good enough, but Liverpool cannot afford to miss out on the Champions League. They are chasing the top five in the English top Division, while Liverpool's history in the Champions League makes them dangerous as they wait for the Last 16 draw. Silverware can ease the pain of what will feel like an underwhelming season and so the FA Cup has taken on greater importance for Liverpool as well.

Liverpool's win at Sunderland makes it 5 victories from the last 8 games played in all competitions and the majority of those wins have been in Cup settings. The side had been unbeaten in 8 at home in all competitions, but that run was ended in Liverpool's 1-2 defeat to Manchester City in the last Premier League game played at Anfield.

Wataru Endo picked up a serious injury on Wednesday and is set for a spell on the sidelines, but Dominik Szoboszlai is available after serving a suspension. Jeremie Frimpong will be hoping to travel to the City Ground next week, but this game comes too soon for him.

Brighton

Another late goal has led to dropped points for Brighton and there is a significant pressure building on manager Fabian Hurzeler to get things turned around. The club is one that is geared up to have European Football again, but Brighton are falling way short in the Premier League and there is perhaps greater need to have a strong FA Cup run in order to achieve the goals that have been set out.

Winning games has become a real issue for Brighton and there are going to be one or two concerns that they may be slumping into a relegation scrap that is threatening to pull them back in. The Seagulls did win at Old Trafford in the FA Cup Third Round and they have reached the FA Cup Semi Final in two of the last three seasons, but this is another tough looking tie for the Brighton players to have to overcome.

Brighton have won 1 of the last 7 games in all competitions, but it is the 3 losses in 4 games that have really begun to turn the screw on the current manager. They had been unbeaten in 3 away games in all competitions, culminating in the FA Cup win against Manchester United, but Brighton have since lost consecutive away games at Fulham and Aston Villa.

Mats Wieffer ie expected to be available, but Yasin Ayari remains a doubt.

Head to Head

Liverpool beat Brighton 2-0 at Anfield in December, but the game was very competitive.

The home team have won each of the last 3 games between these clubs on Merseyside.

Prediction

The FA Cup may have lost some of its shine over the last couple of decades, but this remains an important competition for fans and there is plenty of motivation for both Liverpool and Brighton.

However, the Fourth Round comes at a difficult time for both and there have been some suggestion that changes will need to be made.

Arne Slot has been very clear about that and you do have to wonder if Liverpool are going to be able to win this tie with any kind of comfort. The layers certainly believe they can after an important win at the Stadium of Light, while Liverpool crushed Newcastle United recently at Anfield, but there are still some vulnerabilities that cannot be dismissed.

If changes are made, it can affect the rhythm of a team and Brighton are capable of hurting the hosts, even as they struggle through a real slump in form.

Pressure is building on Fabian Hurzeler, who would have been aware that the Brighton board are hugely ambitious and want the club to compete in UEFA competition regularly. The manager has just fallen short of taking Brighton in Europe, while they look way off those places in the 2025/26 season.

This all adds up to the FA Cup becoming a greater importance to the manager and the club and Brighton have enjoyed plenty of successes in the competition in recent times. They won at Old Trafford last month, and Brighton are certainly capable of setting up to make things difficult for Liverpool and perhaps catch the hosts from set pieces or counter attacks.

You can understand why Liverpool are favoured, especially when noting down Brighton's recent form, but the home team may not be able to put this opponent away easily. They did win 2-0 at Anfield in December, but one look at the attacking numbers on the day will show how unfortunate Brighton had been and The Seagulls can make use of the start on the Asian Handicap.