Brentford vs Liverpool – Match Preview and team news

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The Football Faithful

·17 janvier 2025

Brentford vs Liverpool – Match Preview and team news

Premier League leaders Liverpool travel to Brentford this afternoon as they look to return to winning ways.

In midweek, Arne Slot’s side were held at Nottingham Forest, with Diogo Jota equalising for the Reds.

Vidéos OneFootball

The Dutch manager has almost a full squad at his disposal with Joe Gomez the only definite absentee. However, Slot announced on Friday that Wednesday’s night goalscorer, Jota, may be unavailable too. The forward didn’t train on Thursday and will be assessed ahead of the weekend.

Meanwhile, Brentford showed tremendous character to rescue a point against Manchester City. The Bees scored two in the final ten minutes to draw 2-2 with the champions.

Ethan Pinnock and Kristoffer Ajer are still out alongside record signing Igor Thiago, who is ill. Youngster Jayden Meghoma also won’t be available as he has joined Preston on loan for the remainder of the campaign.

Brentford vs Liverpool – Match preview and team news

Form

Brentford: DLWLD

It is the second time this week that Brentford welcome one of the Premier League’s heavy-hitters to West London.

On Tuesday, Thomas Frank’s outfit avoided defeat to Manchester City with a late comeback.

A second-half brace from Phil Foden had put City in control and the Bees were on course for a fourth straight home defeat.

But Yoane Wissa netted before Christian Norgaard struck past Stefan Ortega in the second minute of additional time to level the scores.

It was a positive response from Brentford, who needed to bounce back after a disappointing FA Cup exit to Plymouth Argyle.

Liverpool: WDLWD

Liverpool’s lead at the top of the Premier League table was reduced to four points after their draw at Nottingham Forest.

Arne Slot’s side couldn’t find the winner after Diogo Jota had cancelled out Chris Wood’s first-half goal.

Arsenal’s 2-1 victory over Tottenham means the Gunners trail the Reds by four points, but Liverpool do have a game in hand.

For the first time this season, the league leaders’ fragilities have started to emerge. In the last fortnight, they were held at home to Manchester United and also lost to Spurs in the Carabao Cup.

Last Meeting: Liverpool 2-0 Brentford, Premier League, 25th August 2025

Liverpool’s first home game of the season saw them overcome Brentford back in August.

The first goal of the Arne Slot era at Anfield came from a devastating counterattack, arising from a Brentford corner.

Vitaly Janelt lost out on a tackle to Mohamed Salah, who sent Diogo Jota through. The Portuguese international found Luis Diaz who burst past Bryan Mbeumo before rifling a finish past Mark Flekken at the near post. The perfect way for the Colombian to mark a century of appearances for the club.

11.6 seconds ⏱️⚡️ Lucho rounded off a rapid counter last time out against Brentford 🇨🇴
– vendredi 17 janvier 2025

Thomas Frank’s side grew into the contest after falling behind but failed to trouble Alisson in the first period. After the break, Jota’s attempt at an acrobatic shot turned into a pass to Andy Robertson, but the Scotsman could only direct a header into Flekken’s midriff. Nathan Collins had the visitors’ best chance from a set-piece but his header was palmed away by Alisson.

Dominik Szoboszlai then almost scored directly from a corner which smashed the woodwork before Ibrahima Konate’s tame header.

Liverpool’s persistence was eventually rewarded as they doubled the lead with 20 minutes to play. Diaz found Salah who opened his body expertly to enable him to find the bottom corner at the Kop End.

Cody Gakpo’s deflected effort bounced off the crossbar late on as the Reds retained their perfect start to the campaign.

Predicted Line-ups

Brentford: Flekken; Roerslev, Collins, Van den Berg, Henry; Norgaard, Janelt, Yarmolyuk; Mbeumo, Wissa, Damsgaard

Liverpool: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Jones; Salah, Gakpo, Diaz.

Who is the referee?

Andy Madley will be the match official. He will be assisted by Nick Hopton and Craig Taylor while Farai Hallam will be the fourth official. The VAR will be Paul Tierney and he will be assisted by Dan Robathan.