Brentford vs Liverpool summary: score, goals, highlights | Premier League 2022-23

Signing off...

Well, that was interesting, wasn't it!

Thank you for following the AS coverage with me (Joe) and I'll be back tomorrow with some more Premier League football - yes!

It's Arsenal vs Newcastle.

Oh, you think that's all?

​​​​​​​HA! We've also got Real Madrid's game against Cacereño, and you can find out all about them here.

By the way, the bad headline is mine. Gtech are a hoover company. 

The party is *still* going!

I told you they don't go home early at the Gtech! 

More bad news for Liverpool:

According to Opta, Liverpool have conceded FIFTY ONE big chances this season.

OK, Liverpool fans, here's a few stats for you.

Darwin Núñez's game by numbers against Brentford:

58% pass accuracy

30 touches

12 passes

9 touches in opp. box

3 shots

2 offsides

1 yellow card

1 shot on target

1 disallowed goal

1 Big Chance missed

0.8 Expected Goals

0 Actual Goals

(Stats from Squawka)

Another stat for the Bees...

xG Champions of the top 6, you'll never sing that

Raya for Spain?

If he keeps up these amazing performances with both his hands and feet, will he finally get more time with ​​​​​​​la selección?

An amazing statistic

And this counts over 2 season... with last year being their first EVER in the Premier League!

The party won't stop for a while at the Gtech.

The Brentford fans always stick around the stadium after a win for a party - today's is going to go on for a while!

6 games unbeaten for Thomas Frank...

Can they keep the run going?

They've got Bournemouth on 14 January.

The Premier League table:

And look at that! Brentford have crept right up behind Klopp's side and are just 2 points away!

What a result for Brentford!

A hugely impressive performance from top to bottom: without their best player, Brentford showed their quality and put Liverpool to the sword, and it could well have been more. 

Liverpool looked like making an extraordinary comeback in the second half but Brentford went from attacking dynamite to a defensive glacier, unable to be moved by anything Klopp's side threw at them. The introduction of Matip and Keita gave Liverpool some more guile on the ball but it was not enough to get past the mighty Norgaard, who was an impressive guardian in front of the defence all night long. 

AND THAT'S IT!

FT: Brentford 3-1 Liverpool!

Henry OFF

Sorensen ON

Into the last 30 seconds now...

Liverpool probe but nothing is quite working for them. Alexander Arnold has moved to the left to see if he can find any joy over there. 

HUGE CHANCE FOR BRENTFORD!

Lewis-Potter foes have a magic broom!

​​​​​​​He found himself behind the defence and played a lovely ball across goal but Alisson flew out and stopped it getting to a Brentford player.

Brentford have resulted to pumping the ball forward over the Liverpool defence and seeing what happens. They might as well.

Robertson saves what would have been a certain goal: Canos put the ball over the top for Lewis-Potter but the Scot was there to sweep up, showing the attacker his version of a magic broom. 

6 minutes added on.

Has anyone checked on Cody Gakpo?

Into the last minute of normal time...

Raya catches a high cross and falls to the floor like a dying swan.

He's not going to give the ball up in a hurry.

CHANCE!

Keita shoots from close range but it's blocked!

Janelt and Mbeumo OFF

Ghoddos and Canos ON

Robertson, who is wearing the armband, has called for a team meeting in the middle of the pitch...

He got on the end of a long ball after Keita was robbed; Konaté clearance was poor which allowed Mbeumo to take advantage and he duly slid the pass under Alisson!

​​​​​​​The Liverpool players surrounded the referee to claim Keita was fouled but he was having none of it...

Who needs Ivan Toney?

OxladeChamberlain OFF

Jones ON

Alisson makes a huge punch to keep the ball out of the danger zone. Alexander Arnold had spooned a clearance into the box in a crazy move.

Brentford, unsurprisingly, are in no mood anymore to play football. The Thomas Frank playbook is wide open and he's flicking through the pages.

CHANCE!

Konaté heads just wide from the corner! Salah was lurking at the far post!

Salah tries a shot from inside the box but it is blocked and put out for a corner. 

Ten minutes to go.

Alisson comes racing out the box to clear a pass after Konaté had problems keeping up with Mbeumo who was running in behind... 

Shots in the first half:

Brentford 9-8 Liverpool

Shots in the second half:

Brentford 0-5 Liverpool

Norgaard tries a sneaky through pass to Mbeumo through the defence but it's cut out by Fabinho.

A good chance is wasted after Alexander Arnold links up nicely inside the box; Salah had done well in the build up down the right side to drag defenders wide and create space for the right-back to push inwards, but Brentford defend. 

Dasilva and Lewis-Potter  ON

Jensen and Wissa OFF

Darwin is booked for being a Mr Chatterbox. 

Corner to Liverpool...

It ends in nothing after the referee saw a foul in the box.

BRENTFORD COME CLOSE!

Alexander Arnold decides to head a cross back to Alisson in a moment that had every Scouse heart in a place where it should be.

CHANCE! DARWIN!

He ran down the right channel all on his own but dragged a poor shot quite a large distance wide.

Alexander Arnold's cross is just too high for Darwin to get on the end of. If only he had evolved a longer neck, like a giraffe. 

Liverpool continue to pile forward but Brentford, for now, are holding on. They now have 11 clearances in total tonight. 

Brentford continue to bail water out of the boat that has an increasing number of holes in it...

Robertson to take, who is quite good...

Cleared.

Corner for Liverpool after good work again from Keita. 

Keita runs and runs into the box, bouncing a one-two off Fabinho in the process in a lovely move as smooth as silk.

Brentford lump the ball as far away as they can in the absolute opposite strategy of what the away side just tried. Route one.

The Gtech Stadium applauds as Brentford press Liverpool all the way back to Alisson. Top defensive work there to fend off the attacking play.

Keita's presence has given Thiago some more freedom to enjoy himself on the ball in more advanced areas, which is working nicely so far in Liverpool's build-up.

Thiago tries a daisy-cutter shot but it's blocked by the mass of Brentford players that have gathered on the edge of the box.

Liverpool continue to push Brentford back into their defensive third as they horseshoe the ball from side to side...

There is no word as of yet on whether Van Dijk's substitution was due to injury or not... 

Thiago was booked for the challenge. It wasn't a nice one, but he had to make it as the striker would have been away.

Wissa is fouled on halfway after Thiago jumped in to stop a counter.

Fabinho shoots towards Raya. Well saved. 

And it's close...

The ball is launched to the far post and then sent back across goal. Luckily for Liverpool - and Klopp's sanity - nobody in a Brentford shirt is there to get on the end of it.

Corner for Brentford... Maximum alert for Liverpool.

Salah's touch has magically returned, and he shows everyone by making Henry look like a tiny baby on the pitch. The winger skipped past him so easily. 

Brentford look rattled, just as Liverpool did in the first half.

The away side continue to attack, pushing the home side further back into their own half. 

GAME ON!

WHAT DID KLOPP SAY AT HALF TIME????

Alexander-Arnold's cross from the right was inch-perfect and the Ox jumped the highest to head past Raya!!

Darwin was about the width of a butterfly's eyelash offside, but he was indeed in the wrong position. 

Back underway. Let's see if Brentford can hold on or if Liverpool will keep up the good start to the second half.

OFFISDE!

2-0

The pass over the top from Thiago was beautiful and Darwin ran through before chipping over Raya.

VAR check for offside...

Well, Liverpool have certainly started brightly. Brentford have a job on their hands to keep them at bay...

Salah slices a volley high and wide!

CHANCE!

Thiago plays a long ball towards Robertson, who slides a low cross to Darwin. Cleared.

Here we go again!

Robertson, Keita and Matip ON

Elliott, Tsimikas and Van Dijk OFF

Some half-time stats:

​​​​​​​Possession BRE 25-75 LIV

Shots BRE 9-8 LIV

Shot on target BRE 6-4 LIV

More defensive woes for Liverpool

Shall I stop with the defensive problems tweets? No? OK. 

Look away, Liverpool fans!

Frank Lampard is a football genius - who knew?

And that's half time!

HT: Brentford 2 (I think) -0 Liverpool

​​​​​​​Two goals ruled out, was it? Or maybe 3 or 4 or even 5? It definitely felt like that when Brentford seemed to attack like rabid hyenas, laughing their socks off.

Liverpool have had to play under a cloud of pressure, which has meant that at time they have rushed decisions, leading to lost balls in midfield and in their defensive third. Brentford love it, they are constantly winning the ball high up and then causing chaos for Klopp's defence as they scramble back. 

Into the last minute of the half... The Reds continue to probe.

Brentford are defending excellently and know just what to do when they win the ball back.

Brentford fold back like a huge origami structure into their 5-3-2, blocking out Liverpool's attacking options. 

3 minutes added. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not for Liverpool. 

Salah loses the ball as Liverpool try to launch a counter attack.

Darwin's shot is saved by Raya... Liverpool's turn at creating chances is quickly stopped.

OK, so, if you've lost count, as I did for a second, it's 2-0 to Brentford and Liverpool look like 11 lost lambs dressed in Atomic Teal...

And they're on the attack again!

BRENTFORD ATTACK IMMEDIATELY!

A ball comes in from the right and Wissa heads a thunderbolt towards goal that is saved but the referee gives it as the ball went over the line!

OFFSIDE! 

WISSA HAS A SECOND GOAL RULED OUT!

VAR are checking an offside...

He was all on his own to take the ball down ON HIS CHEST and smack the ball into the far side!

WISSA!!!!

Tsimikas clears the ball with a header that goes out for a corner. Brentford won the ball back high up after another good high pressing sequence. 

Raya catches a ball that Oxlade-Chamberlain makes a mess of as he tries to control it with his mind. He definitely didn't try to with his feet.

Salah makes the exact same mistake as he just did a minute ago, losing another pass inside.

Mo Salah tries too hard and misplaces a simple pass, which pretty much sums up how things are going so far for the away side.

Klopp is not a happy bunny rabbit on the sideline. 

Oxlade-Chamberlain makes a great start to a lung-busting run before laying off a poor pass towards Darwin that dribbles out of play.

Corner for Liverpool...

cleared away.

Just looking at Wissa offside goal again, Alisson makes 3 great saves before the striker taps in. All of those chances, had any of them gone over the line, would have counted. So close...

Salah with a lovely spin inside the box and almost manages to fire off a shot, but Rico Henry steals it from him just in time...

Liverpool are pinging the ball about nicely and are arriving at the final third, but then the attacks seem to break down as the ball is pumped aimlessly into the box...

It came from a corner, the same right side as the first one, and everybody scrambled over the ball, but Wissa - who had the FOURTH attempt at goal in 4 seconds - was offside when the ball came to him.

NO!! OFFSIDE!!

CHANCE!

​​​​​​​A defensive mistake from Thiago ends with a Jensen shot over the bar. Liverpool again look rattled.

WHAT A SAVE FROM RAYA!!!!

​​​​​​​Darwin went for a spectacular overhead kick, missed the ball, and it fell to Oxlade-Chamberlain. The forward played an outrageous flick to his left to Tsimikas whose low shot was well saved by Raya.

Liverpool with a bit of rushed possession - they've been completely shocked by that goal - ends with non-goalscorer Ben Mee clearing. 

And we're back underway...

So, let me explain: Norgaard won the ball from Darwin and played to Wissa who slipped Mbeumo in behind Liverpool's defence on the halfway line. 

He ran all the way and his shot was saved for Alisson, who put it out for a corner.

The ball was sent in and it hit Konaté on the leg and bounced past the goalkeeper!

VAR are checking for a potential handball...

NO! It's an own goal from Konaté!

BEN MEE

FROM A CORNER​​​​​​​

SAVED BY ALISSON!

Mbeumo is one on one.... running through....

CHANCE!

Brentford recover the ball after a sloppy pass from Konaté to Trent Alexander Arnold. Henry whips a cross from the left towards Mbeumo but his header goes wide. 

Wissa's overhead kick is called offside! He made a great run behind Konaté and the defence didn't spot him as the ball was floated over the top.

That was close! 

Liverpool's pressure ends when Mbeumo drops to intercept Oxlade-Chamberlain's pass across the box. 

​​​​​​​A bit of back and forth football from the two teams over the last few minutes...

Janelt has a weak shot from the right saved by Alisson. 

Brentford are having a nice spell of possession now, and are working it well around the halfway line.

Liverpool's counter is stopped by Norgaard who took advantage of Oxlade-Chamberlain's poor touch on the edge of the box to tackle him.

Elliott is booked for a challenge on Henry. Mateu Lahoz, is that you?

Raya is taking the free kick from the halfway line, now that's exciting.

DARWIN SO CLOSE!!!!!

Salah plucked the ball out of the air like an angel's feather and floated a vertical pass through the defence for Darwin to collect. 

​​​​​​​He takes it, runs left past Raya but his shot is blocked off the line!

Konaté lets the ball bounce and almost gets caught out by Wissa, but he heads away the potential danger from the throw.

Liverpool launch a quick counter after a long throw from Brentford is cleared by Darwin, who gets on everything. Brentford stomp it out well.

Oooohh, the defender was JUST offside after the ball was lofted back in from the clearance, but only by a few inches. What a fantastic save that was. 

WHAT A SAVE FROM RAYA!!!

VAN DIJK'S SHOT IS SAVED FROM 6 YARDS OUT!

The free kick is swung towards Darwin but he heads over. Something something he shoots a lot...

Corner.

Oh, Pinnock's been booked for it. Harsh.

A bit of pinball ends with van Dijk hoofing the ball forward and Darwin gets caught by Pinnock.

Brentford immediately press high with Mbeumo and Wissa up front. 

And we're off!

Liverpool kick us off right to left. They've actually got white socks, so it's not all Atomic Teal. 

The teams are out on the pitch and the Premier League anthem is ringing around the ground. Nope, I don't see the point of it either. 

Liverpool are in all green - sorry, Dark Atomic Teal, as Nike like to say - and Brentford, of course, are in their home kit. 

But first, a moments applause for all the people we lost in 2022. 

Ivan Toney's just taken his seat in the stands, all nicely wrapped up in a hat and a big coat, like a responsible young man. 

Remember the score the last time they met here?

Yes, it was 3-3. Hopefully we get the same levels of crazy tonight!

The players are in the tunnel and the light show has begun at the Gtech, World Cup style, which means we're almost ready to get going.

This is your ten minute warning!

Go grab your popcorn or snack of choice now as the countdown has entered the final 10 minutes!

Gakpo? Gak-no.

So, it seems CodyGakpowasn'tregisteredintime to make the squad against Brentford tonight. He's not injured so that is the most logical explanation. NoJordanHendersonint​​​​​​​hesquad for Klopp either, which is why Elliott has made the starting XI. 

Spanish wonderboy Bajceticis on the bench, so let's see if he can continue his good form. 

Who is the referee for the game?

The match referee will be Stuart Atwell.

His assistant referees will be Darren Cann and Harry Lennard, while the fourth official will be Simon Hooper. The man behind the VAR screen will be Darren England.

And as for Brentford...

Nobody outside the top 7 or 8 teams in the league are well and truly safe until the maths makes relegation impossible, so the fight to survive is still on for the Bees, despite sitting pretty in 10th. 

A win would see them catapult themselves above Chelsea and Brighton (albeit temporarily); a loss would have Villa and Palace licking their lips at the sight of a potential wobble down the table.

Here's where Liverpool sit in the league

Three points tonight would see Liverpool edge away from Fulham and Chelsea and overtake Spurs in the process, who lost 0-2 against Aston Villa. 

PREMIER LEAGUE

Van Dijk targets Liverpool success after World Cup disappointment

Here's what Virgil van Dijk had to say on Liverpool's title hopes for the season.

"We are quite some points behind Arsenal, but the season could be a very crazy one​​​​​​​"

​​​​​​​Check out the full quote by clicking the picture above.

The players have arrived at the stadium

Not long to go until kick-off - just over half an hour - and Klopp's strong side will be looking to put a dent in Brentford's fight to stay in the top half of the table. 

Here's the Brentford lineup!

Toney misses out; Mbuemo and Wissa start in his place. 

The man who scored the second goal against West Ham, Josh Dasilva, is on the bench.

Liverpool starting XI:

Here's how Jürgen Klopp has set his team up tonight:

Elliott makes a return to the midfield while Salah starts up front with Darwin.

And the answer was...

Daniel Sturridge! Did you get it?

The striker scored 50 goals in 116 games for Liverpool between 2013 and 2019.

Pub Quiz time!

While we wait for the team news, here's a quick quiz question:

Which striker did Liverpool sign on this day (3 January) in 2013?

(Hint: he also played for Chelsea and Trabzonspor)

5 minutes until the answer. 

A lovely evening in West London

I know it's now called the Gtech Community Stadium, which is potentially a worse name than the Spotify Camp Nou, but it does look lovely. 

Watch out for Darwin today...

He has evolved (sorry) into a very chaotic player for Liverpool, taking on a lot of shots and being a general Dennis the Menace for every defender he comes up against. 

Some statistics about the fixture

Liverpool are aiming for their third successive away league win for the first time since May 2022 and it would be a fifth league win in a row for the first time since April 2022 (when they won 10 consecutive games).

Brentford are winless in their last nine meetings against The Reds in all competitions (D2 L7) since a 2-1 home win in November *checks notes*... 1938.

Ouch!

Liverpool have scored at least three goals in each of their last five meetings with Brentford in all competitions but Brentford have scored at least 2 goals in their last 4 matches in the Premier League. Tasty.

REAL MADRID

Real Madrid target Bellingham set for Borussia Dortmund future talks

Talking of transfer targets, Liverpool had their sights set on Borussia Dortmund midfielder, Jude Bellingham, although it now look as though Real Madrid have got there first...

Liverpool's recent form:

This was how Liverpool's last away result played out, against Aston Villa. 

Young Spaniard Stefan Bajcetic scored in a 1-3 win against Unai Emery's side. Check out everything you need to know about the midfielder. 

Who do we have here?

Yes! It's Cody Gakpo wearing red! But not Manchester United red, you'll notice, as theforward snubbed Eric ten Hag's side to join Liverpool.

The player arrived from PSV after leading both the goalscoring and assist charts and could be in line to make his debut tonight! We shall see!

Liverpool: team news and recap

I'm sorry, Faes, I'm starting with you. The Leicester City centre-back gave away 2 of the strangest own goals ever - he even won an award for them - against Liverpool at Anfield on 30 December to give the home side the win.

The gap to the top four of stands at four points for Liverpool following Manchester United's win over Wolverhampton Wanderers and The Reds will need to change their 4 match winning streak into 5 if they want to close it.

As for injuries, Elliott and Robertson both left the field early with slight knocks although they may be fit to play. 

Arthur, Jota, Diaz and Jones will all miss out; Milner and Firmino are also slight doubts.

Brentford: team news and recap

The 0-2 away win at West Ham was a spectacular result, but Brentford fans will be imagining if they prefer the 3 points or Ivan Toney's injury not to be a fact of life. The striker was taken off on a stretcher in the last minute after sustaining an injury, replaced by Pontus Jansson.

However, Bees boss Thomas Frank has said that the forward potentiallycould be available for the game tonight.  

Ajer, Bapti​​​​​​​ste and Hickey are out with short-term injuries.

Brentford have managed to put together a four-game Premier League unbeaten run at home, beating Brighton & Hove Albion but sharing the points in their last three matches against Spurs, Wolves and Chelsea.

They currently sit 10th, just 2 points off Chelsea in 7th.

Welcome!

Hello hello! 

Welcome to the live coverage of Brentford vs Liverpool at the Gtech Community Stadium! 

It's Joe here today and I'm going to talk you through all the laughter and tears of today's game.