Liverpool news: Isak on the Brighton test, injuries bite as Araujo's £47m option firms up

Liverpool will be without Dominik Szoboszlai for Sunday's Premier League visit of Brighton & Hove Albion, and Victor Munoz is also likely to sit it out. Bradley Barcola, by contrast, comes through the week with a clean bill of health, a welcome bit of news in an attacking department that has needed it.

Szoboszlai's absence opens the door for Ryan Gravenberch, whose versatility Iraola was keen to talk up on Friday, and the likely answer is a rejigged midfield built around Alexis Mac Allister. The Isak interview published by the club suggests the striker is fit and hungry, and he is the man Brighton will fear most.

Anfield on a Sunday afternoon, with a full week's rest behind them, is not a place to be cautious.

Andoni Iraola called Brighton a big challenge and meant it: they are awkward, well coached, and have caused Liverpool real problems in recent seasons.

Most of his praise, though, went to Alexis Mac Allister, who he described as one of the smartest players in the squad after a run of form that has driven Liverpool's upturn.

The head coach was also asked about his younger players and, when the subject turned to Rio Ngumoha, he pushed back hard on the hype around the 18-year-old while contract talks at the club continue. Getting the balance right with Ngumoha matters, because the talent is obvious and the temptation to overplay him is real.

Iraola's caution sounds less like a manager hedging and more like a man protecting an asset.

Liverpool host Brighton on Sunday with the weather threatening to be as much of a talking point as the football, with Storm Boelo forecast to bring wind and rain to Merseyside.

The stats point to a fixture that tends to produce goals, and Brighton's willingness to press high should suit a Liverpool side that has looked sharper going forward than at the back. The bigger question is at Anfield itself.

The home form has dipped, and this week's Blood Red column argues that restoring the ground's fear factor is now Iraola's most obvious task. A convincing Sunday would go a long way towards it.

Liverpool are increasingly confident about turning Ronald Araujo's loan into a permanent deal, with Marca reporting a fixed fee of around €55m, or £47m.

The Uruguayan has made an early impact at the back and his celebration with a young supporter at the AXA Training Centre on Friday was a reminder of how quickly he has settled. Elsewhere, Luke Chambers is expected to leave when the January window opens, with the left-back's path to first-team minutes blocked.

The club's forward planning continues too, with reports of contact for a German midfielder valued around $114m and a €60m plan that one Anfield Watch opinion piece calls a mistake. The Araujo deal, at that price, looks like the straightforward one.

Rio Ngumoha is 18, already an England international, and in the middle of contract talks that will shape the next few years of his career.

One opinion piece went as far as to say Liverpool have a youngster better than Michael Olise and Lamine Yamal, which is exactly the kind of comparison Iraola spent Friday trying to defuse.

Bradley Barcola, meanwhile, gets the FPL treatment as one of the ones to watch, a sign of how quickly he has become central to the attack. Add in the debate about who is filling Mohamed Salah's boots, and the noise around Liverpool's forward line is only getting louder.

The talent is real; the trick is letting it breathe.