Five talking points from Liverpool’s disappointing 3-2 loss at Brentford  | OneFootball

Things have been going from bad to worse for Liverpool. 

The Reds slumped to their fourth successive Premier League defeat on Saturday, with Brentford piling misery on the defending champions. 

Below we discuss the main talking points from Liverpool’s 3-2 loss at the Gtech Community Stadium.  

Title defence already in tatters

The Merseyside club’s title defence already appears in tatters after the damaging 3-2 defeat at Brentford. 

Arne Slot’s men bounced back from the 2-1 loss at their hands of their bitter rivals Manchester United by thrashing Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1 in Wednesday’s Champions League fixture. 

But they failed to build on that result, producing a poor display to end up losing against the Bees. 

The defeat leaves them sixth in the Premier League table, with four points behind Arsenal ahead of the Gunners’ home clash with Crystal Palace on Sunday. 

Salah is struggling

Mohamed Salah is a generational talent who has been a consistent performer for the Merseyside titans over the years. 

But the Egyptian is clearly struggling to make an impact for his team this season. 

Slot brought Salah back in the team for Saturday’s fixture after dropping him for the European game against Frankfurt. 

The 33-year-old managed to score a late goal, but he looked sluggish and often his touch let him down. 

He lost possession of the ball on 19 occasions and won just one of his eight ground duels. 

Starting slowly

Starting games on the backfoot has become an alarming trend for Liverpool this campaign. 

Slot’s men conceded within the first five minutes yesterday at the Gtech Community Stadium, with Dango Ouatarra turning home Kristoffer Ajer’s flick-on. 

Shockingly, this was the fourth top-flight match in a row the Reds have shipped in a goal in the opening 15 minutes. 

Bringing some defensive stability will be key for Liverpool to turn around their season. 

Szoboszlai deserves credit

Saturday’s defeat was a collective failure, with Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Giorgi Mamardashvili and Milos Kerkez all underwhelming. 

But Dominik Szoboszlai’s display was a positive for the Reds’ supporters. 

The Hungarian never stopped running and contributed 10 ball recoveries, four clearances and three tackles. 

Szoboszlai won 100 per cent of his aerial duels and completed 87 per cent of his passes. 

Playing in different roles under Slot, he has started all nine top-flight games for his team this season, with a goal and an assist to his name. 

Fresh injury concern

Liverpool were handed a fresh injury concern after Curtis Jones was forced off midway through the second-half against Brentford. 

Slot was forced to bring on Rio Ngumoha, who is primarily a left-winger. 

Jones’ fitness concern means his participation in the Reds’ next two fixtures against Crystal Palace and Aston Villa is doubtful. 

This comes at a time when Slot is already dealing with injury issues to Jeremie Frimpong, Giovanni Leoni, Alisson Becker and Ryan Gravenberch. 

Stats from Sofascore