LIVERPOOL - Home, Falmer Years: 17/18 - 19/20 Prem, seasons 7, 8, 9. '11 EFL Cup season1.
Manager - Jurgen Klopp (2015)
Prem record from 11/12 to 19/20; 8, 7, 2, 6, 8, 4 / 4, 2, 1 champions @ 11/7/20. Best finish = 1st, Worst finish = 8th.
C21; title - once, runner-up - 4 times, top four - 8 times, top six - 4 times, top ten - 4 times. Anfield Ave Gate; 53K, Cap; 54K
Recent managers; Brendan Rodgers (2012-15), Kenny Dalglish (2011-12)
Podiums; 19/20 - Liverpool, Man City, ?. 18/19 - Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea. 13/14 - Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea.

Run in - fixture deadline extended into close season -
July - Arsenal (A) 15/7, Chelsea (H) 18/7, Newcastle (A) 26/7. forecast - 101pt.

LIVERPOOL AWAY;
Seasn . W D L . F A GD . . Pt Po
19/20 - 13 2 2 . 29 14 15 . 41 1 = 2.41pt/gm or 44.0% of total points. Wins = 76.4%, Loss = 11.7% - Jurgen Klopp. record @ 11/7/20.
18/19 - 13 5 1 . 34 12 22 . 44 2 = 2.31pt/gm or 45.3% of total points. Wins = 68.4%, Loss = 5.2% - Jurgen Klopp.
17/18 - 09 5 5 . 39 28 11 . 32 4 = 1.68pt/gm or 42.6% of total points. Wins = 47.3%, Loss = 26.3% - Jurgen Klopp.
16/17 - 10 5 4 . 33 24 09 . 35 4 = 1.84pt/gm or 46.0% of total points. Wins = 52.6%, Loss = 21.0% - Jurgen Klopp.
15/16 - 08 4 7 . 30 28 02 . 28 8 = 1.47pt/gm or 46.6% of total points. Wins = 42.1%, Loss = 36.8% - Brendan Rodgers & Jurgen Klopp.
14/15 - 08 3 8 . 22 28 --6 . 27 6 = 1.42pt/gm or 43.5% of total points. Wins = 42.1%, Loss = 42.1% - Brendan Rodgers.
13/14 - 10 5 4 . 48 32 16 . 35 2 = 1.84pt/gm or 41.7% of total points. Wins = 52.6%, Loss = 21.0% - Brendan Rodgers.

Season9 3rd Premier League (H) Wed 8/7/20 - L 1-3 ~ Trossard
PL suspended until restart from 17/6/20 after Mon 20/4/20 postponed. Revised evening fixture played behind closed doors without fans attending.
This match was one of nine run-in games postponed when the PL got suspended from mid March beyond usual May finish due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Arsenal, Man Utd, Liverpool & Man City - four big-six home matches in chronological order during our 3rd campaign closing stages. Just how easy could this run-in be? And we now also entertained Reds as confirmed title holders already, since prior to end of June. In truth Albion had probably done enough beforehand to go again in the Prem next season. Teams in the d-z were losing consistently since football restarted, while Seagulls had picked up points to establish a 9pt gap to the bottom three. So perhaps the exercise now was for Seagulls to put in a performance against the best and see how it stacked up for the squad going forward into next term. At end of the day, if BHA was to improved we required Prem class in each position - which meant yet more new signings. It was still a work in progress under Potter this season.
REPORT TBA
stats: shape 433-433, ht 1-2-, goals 45-6,8,76, poss 45%-55%, on target 2-7, off target 7-4, corners 6-6, fouls 7-15, o/s 5-0, yellows 1-4, subs 3-5 (5/9). MoM - Lamptey. Gate - 0. Weather - drizzle.
1 Ryan, 2 Lamptey Y, 15 Webster, 5 Dunk, 33 Burn, 13 Gross (8 Bissouma 72), 6 Stephens, 24 Propper (18 Mooy 72), 10 Mac Allister (44 Connolly 72), 7 Maupay, 11 Trossard. Subs (5/9) - 27 Button, 22 Montoya, 30 Bernardo, 4 Duffy, 16 Jahanbakhsh, 17 Murray.
Squad - 20 March, 23 Schelotto, 25 Kayal. Injured - 19 Izquiredo, 46 Alzate.
Prem: P34 . W5 D6 L6 . F20 A22 . W3 D6 L8 . F16 A25 . Pt36 Po15 = 1.05pt/gm. Wins = 23.5%, Loss = 41.1%

Liverpool:
Quatr: P . W D L . F A GD . Pt Po
Total: 35 . 30 3 2 . 76 27 49 . 93 1 = 2.65pt/gm. Wins 85.7%, Loss = 5.7% - updated asap, record @ 11/7/20. Champions.
3qtrs: 29 . 27 1 1 . 66 21 45 . 82 1 = 2.82pt/gm. Wins = 93.1%, Loss = 3.4% PREM SUSPENDED
Hlfwy: 19 . 18 1 0 . 47 14 33 . 55 1 = 2.89pt/gm. Wins = 94.7%, Loss = 0%
Start: 10 . 9 1 0 . . 23 8 15 . . 28 1 = 2.80pt/gm. Wins = 90%, Loss = 0% - J Klopp.
Champions League: 16 - A Madrid 2-3 (H) 1-0 (A). Group - Napoli 1-1 (H) 2-0 (A), Salzburg 4-3 (H) 0-2 (A), Genk 1-4 (A) 2-1 (H).
EFL Cup: 5th rnd - Villa 5-0 (A), 4th rnd - Arsenal 5pen4 5-5 (H), 3rd rnd - MK Dons 0-2 (A)
FA Cup: Chelsea 2-0 (A) R5, Shrewsbury 1-0 (H) 2-2 (A) R4, Everton 1-0 (H) R3.
Aug: led the div with max points. So far so good, like last term.
Oct: still setting the pace and only dropped two points by end of first quarter Q1.
New Year: way out in front of Prem, last 16 of Chmp Lg and FAC4 via kids team.
March: leading second club by 25pts when PL suspended. Out of Chmp Lg, FAC & EFL Cup.
July: title winners by end of June.

Season8 2nd Premier League (H) Sat 12/1/19 - L 0-1
The current league leaders visited the Amex a week after Albion had gotten through to FAC4, with a first k-o away victory at Bournemouth - their previous PL nemises. On paper this fixture was a miss-match but perhaps if Seagulls could prevent a drubbing like last term (see season7 below) fans wouldn't feel too bad. And it should be a measure of how far BHA had come to try and establish in this top division during their second season. Chris Hughton had rested several 1st 11 players last week and 'reserves' had scored three goals in the Cup, so he had lots of options available from the team-sheet regarding starters & subs. In the event he went with tried & tested, which on the day was probably the best option.
Albion got beat by a penalty after the interval in a match with a single goal score. Seagulls put up a good defensive display throughout but were pretty toothless up front despite a late rally. Ref pointed to the spot when Gross made contact in the area as the striker threw himself down. Button nearly got gloves on the kick as he dived the right way (50min). Hughton responded by hooking Murray & March and inserting Andone & Knockaert to boost attacking forays as Seagulls chased a game on domestic turf (66min). Later Kayal came on for Gross and blue & white pushed up in hope of chance for an equaliser. Everything changes and nothing changes - Liverpool got yet another win and Albion suffered their 3rd top-six defeat in 11 Amex fixtures. Ref came in for booing & chants from Albion fans because he had a mare as far as they were concerned. Hughton said, 'I have no complaints about the penalty but feel the balance of decisions favoured Liverpool. I'm delighted because we ran them so close.' Brighton fans went home disappointed to get nowt but pleased their heroes seemed an ok Prem side at this stage of the season.
Stats; ht 0-0, goal 50, shape 451-433, poss 29%-71%, on target 0-3, off target 5-5, blocks 2-2, o/s 5-0, crosses 14-16, corners 2-7, tackles 11-9, fouls 15-5, yellows 0-0, subs 3-3. MoM - Locadia. Gate 30,682 ground record, away 2995. Weather - cold, grey, showers.
27 Button, 22 Montoya, 4 Duffy, 5 Dunk, 3 Bong, 20 March (11 Knockaert 66), 6 Stephens, 24 Propper, 9 Locadia, 13 Gross (7 Kayal 79), 17 Murray (10 Andone 66). Subs - 23 Steele, 2 Bruno, 14 Balogun, 41 Sanders.
Prem P22 . W5 D3 L3 F15 A12 . W2 D1 L7 F7 A16 . Pt26 Po13 = 1.18pt/gm. Wins = 31.8%, Loss = 45.4%

Total; P38 W30 D7 L1 F89 A22 GD+67 Pt97 Po2 = 2.55pt/gm. Wins = 78.9%, Loss = 2.6%
3qtrs; P29 W21 D7 L1 F64 A15 GD+49 Pt70 Po2 = 2.41pt/gm. Wins = 72.4%, Loss = 3.4%
Hlfwy; P19 W16 D3 L0 F43 A7 GD+36 Pt51 Po1 = 2.68pt/gm. Wins = 84.2%, Loss = 0% - Klopp.
Start; P10 W8 D2 L0 F20 A4 GD+16 Pt26 Po2 = 2.60pt/gm. Wins = 80%, Loss = 0%
Champions League; final - beat Spurs 0-2, s-f - Barca 3-0 (A) 4-0 (H), q-f - Porto 2-0 (H) 1-4 (A), 16 - B Munich 0-0 (H) 1-3 (A).
Group C - Paris SG 3-2 (H) 2-1 (A), Napoli 1-0 (A) 1-0 (H), RS Belgrade 4-0 (H) 2-0 (A).
EFL Cup; 3rd rnd - Chelsea 1-2 (H)
FA Cup; 3rd rnd - Wolves 2-1 (A)
Aug; been inching closer to the real deal under Klopp. His next mission is to actually win something. Are 4 competitons just 3 too many?
October; challenging for leading the div, unbeaten and free scoring. But out of EFL Cup.
New Year; in pole position and although just defeated by City, are true title candidates for sure. Out of FA Cup.
March; in title race with City. Champs Lg q-f.

Season7 1st Premier League (H) 2/12/17 - L 1-5 ~ Murray
December arrived and Albion were ahead of schedule in the Premier League survival race. Going into this contest against one of the top six elite, Seagulls sat 10th with 17pts and a gap of 7pts between that tally and 18th place. An average of 1.05pt/gm overall would see a target of 40pts being possible. So far this index registered 1.21pt/gm, hence the top ten slot. But reality was expected to bite this month and by New Year at least a 20pts total was required prior to reciprocal fixtures beginning for 2018. 17th place was quite acceptable come May and nobody anticipated BHA getting points off the like of Liverpool anyway. And Brighton had fallen to Man City (H), Arsenal (A) and Man Utd (A) already, with Spurs (A) & Chelsea (A) also to come this month.
The result was a catastrophe for Blue and a triumph for Red, as witnessed by a record crowd at the community stadium. Albion gave visitors too much respect from k-o and home & away teams looked reversed. And the game plan went out of the window after half an hour of play all in BHA's half. Reds opened the scoring from a corner with a header (30min). Then they hit us on the counter from our k-o and went two up (31min). In the second period Seagulls opened out but were immediately caught again by a sucker punch straight after after Murray's attempt was blocked (48min). Murray then converted a fortuitous penalty (51min). March & Izquierdo came on for 20 mins and later Schelotto but the damage was done and Albion appeared a spent force. Two late goals added to a miserable afternoon at the Amex for suffering Brighton fans (87, 89min). Hughton said, 'you have to have a level of performance to compete - they gave us a harsh lesson but we were also well below the level we have been.' The reality was that even if Albion had played a blinder they would not have reached the quality & skill set of the away eleven.
Stats; shape 4411-32311, h-t 0-2, goals 51-30,31,48,87,89, poss 43%-57%, on target 2-6, off target 3-3, blocked 1-3, corners 2-2, crosses 13-12, o/s 0-2, tackles 18-14, fouls 8-7, yellows 1-0, subs 3-3. Gate 30,643 (away 3015)
1 Ryan, 2 Bruno (21 Schelotto), 22 Duffy, 5 Dunk, 3 Bong, 11 Knockaert (20 March), 6 Stephens, 24 Propper, 37 Brown (19 Izquierdo), 13 Gross, 17 Murray
Prem P 15 . W 4 D 5 L 6 . F 14 A 19 . Pt 17 Po 11

Total; P38 W21 D12 L5 F84 A38 GD+46 Pt75 Po4 = 1.97pt/gm. Wins = 55.2%, Loss = 13.1% - Jurgen Klopp. R1 Y44
3qtrs; P29 W17 D9 L3 F67 A32 GD+35 Pt60 Po3 = 2.05pt/gm. Wins = 58.6%, Loss = 10.3%
Hlfwy P19 W9 D8 L2 F41 A23 GD+18 Pt35 Po4 = 1.84pt/gm. Wins = 47.3%, Loss = 10.5%
Start P10 W4 D4 L2 F17 A16 GD+1 Pt16 Po6 = 1.60pt/gm. Wins = 40%, Loss = 20%
Aug - faces very stiff competiton to make the top four again. Europe is a further test with regard to depth of the squad as well.
New Year - in 4th and progress in 2 of 3 knockouts.
March - competing for runner-up spot. EFL & FA Cups early exits. Champions League QF.

LIVERPOOL PREVIOUS PREM;
Seasn . W D L . . F A GD . . Pt Po
19/20 - 30 03 2 . 76 27 49 . 93 1 - PL SUSPENDED, record @ 11/7/20. Champions.
Reds became title holders for the very first time in the Prem. Were run away winners by end of June in this year the Prem got suspended.
18/19 - 30 07 1 . 89 22 67 . 97 2 = 2.55pt/gm. Wins = 78.9%, Loss = 02.6%
Runners up in Prem with a huge points total, which on many other occasions woulda gotten the title. Winning the Champions League maybe but a consolation.
17/18 - 21 12 5 . 84 38 46 . 75 4 = 1.97pt/gm. Wins = 55.2%, Loss = 13.1% - Jurgen Klopp.
The engaging German took over two seasons ago with a remit to take Reds forward. It is still a work in progress but his man-management skills appear sound enough.
16/17 - 22 10 6 . 78 42 36 . 76 4 = 2.00pt/gm. Wins = 57.8%, Loss = 15.7% - Jurgen Klopp.
It was a good campaign when viewed with a backward glance this decade. And so the Klopp revolution gathered momentum.
15/16 - 16 12 10 . 63 50 13 . 60 8 = 1.57pt/gm. Wins = 42.1%, Loss = 26.3% - Brendan Rodgers & Jurgen Klopp.
The charismatic German coach came in during October and set about taking Reds out of a blue period. Some useful results from knockout action home & away (Eng & Europe) also added to the positive experience.
14/15 - 18 8 12 . 52 48 04 . 62 6 = 1.63pt/gm. Wins = 47.3%, Loss = 31.5% - Brendan Rodgers.
Reds seemingly returned to type, as a team expected to be top six at least. BR had a tougher campaign and was disappointed in both domestic Cups & Champions League as well.
13/14 - 26 6 06 . 101 50 51 . 84 2 = 2.21pt/gm. Wins = 68.4%, Loss = 15.7% - Brendan Rodgers.
The Merseyside outfit had a runners-up campaign to remember during recent mediocre times, as Brendan Rodgers upped the ante in his second season.

FA CUP from 13/14; 5th rnd, s-f, 4th rnd, 4th rnd, 4th rnd, 3rd rnd, 5th rnd.
LEAGUE CUP; 3rd rnd, s-f, runners-up, s-f, 3rd rnd, 3rd rnd, q-f.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE; nq, group stage, nq, nq, Finalists, winners, last 16.
EUROPA LEAGUE; nq, last 32, runners-up, nq, nq, nq, nq.
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Liverpool - home, Falmer years.
Season1 (H) 21/9/11 League Cup r3 - L 1-2 ~ Barnes
Brighton were unbeaten at the Amex for a fantastic start to our inaugral year at Falmer in the Championship. Not just content with heading the league table at end of August, we'd already disposed of Gillingham and Sunderland for super-duper knockout night matches in the Community Stadium. Gates of 16k & 17k for these brilliant opening rounds under floodlights was sure to be bettered once this incredible draw for r3 was announced. Talk about living the dream, although fourteen years of waiting for a state of the art facility was more than enough nightmare for long suffering Albion supporters. Bill Archer promised the earth would move to Waterhall, soon after he sold the Goldstone in that headline grabbing midsummer murder of 1995. Then it was Toads Hole Valley around Xmas, before he tried to chat up McAlpines in 1996, who were already allied with Dick Knight's consortium taking over BHA. He resigned as Chairman, initially kept almost half of shares in our revamped club but also left us homeless from end of April 1997. Go to the Archive tab and select Characters and Falmer, for much more info during the infamous Withdean era. On the night nearly 22k attended - an Amex sell-out.
Gus Poyet made several changes to his regular eleven and during the first half Albion were a tad hesitant and fell behind early to slick Prem movement (7min). Reds had several more chances to bury us but could merely strike woodwork. Gus read the riot act at half time and Seagulls responded with a much better second period display. Noone and Buckley began to exploit runs down flanks and suddenly B'ton put Liverpool under pressure in their area. New signing Vicente Rodriguez replaced hamstrung Buckley on the hour mark and performed well on debut. Poyet made a double sub swap with ten minutes to go, introducing all-out attack. Against run of play, Reds doubled the lead from a counterattack (81m). In a frantic climax, Seagulls were awarded a pen when Vicente got tripped and sub Barnes netted. It was a cup tie worthy of knockout stuff and BHA could hold heads high as they exchanged shirts in a full floodlit and atmospheric Amex stad.
Ankergren, Calderon, Greer, Cook, Vincelot, Buckley (Rodriguez), Navarro (Barnes), Bridcutt, Sparrow (LuaLua), Noone, Mackail-Smith.
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Withdean Era - from 1999 to 2011, no meetings.

Liverpool - Away, Falmer Years: 17/18 - 19/20 Prem, seasons 7, 8, 9. '12 FA Cup season1.
LIVERPOOL @ HOME;
Seasn . W D L . F A GD . Pt Po
19/20 - 17 1 0 . 47 13 34 . 52 1 = 2.88pt/gm or 55.9% of total points. Wins = 94.4%, Loss = 0.0% - Jurgen Klopp. record @ 11/7/20.
18/19 - 17 2 0 . 55 10 45 . 53 2 = 2.78pt/gm or 54.6% of total points. Wins 88.28, Loss = 0.0% - Jurgen Klopp.
17/18 - 12 7 0 . 45 10 35 . 43 4 = 2.26pt/gm or 57.3% of total points. Wins = 63.1%, Loss = 0.0% - Jurgen Klopp.
16/17 - 12 5 2 . 45 18 27 . 41 4 = 2.15pt/gm or 53.9% of total points. Wins = 63.1%, Loss = 10.5% - Jurgen Klopp.
15/16 - 08 8 3 . 33 22 11 . 32 8 = 1.68pt/gm or 53.3% of total points. Wins = 42.1%, Loss = 15.7% - Brendan Rodgers & Jurgen Klopp.
14/15 - 10 5 4 . 30 20 10 . 35 6 = 1.84pt/gm or 56.4% of total points. Wins = 52.6%, Loss = 21.0% - Brendan Rodgers.
13/14 - 16 1 2 . 53 18 35 . 49 2 = 2.57pt/gm or 58.3% of total points. Wins = 84.2%, Loss 10.5% - Brendan Rodgers.

Season9 3rd Premier League (A) Sat 30/11/19 - L 2-1 ~ Dunk
A pre-winter measure of how this Seagulls side performed under Graham Potter versus no.1 outfit Reds would likely be determined by the result. Albion had yet to take a point on the road during current and both previous PL terms at all those big northwest venues, so possible (but plainly improbable) nil-nil here should be cause for much celebration. Last term it was a very early seasonal 'backs to the wall' defensive display, as per safety-first strategy of subsequently replaced boss Chris Hughton. But even so, it was now hard to see reshaped BHA setting up as anything other than solid 541 for a kick-off. Brighton fans folklore suggested Potter's style of play was entertaining enough to warrant points away from home. But versus Liverpool, to see an end to end, blow for blow, motd first-up away-goals fest of highlights, would be something else entirely. Our squad was a mix of tried & tested basic PL types from days of yore, plus inexperienced guys from lesser levels at home & abroad. Potter too was still finding feet in this elite, although talked a good pre/post game as befittting his theoretical masters degree out of Leeds Uni. And Tony Bloom had just extended his contract for two more years - to 2025. One way or another BHA physically had to get their act together and target 20pts by the halfway stage at end of December. On paper it appeared probable, meanwhile the squad struggled to get enough goals to procure those points game by game.
In the event BHA were actually first up on motd but the final result was same old, same old. Albion went two behind before half an hour and Reds were cruising after a couple of headed goals from set pieces (18 & 24 min). Albion stepped it up during the second period and Potter put on Alzate & Trossard for a bit more offensive action. Then hosts goalie handled outside the area and got sent off. Dunk scored direct from the f-k and suddenly Albion were back in it (79min). Seagulls tried hard to equalise against ten men but could not net from further open play. Potter said, 'we showed personality and courage, We're disappointed to come away with nothing.' BHA got good stats, although name of the game is football and we did have enough chances to put that ball into the old onion bag. Brighton fans could see a different method of play to previous PL seasons but at end of the day, we'd lost again and were no better off than under Hughton's tenure. And still those 5pts to get during December.
Stats; shape 433-4321, h-t 2-0, goals 18,24-76, poss 45%-55%, on target 7-5, off target 5-4, blocks 3-3, corners 4-5, crosses 11-20, o/s 1-6, tackles 12-11 fouls 3-10 yellows 0-0, red 1-0, subs 3-3. Gate 53,319, away 1851. MoM - Dunk. Weather - fine & cold.
1 Ryan, 22 Montoya (46 Alzate 68), 15 Webster, 5 Dunk, 33 Burn, 18 Mooy, 13 Gross, 6 Stephens, 24 Propper, 8 Bissouma (11 Trossard 68), 44 Connolly (7 Maupay 77). Bench; 27 Button, 4 Duffy. 21 Schelotto, 17 Murray.
Squad - 3 Bong, 14 Balogun, 16 Jahanbakhsh. Injured - 19 Izquierdo, 20 March, 30 Bernardo.
Prem P14 . W3 D2 L2 . F10 A8 . W1 D1 L5 . F6 A13 . Pt15 Po15 = 1.07pt/gm. Wins = 28.5%, Loss = 50%

Season8 2nd Premier League (A) Sat 25/8/18 - L 1-0
Our second away game of the 2nd PL campaign was expected to test the revised 25 man squad to very limits. This in view of the fact we'd been here before merely a few weeks previously (see season7 below). Pay tv coverage put the k-o back to the late Saturday afternoon slot to boot. Chris Hughton had added Martin Montoya, Ali Jahanbakhsh, Yves Bissouma, Bernardo da Silva, Leon Balogun, Florin Adone and homegrown keepers David Button & Jason Steel to the 25 man squad prior to start of the season. Reserve c-d Dan Burn signed on deadline day. The promotion winning U23 group had also been upgraded & revamped, ready now for PL2 div1 fixtures versus elite second squads. On the day Hughton started Balogun (Dunk injured), Montoya (Bruno injured) & Bissouma (tactics) from new arrivals
Albion stayed in the game and produced a reasonable display without actually earning a point at the death. An error in midfield got punished when Reds found their striker free and he did the biz (23min). After that floodgates remained closed as visitors hung in there with a robust display of defending with countering. Hughton got tatics spot on and made changes count for good effect as well. A double sub of wingers kept pressure on hosts until the final whistle and Gross came on late too, nearly equalising with a header from distance. Hughton said, 'we were close to coming away with a great result, even though they were the better team. We had a very good chance at the end and it needed their keeper to make a very good save.' Brighton fans were not too unhappy, knowing may rivals would leak goals there, which made this result kinda ok as a second away fail-to-score stat.
Stats; shape 433-4141, h-t 1-0, goals 23, poss 70%-30%, on target 8-2, off target 7-2, blocks 7-2, corners 8-5, crosses 24-11, o/s 1-3, tackles 22-21 fouls 8-14, yellows 1-1, subs 3-3. Gate 50,752, away 1852
1 Ryan, 22 Montoya, 4 Duffy, 14 Balogun, 3 Bong, 11 Knockaert (16 Jahanbakhsh 74), 6 Stephens, 8 Bissouma (13 Gross 80), 24 Propper, 20 March (9 Locadia 74), 17 Murray. Bench; 27 Button, 29 Suttner, 30 Bernardo, 7 Kayal.
Prem P3 . W1 D0 L0 . F3 A2 . W0 D0 L2 . F0 A4 . Pt3 Po12 = 1.00pt/gm. Wins = 33%, Loss = 67%

Season 7 1st Premier League (A) Sunday 13/5/18 - L 4-0
Yes folks, we had at last reached the final fixture of Seagulls very first Prem season. And what a time to report that BHA had already survived in the PL with 2 games to go, after a hard fought campaign of 38 matches. The worst position that Seagulls could finish in was 15th, so in a way expectations on day1 had been exceeded to finish 17th with 38points - ie 1pt/gm average. Credit to Chris Hughton and his regular eleven & subs who overall pretty much stayed ahead of that basic points index all season long. In fact the only month Albion were found in the bottom three places was right at the start during August. We got as high as 8th in November but generally were safely in mid-table and kept a healthy gap above the drop zone - bar a slight glitch in January. So now the team were within sight of the beach, with flip-flops added to contents of the sports bag.
In the event Albion looked like a beach team compared to a rampant Reds outfit heading for the Champions League. Seagulls were in a flap from the word go and never carried anything of a threat to opposition. Goals against went in regularly and but for Ryan, visitors could have been beaten by eight or more. Even Ref helped a little when denying a pen at the kop end as the home crowd howled for the opener. It was all one way traffic throughout and BHA defence was working hard just to stay still. Most blue & white shirts couldn't live with the pace & skill of opponents who opened us up like a can of sand worms. Chris Hughton said, 'our season has shown more good than bad. It's just a shame that we haven't finished in the way we would have liked. They caused us so many problems. The disappointment was we didn't keep possession well enough.' Brighton fans tried to take positives from the outcome but the fact remained that away form wasn't near good enough in the final analysis. But at this moment BHA had survived in the PL this term and to some extent was an achievement in being on the right side of fine lines for the division. Albion ended 7pts clear of the drop which was an excellent benchmark to take into their second season.
Stats; shape 4411-4231, ht 2-0, goals 26,40,53,85, poss 72%-28%, on target 11-1, off target 5-0, corners 7-3, o/s 1-1, fouls 3-6, yellows 0-0, subs 3-3. Gate 52,752 (away 5k)
1 Ryan, 21 Schelotto, 22 Duffy (18 Goldson 71), 5 Dunk, 3 Bong, 6 Stephens, 24 Propper, 11 Knockaert, 7 Kayal (13 Gross 57), 20 March, 25 Locadia (17 Murray 57)
Prem P 38 . W 9 D 13 L 16 . F 34 A 54. Pt 40 Po 15
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Liverpool - away, Falmer years.
Season1 (A) 19/2/12 FA Cup r5 - L 6-1 ~ LuaLua
Previously, Brighton were fortunate to get past non-league Wrexham on penalties, after a replay in r3 but then battled hard to defeat Newcastle in r4 at the Amex. Travelling fans snapped up 6k tickets for Anfield, where Albion were able to turn out in home kit. Blue & white devoted knew it was a big ask to go k-o super Reds but hey, it was one helluva weekend away. Gus Poyet wanted his team to stick to tried and tested methods that had been very successful before at League1 level and also now in the Championship, where we weren't far off play-off places. He was keen on variations of 433, with one or two wingers employed and usually a sitting m-f player. Gus tended to tinker with starting elevens and in all honesty, would probably pick one totally different in 2012 to original squad members from back in summer.
After five minutes Albion were behind and facing a drubbing when failing to mark at a corner. But Seagulls got back into the tie when LuaLua levelled from a rocket f-k from down range (17min). Prior to h-t visitors had given good account of themselves but fell behind again when a defensive header rebounded off Bridcutt (44m). Gus sent Noone on immediately after the break. The second period proved to be a disaster in making as giant-killing dreams turned into nightmare. Liverpool scored four more times (57, 85), or rather we netted two more own goals (71, 75) to become FA record breakers. They were all over us like a rash and even when it struck defenders, the ball went goalwards as if by magic. Poyet put two subs in for last twenty mins, going three in rearguard but we kinda fell apart. Brezovan had a mare but actually saved a pen and the follow-up, by three red-shirts hungry to get on the lengthening score sheet. It was certainly a day to live long in memory - if only for the wrong reasons regarding that hammering on Merseyside.
Brezovan, Calderon, Greer, Dunk, El-Abd (Vicente), Bridcutt, Navarro, Barnes, Buckley (Noone), Vokes, LuaLua.
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Last there - Withdean era, no visits.