Brighton boss Graham Potter knows his side must strike the right balance between defence and attack to avoid being swept aside by Liverpool.
Albion, who won at Anfield last season, face the daunting task of returning to Merseyside on Saturday to face a free-scoring team in scintillating form.
Former Liverpool and Brighton defender Mark Lawrenson told local media on the south coast this week that attacking Jurgen Klopp’s team would be committing “footballing suicide”.
Potter agrees that being too open is not the way to approach the match but also feels that overly-defensive tactics would play into the hands of their ruthless opponents.
“Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and that is the world we are in and, I respect that opinion,” said Potter.
“We have to be balanced clearly because the opponent is of a high level, and that is normal in football, and you have to try and get the balance right between defence and attack.
“If you just do one thing like defend then, it can also be suicide as you can never get out of your own box and you can never do anything, and in the end their quality beats you.
“So I think we have got to offer both, but in a balanced way.”
Brighton have been good defensively this season, keeping four clean sheets in the Premier League.
But they will be missing Dan Burn at Anfield after the big defender suffered a heavy fall and injured a knee during the Carabao Cup defeat at Leicester on Wednesday night.
Speaking about Burn’s absence, Potter said: “He provides a bit of flexibility on the left, is naturally left-footed, can play on the left of a three, can play at left-back, left wing-back.
“So we lose that position, but we have other guys who can do things in a different way. We just have to find that solution.”
Yves Bissouma will be available on Saturday following his substitute appearance in the cup at Leicester after more than a month out with his knee problem.
Potter made eight changes against the Foxes so the likes of Robert Sanchez, Lewis Dunk, Solly March, Marc Cucurella, Leandro Trossard and Neal Maupay will be among those pushing for recalls, while Adam Lallana will hope to start against his former club.
