Liverpool vs Brighton live: Chiesa makes rare start as Reds take on Premier League rivals in FA Cup

Liverpool are in talks with Ibrahima Konate about a new contract with Arne Slot saying he wants the defender to stay.

The Premier League champions risk losing the £36m signing on a free transfer in the summer when his current deal expires.

And Liverpool are bringing in other central defenders with Giovanni Leoni arriving last summer for £26m and the club agreeing an initial £55m deal for Jeremy Jacquet, who will move to Anfield at the end of this season.

Our Senior Football Correspondent, Richard Jolly is at Anfield tonight and has given his thoughts on the Liverpool line-up

“Arne Slot picked a much-weakened side in the FA Cup fourth round against Plymouth last year and Liverpool lost. A year on and this is a very strong team with only Hugo Ekitike and Ryan Gravenberch of the strongest available 11 on the bench.

“Federico Chiesa gets a rare start in attack while Dominik Szoboszlai returns from a ban, presumably at right-back.

“Brighton, who knocked out Manchester United in the last round, are looking for a rare double, but are out of form in the Premier League.”

Liverpool have been eliminated from six of their last nine FA Cup fourth round ties and were eliminated at this stage last season by Plymouth. In the Premier League era, the Reds have suffered 13 eliminations at this stage – two more than other Premier League side (Spurs have been eliminated 11 times).

Brighton have won their last three FA Cup fourth round ties, beating a Premier League side in each season. Indeed, since they were promoted to the Premier League in 2017, they’ve reached the fifth round six times, with only Man City (8) and Man Utd (7) doing so more often.

The fifth-round draw will take place on Monday 16 February, likely ahead of Macclesfield’s tie against Brentford which kicks off at 7:30pm GMT.

The draw will take place in the broadcast before kick-off, which starts at 6:30pm, with the draw set to start at around 6:35pm GMT.

And here’s Brighton. This looks a pretty defensive set up by Fabian Hurzeler and there appears to be a slight lack of pace?

Here’s how Liverpool will line up this evening. Arne Slot has gone pretty strong although Federico Chiesa gets a rare start.

The line-ups should be released in the next few minutes, so here’s a reminder of the early team news for both sides...

Liverpool’s right-back curse continued on Wednesday night as makeshift defender Wataru Endo suffered a suspected season-ending foot injury, joining Conor Bradley and Jeremy Frimpong on the sidelines. Giorgi Mamardashvili is likely to start as Arne Slot’s cup keeper, while the Reds manager also hinted at rotation which could see youngsters Rio Ngumoha and Trey Nyoni involved. Dominic Szoboszlai is back from suspension.

Brighton will be buoyed by the return of Mats Wieffer from a toe problem but remain without Stefanos Tzimas, Adam Webster, Solly March and Yasin Ayari. James Milner could be awarded a rare start against his former club.

Liverpool have won four of their last five matches against Brighton in all competitions (L1), beating them 2-0 at Anfield earlier this season in the Premier League.

This will be the seventh FA Cup between Liverpool and Brighton, with both sides progressing three times each.

Arne Slot is hopeful he can find “balance” with Liverpool and select younger players in the FA Cup fourth round tie against Brighton.

The Reds rebounded from a last-gasp defeat to Manchester City last weekend by edging out Sunderland midweek in the Premier League thanks to Virgil Van Dijk’s goal.

And this weekend’s FA Cup tie offers a chance to rotate for Slot, with Rio Ngumoha and Trey Nyonyi pushing for more minutes in the first team. Ngumoha has starred in 13 games for the Reds this term, scoring once against Newcastle, while Nyonyi has played six times in all competitions.

Liverpool are waiting to discover if Wataru Endo has a broken foot, as Arne Slot has admitted it is obvious the Japan international faces a long time on the sidelines amid concerns his season is over.

Endo was hurt in Liverpool’s 1-0 win over Sunderland on Wednesday, when he stood in at right-back, and joins a lengthy injury list.

“We still need to do some assessments, but it's clear and obvious that he will be out for quite a long time,” said Slot.