Liverpool are scratching their heads following a fourth-straight Premier League loss, this one a 3-2 defeat to Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday.
MORE — Arne Slot, Virgil van Dijk reaction
Dango Ouattara, Kevin Schade, and Igor Thiago all scored as the hosts led 2-0 and 3-1 en route to a huge three points.
WATCH — Brentford v Liverpool full match replay
Milos Kerkez and Mohamed Salah scored Liverpool’s goals but the Reds could not find an equalizer.
Liverpool finish the day in sixth place with 15 points, now holding a 5W-4L record after starting the season with a quintet of wins. Brentford sit 10th with 13 points.
Unrecognizable Liverpool continue to serve up chances
Take away the controversial penalty if you want to feel better, Liverpool fans, and there are still so many questions about this Reds team. Maybe it’s as simple as a last season’s absurd run of luck and this early season’s fantastic late shows reverting to something more expected, but Liverpool are a shell of themselves. Yes, Ryan Gravenberch was missing and that was exploited by Brentford on Saturday, but Arne Slot’s team are comfortably bottom half when it comes to expected goals against and they allowed 17 shot attempts from the Bees including eight efforts on target. They conceded off a long throw, then off a long pass and breakaway, and finally from the penalty spot. There’s not one thing haunting the Reds — and we know this reads crazy when Virgil van Dijk is one of their players — but they are just a poor defensive unit right now. (NM)
Keith Andrews earning his flowers
Taking over for Thomas Frank at Brentford is almost an impossible ask, as the one-time Bees assistant was essentially taking the wheel from a man who has led the club up several divisions and is going to finish his days with a statue outside the Gtech Community Stadium. But Andrews, the former set piece coach, has roused a team that saw its biggest names depart this summer and turned them into a team that is exploiting weaknesses through their strengths. Andrews is helping the Bees ‘do a Brighton’ and show that the club has built something bigger than one great mind. (NM)
What’s next?
Liverpool host Crystal Palace on Wednesday in the fourth round of the League Cup, then will bid to end their PL losing skid at 4pm ET Saturday when Aston Villa visit Anfield.
Brentford go to Grimsby Town for a League Cup match of their own on Tuesday, then visit Crystal Palace at 11am Saturday.
How to watch Brentford vs Liverpool live, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 3pm ET Saturday (October 25)
Venue: Gtech Community Stadium — London
TV Channel: USA
Streaming: Watch live on NBC.com
Brentford vs Liverpool final score: 3-2
Dango Ouattara 5', Kevin Schade 46', Milos Kerkez 45+4', Igor Thiago pen 60'1, Mohamed Salah 89'
Brentford vs Liverpool live updates — by Nick Mendola
Mohamed Salah goal — Brentford 3-2 Liverpool
Some finish, this.
Brentford get a little lazy at the back and ever-hustling Dominik Szoboszlai tracks down a loose pass like a dog.
The Hungarian finds Salah in the box, and the Egyptian ends his PL goal drought with an arrow into the upper reaches of the back of the net.
Liverpool’s subs have done little
From Alexis Mac Allister, Andy Robertson and Federico Chiesa around the hour mark, then Rio Ngumoha and Joseph Gomez... all have found themselves just as second-best to the hosts as the men they replaced on the pitch.
This is only going one way as we enter the final 10 minutes.
Igor Thiago penalty goal — Brentford 3-1 Liverpool
Thiago gets Mamardashvili diving and rolls the ball the other way.
Brentford penalty
Ouattara was on the chalk when he was kicked by Van Dijk!
Long review... penalty?
Virgil van Dijk chops down Dango Ouattara and doesn’t think it’s a foul.
It’s whistled by referee Tim Robinson, who replaced Simon Hooper at half.
And VAR wants to look at the position of the offense. It may be a penalty!
Halftime — Brentford 2-1 Liverpool
Liverpool butchered several chances to get on the score sheet prior to Kerkez’s finish, and Brentford have taken both of theirs.
The Bees deserve their lead, and Liverpool have work to do to avoid stretching their losing streak to another game.
But Arne Slot’s bench is not a treasure trove of options with Alexander Isak and Jeremie Frimpong out of the 18. The game is also screaming for the injured Ryan Gravenberch.
Milos Kerkez goal — Brentford 2-1 Liverpool
Conor Bradley zips down the right and fires a low cross into danger.
Hugo Ekitike changes the ball’s path with a back-leg flick, and Milos Kerkez buries his chance at the back post to bring the Reds within one.
Kevin Schade goal — Brentford 2-0 Liverpool
Kevin Schade starts his run well before Ibrahima Konate realizes that Mikkel Damsgaard is eyeing up a long-distance through ball to the German forward.
Schade still has a lot to do, even if Konate is never catching the Bees striker. And he does it, pushing the ball past the splayed Mamardashvili in the 46th minute.
Yehor Yarmolyuk injury
The young Ukrainian star has been hobbled here, and cannot continue despite several efforts.
Vitaly Janelt will take his place in the center of the park.
Still 1-0 Brentford as we hit the 29th minute.
Caoimhín Kelleher dazed
Mohamed Salah is toward goal but takes a heavy touch and stumbles toward his former teammate’s collection of the ball.
Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher takes a clattering from the Egyptian, who appears concerned at the keeper’s shape.
Fortunately, Kelleher is able to continue beyond the 11th minute.
Dango Ouattara goal — Brentford 1-0 Liverpool
Oh boy.
A long throw from Michael Kayode is nodded toward the back post by Nathan Collins, and Dango Ouattara’s acrobatic finish has it 1-0 to the hosts after five minutes!
Brentford lineup
Kelleher, Ajer, Van den Berg, Collins, Kayode, Henderson, Yarmoliuk, Damsgaard, Schade, Ouattara, Thiago
Liverpool lineup
Mamardashvili, Kerkez, Van Dijk, Konate, Bradley, Szoboszlai, Jones, Wirtz, Gakpo, Ekitike, Salah
Brentford vs Liverpool preview — by Joe Prince-Wright
Arne Slot’s side looked a lot more like themselves in their 5-1 win at Eintracht Frankfurt in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday, but there is still a fragility in defense. With a few injuries cropping up and question marks over the form of star man Mohamed Salah there is still plenty of work for Slot to do get Liverpool back to being title contenders. But a win at Brentford would calm things down considerably for the reigning champs.
But that won’t be easy as Brentford’s first-year manager Keith Andrews has overseen two wins in their last three and they were excellent in their 2-0 victory at West Ham on Monday. Brentford are still being tipped to be in the relegation scrap all season long but some of their summer signings look inspired (especially former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson and goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher) and Igor Thiago is a real handful up top now his injury woes are behind him.
Brentford team news, focus
Right back Aaron Hickey is Brentford’s main injury concern, while Andrews now has a very settled team. New signings Henderson in midfield and Dango Ouattara in attack have both been exactly what Brentford needed after a big summer of departures, while the addition of Kelleher in goal was a major coup and the Bees have a very settled look to their back four. They remain extremely dangerous from set pieces and on the counter with Thiago so sharp in front of goal, plus Schade and Ouattara so impressive on the break.
Liverpool team news, focus
Injuries are mounting for Slot with Alisson still out in goal and Ryan Gravenberch is struggling to be fit in midfield, plus Alexander Isak has gone down with a groin injury and Jeremie Frimpong also had to come off at Frankfurt in midweek. All of that means that Hugo Ekitike is likely to start up top with perhaps Cody Gakpo and that could mean Mohamed Salah coming back into the team on the right. But how can Slot leave out Florian Wirtz? He picked up two assists and was superb in the midweek win and will perhaps start on the left if Gakpo is pushed up top and Salah starts. Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate both scored in that win and they will keep on trucking as Liverpool’s center back options are limited. With a big League Cup last 16 game coming up a few days after this, it will be intriguing to see how Slot rotates his side.
Brentford vs Liverpool prediction
This will be a lot closer than most people expect but Liverpool have found some confidence in attack and as long as they defend counters properly they should get back on track. Brentford 1-3 Liverpool.
