Back-to-back matches against Liverpool are a rare challenge that could impact Brighton’s season

How do you prepare to face the same opponents twice in four days in different competitions?

It’s another test for Fabian Hurseler when Brighton & Hove Albion take on him. Liverpool in the last 16 of the League Cup at the Amex Stadium on Wednesday night before heading to Anfield to take on Arne Sloth’s side in the Premier League on Saturday.

The double clash between the clubs, who have lost just once in all competitions so far this season, is not entirely new territory for Hurtzeler, the 31-year-old German who led Brighton win Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United And Manchester Unitedplus a draw at Arsenal in his first 11 games.

At a press conference last week, the former St. Pauli head coach said: “I had a similar situation last season when we played Fortuna Dusseldorf. It’s always interesting how you prepare for your first match. Then, how everything went in the first match, if you make some changes.

“Or if you change your style of play, your tactics and how prepared the players are. It will be very interesting to play two games in a row against Liverpool. Just playing against Liverpool will be interesting. They’ve had a great start to the season and they have a great new coach.”

St Pauli won 2-1 in Düsseldorf in January on their way to winning the German second division title under Hürzeler. They could have had a second trophy to celebrate, but three days after that victory they lost at home to Düsseldorf 4–3 on penalties in the quarter-finals of the DFB-Pokal (German Cup) after a 2–2 draw.

Between these matches, Hurtzeler made only three changes to the Sao Pauli team. At Brighton he has more opportunities to intervene in the squads for the double Test against Liverpool. They have the strongest squad in the club’s history, spending almost £200 million ($260 million) on nine transfers in the summer transfer window.

One of these new purchases, ex Celtic midfielder Matt O’Reillyis still recovering from ankle ligament damage suffered early on on his debut in a 4-0 home win over League One side Crawley in the Carabao Cup in August. Joao Pedro (ankle) Solly March (knee), Lewis Dunk (calf), James Milner (hamstring) and Adam Webster (hamstring) will also miss both matches against Liverpool. Despite this, Hurtzeler still has plenty of room to make changes.

Hurseler changed the entire starting XI against Crawley. This was a good opportunity to use the team against weaker opposition in the third game of his reign. He was a little more cautious in the next round, making eight changes in a 3-2 home win over their Premier League opponents. Wolves.

Brighton’s successes in the tournament add an intriguing dynamic to Hurtzeler’s approach to matches against Liverpool. The aim is to qualify for European football for a second time, finishing sixth under former head coach Roberto De Zerbi in the 2022-23 season and then reaching the round of 16 of the competition. Europa League last season under the leadership of the Italian.

Brighton are sixth in the table, and the League Cup opens up another path – the winners earn a place in the Conference League. Brighton are positioning themselves as real contenders for their place. first major silver.

Get past Liverpool and they will find themselves in the quarter-finals of a competition that features three Championship clubs and four of the bottom seven Premier League clubs in the last 16. The likelihood of a good draw paving the way for an even deeper run increases in the League Cup is below on the priority list of the biggest clubs, who are paying more attention to European competitions this season.

Take Liverpool as an example. They have 24 hours less to prepare for their trip to the Amex after Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal. Brighton’s visit to the league is followed three days later by another big night at Anfield in Champions League group stage vs Bayer Leverkusen.

There are no prizes for guessing which of the next three matches will be Slot’s lowest priority. Liverpool will be stronger at Anfield than at the Amex. This is an additional factor that Hurtzeler must take into account when managing the two games.

Previous examples of double headers, such as the one they faced against Liverpool, have not brought Brighton success during the club’s era in the Premier League. In September 2017, they were still trying to return to the top flight after a 34-year absence when they played. Bournemouth away from home twice in a row. Manager Chris Hughton made 10 changes to the side that lost 2-1 to Bournemouth in the League Cup third round tie five days later. They lost again by a narrow margin of 1-0 in extra time.

In September 2020, a season affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, Manchester United visited an empty Amex Stadium twice in five days. Graham Potter’s Brighton lost a dramatic league encounter 3-2 after Bruno Fernandes gave United a 100th-minute penalty awarded by VAR at the full-time whistle for handball by Neal Maupay. Potter made nine changes in the League Cup Round of 16 tie between the sides, as United progressed to the quarter-finals with a 3–0 win.

Rapid Fire rematches can backfire, as Manchester United learned the hard way last September. They crushed Brighton’s arch-rivals Crystal Palace 3-0 at Old Trafford in the League Cup. Seven of the same United players featured in Roy Hodgson’s 1-0 Premier League defeat at home four days later. Former palace and England The manager made six changes to the previous cup game, including resting some regular players.

The results swung in Liverpool’s favor against Chelsea in the midst of the 2012 election campaign. Kenny Dalglish’s side lost 2-1. FA Cup final before seven of the same players inflicted a 4-1 defeat on Chelsea at Anfield in the Premier League three days later, finishing eighth in the table, two places below their victims. Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo had extenuating circumstances to make eight changes. Eleven days later, Chelsea won the Champions League final, beating Bayern Munich 4–3 on penalties.

Thomas Tuchel, England’s new head coach, had the opposite of success against Leicester at the end of the 2020–21 season while he was Chelsea manager. Hürzeler’s compatriot suffered the pain of a 1-0 defeat in the FA Cup final but got his revenge three days later: a 2-1 league win at Stamford Bridge was the key to Leicester finishing in the top four and qualifying to the Champions League.

During the winter of 1999, when replays were common, Tottenham faced Wimbledon five times a month in different competitions (Premier League, FA Cup and FA Cup). League Cup), which resulted in three draws and two wins for Spurs.

Hoerseler and Slote will not be as tired of seeing each other as George Graham (Tottenham) and the late Joe Kinnear (Wimbledon) were then. But their double duel will make it clearer on how many fronts they are fighting on and influence what the top of the table looks like after 10 games.

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