Roberto De Zerbi brings his Brighton & Hove Albion side to Anfield this weekend, looking to make a statement as he continues to be linked with succeeding Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool.
They say you never forget your first visit to Anfield.
And even in a world of unprecedented Premier League riches, that old adage remains true. Just ask Roberto De Zerbi.
It was just days after he was appointed as Brighton & Hove Albion’s successor to the respected Graham Potter in October 2022 that the Italian was peering on the Anfield touchline for his first sampling of life as a Premier League manager.
Though few inside Anfield – of either Liverpool or Brighton persuasion, it must be said – were entirely familiar with De Zerbi’s credentials in a managerial career that had only taken him outside of his homeland once in nine years before his appointment at the Amex.
But by the time the full-time whistle echoed around Anfield to signal the end of his first outing, those in attendance, and the wider Premier League for that matter, had certainly taken notice of the performance of De Zerbi’s side after they ended the afternoon with a share of the spoils after an enthraling six-goal thriller. And, in racing into a first-half lead, had Liverpool on the brink of a first-league defeat at Anfield in over 500 days.
As far as first impressions go, it was quite the curtain-raiser to the English top flight for De Zerbi, who was quickly identified as a prodigy with the tactical acumen to one day take over the reins at one of the Premier League’s ‘Big Six’ as his reputation continued to blossom.
Nearly seventeen months on, and such links have become a reality for the Italian, now one of the bookmakers’ favourites, alongside Sporting CP’s Ruben Amorim and Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso, to succeed Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool come the end of the season.
It’s why this weekend’s visit to Anfield will take on huge significance for not only Brighton and their quest for European football but also De Zerbi, who’ll find himself subtly auditioning for the soon-to-be-available Anfield hot seat.
Should Brighton be successful in inflicting a first Anfield defeat on Liverpool since February 2023, it would be quite the manner for De Zerbi to go about convincing Fenway Sports Group’s recently-appointed eyes and ears on Merseyside, Michael Edwards, who was in attendance for the FA Cup defeat at Old Trafford earlier this month, that he is more than gossip-column filler when it comes to discussing those who could lead at a new era at Anfield in a post-Klopp world.
Even for a managerial trade that has only amounted to just 60 Premier League games, De Zerbi has already proven that he is at least deserving of a mention of the conversations that will take place between Edwards, Liverpool’s new Sporting Director Richard Hughes, and owners John Henry and Tom Werner back in Boston.
It was shortly after putting pen to paper on a four-year deal on the South Coast that De Zerbi, in the aftermath of Chelsea’s successful swoops for Marc Cucurella and Potter, that Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola was effusive in his praise for the Italian and the innovative ways he had Brighton punching well above their weight en route to their highest-ever finish in the Premier League.
“I think Roberto is one of the most influential managers in the last 20 years,” said Guardiola in May 2023. “There is no team playing the way they play – unique. I had the feeling he would have an impact and it would be great – but I didn’t expect them to do it in this short space of time.
“Twenty or 25 chances, they monopolise the ball in a way it hasn’t been for a long time, a keeper like a holding midfielder, if you don’t play at a high level he can do whatever he wants against you.
“They deserve the success, and are a team I try to learn from. [They are like a] Michelin star restaurant, unique. “In Catalonia, the best cook changed the cuisine, and Brighton are playing with something special and it’s an incredible challenge.”
Should Brighton’s performance this weekend lead to similar-sounding praise from Klopp, it’s fair to say De Zerbi will have done his prospects of succeeding the German no harm in his live audition.
But one thing is for sure: Anfield will be more aware of the innovative Italian this time around.
