Gtech Community Stadium, London—Liverpool were condemned to a fourth straight Premier League defeat, tumbling to a 3–2 loss away to Brentford on Saturday night.
The high of Wednesday’s Champions League victory over Eintracht Frankfurt seemed a long time ago as Arne Slot was treated to chants of “You’re getting sacked in the morning,” as Brentford led 3–1 in the second half. Dango Ouattara and Kevin Schade had given the hosts a 2–0 advantage at either end of the opening 45 minutes before Milos Kerkez pulled one back for Liverpool.
Igor Thiago restored Brentford’s two-goal cushion with a penalty an hour in as the Bees deservedly stamped their authority over the out-of-sorts champions. Mohamed Salah’s 89th-minute strike created a nervy conclusion, but the west London outfit held on to claim three famous points.
This is the first time Liverpool have endured a four-game losing streak within the opening nine league games of a season since 1993–94. The Reds slumped to an eighth-place finish that year and currently find themselves sixth, four points adrift of an Arsenal side which is in action tomorrow.
Liverpool Player Ratings vs. Brentford (4-2-3-1)
GK: Giorgi Mamardashvili—5.9: Never entirely convincing with the ball at his feet but made two excellent fingertip saves to deny Mikkel Damsgaard.
RB: Conor Bradley—6.1: Got forward only intermittently and was no match for Schade’s pace in the defensive third—though very few are.
CB: Ibrahima Konaté—6.8: The more settled of Liverpool’s two centre backs, even if that isn’t a ringing endorsement.
CB: Virgil van Dijk—7.3: The formerly unflappable centre back now seems to be perennially teetering around a shaky moment. Buffeted around the pitch by Thiago who also managed to out-sprint Liverpool’s disheveled skipper.
LB: Milos Kerkez—7.3: Booked barely half an hour into Saturday’s contest, the goalscorer demonstrated far more composure in Brentford’s box than his own.
CM: Dominik Szoboszlai—8.5: Loose with some of his passing in a deeper role which offered little room for stray passes. Szoboszlai at least showed more fight than the rest of his wilting teammates.
CM: Curtis Jones—7.2: Damningly, his former teammate Jordan Henderson had more joy in midfield on the night. Liverpool missed Ryan Gravenberch even more than their former captain.
AM: Florian Wirtz—6.9: Flitting around the final third with some purpose, Wirtz was given licence to roam across the width of the pitch to double up with Liverpool’s wingers.
RW: Mohamed Salah—7.2: Shackled by the towering Kristoffer Ajer for so much of the contest, Salah took advantage of a rare, late sight of goal.
ST: Hugo Ekitiké—6.1: Scarcely afforded a thimble of space between the mass of towering red and white stripes which spontaneously formed around him in the box.
LW: Cody Gakpo—6.4: The closest Gakpo came to offering any threat was concluded by his own failed attempt to win a penalty which never was.
Subs not used: Freddie Woodman (GK), Trey Nyoni, Wataru Endō, Kieran Morrison.
Brentford (4-2-3-1)
Starting XI: Caoimhín Kelleher; Michael Kayode, Nathan Collins, Sepp van den Berg, Kristoffer Ajer; Jordan Henderson, Yehor Yarmoliuk; Dango Ouattara, Mikkel Damsgaard, Kevin Schade; Igor Thiago.
Subs used: Vitaly Janelt, Keane Lewis-Potter, Mathias Jensen, Rico Henry, Frank Onyeka
Player of the Match: Dominik Szoboszlai (Liverpool)
Brentford 3–2 Liverpool—How It Unfolded at the Gtech
Rightly or not, Slot has been presented as a one-man crusade against the direct play proliferating this season’s Premier League. Yet, if Manchester United’s long-ball approach caught the Dutch boss by surprise, he and his players could have no excuse for underestimating Brentford’s proclivity for direct play.
Michael Kayode’s status as Brentford’s human trebuchet is scarcely a secret either. The Bees fullback had already demonstrated the staggering distance he can achieve with a long throw moments before hurling another fizzing delivering into Liverpool’s area in the fifth minute. Kristoffer Ajer beat Hugo Ekitiké to the flick on and Ouattara was on hand to swipe the hosts in front.
Liverpool are no strangers to falling behind—this was the sixth game on the spin in which the reigning champions had shipped the opening goal—and they duly regained their composure. Florian Wirtz skewed wide from the edge of the box while Salah dribbled into Caoimhín Kelleher during a flurry of pressure which soon fizzled out.
Brentford instinctively huddled into a low block in the immediate aftermath of their opener before gradually creeping further forward, Liverpool’s sheen of invincibility wiped away by four straight defeats over the last month. As the night set in and uninvited breeze rattled around the Gtech, the hosts smelled blood.
One stray flick from Ekitiké deep inside Brentford’s half landed at the grateful feet of Thiago. The burly Brazilian hurriedly shovelled the ball to Mikkel Damsgaard who had time to assess his options. He chose correctly, slicing through the visitors with a devastating pass that set Schade clean through for Brentford’s second of the evening on the cusp of half time.
Milos Kerkez halved the deficit for Liverpool with the last action of an eventful first half. It may have been the widely criticised left back who got a cathartic goal, but it was created on the opposite flank with a move straight out of the Jürgen Klopp playbook.
The swift interchange of positions between Wirtz and Salah dragged Brentford’s Ajer infield, opening up room for Conor Bradley to measure a low cross into the box. Ekitiké’s slight flick at the near post wrong-footed Kayode, diverting the ball into the stride of Kerkez.
The half-time interval may have been met with a chorus of raucous boos from a home crowd furious that the three scheduled minutes of stoppage time had elapsed long before Kerkez’s goal, but it halted Liverpool’s momentum.
Brentford emerged for the second half just as they began the first: on top. Liverpool had not had a second-half shot or touch in the opposition box by the time a VAR check brought a pause to proceedings shortly before the hour mark. Ouattara had lured Virgil van Dijk into a late lunge which, upon review, was deemed to be inside the penalty box. Thiago coolly converted the resulting spot kick.
Slot swiftly made a triple substitution before injury also forced Curtis Jones off. The visitors steamed head-first into the final 20 minutes with an unambiguous 4-1-5, leaving an openly bemused Alexis Mac Allister to marshal the central third of the pitch on his own. His pleading glance at Liverpool’s bench didn’t help.
The weight of attacking numbers eventually told for Liverpool—although Salah’s crisp strike owed plenty to the complacency of Ajer, who was caught dozing by a furious Dominik Szoboszlai. The Hungarian all-rounder snaffled up a loose pass and squared for Salah to thump his first open-play league goal since August off the underside of the crossbar.
Brentford vs. Liverpool Half-Time Stats
Brentford vs. Liverpool Full Time Stats
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Liverpool Player Ratings vs. Brentford: Slot Taunted in 22-Year Nadir.