The twelfth matchday of the 2023/24 Premier League campaign sees Brentford, who have moved into the top half of the table, head to Anfield for a tough test against Liverpool.
Jürgen Klopp’s Reds have been balancing domestic and UEFA Europa League duties very well so far this season but heading into the winter months will be where the test of depth and quality really bites.
Brentford, with their smarts and general intensity, are more than capable of hurting their opponents, even away from home.
Pre-match analysis
Alex Lawes, Playmaker Stats: Flekken and Brentford must be wary of a Reds frontline willing to shoot from range
Last season, Liverpool edged past Brentford by a goal to nil at Anfield in early May as they kept up their eventual failed pursuit of a top-four spot and UEFA Champions League qualification.
In the reverse fixture, Brentford, as they do against so many of the so-called ‘big six’, caused Liverpool plenty of strife and won by three goals to one.
A contrast between the two teams is how specific and precise they opt to be in attack. For example, Liverpool have had the most shots (18.2 per game) of any team in the Premier League. However, 6.9 of those have been from outside of the box, which is the most of any team shooting from outside the box.
Brentford, in comparison, have 2.3 shots per game inside the six-yard box with only Everton having more – this is 0.9 more than the Reds.
The precision of a specific tactic or gameplan goes beyond where a team is shooting or maximising their scoring opportunity, though, with the number of long balls also an indication. Liverpool, with 584 long balls so far this season, are fifth in the league. They are ninth for most accurate long balls, however. Brentford, on the other hand, have a more specific and precise set-up being fourth for most accurate long balls, despite being twelfth for long balls in general.
This indicates a general flow of the match which is likely to see Liverpool try and ‘rock and roll’ their way through the visitors’ defence. A bombardment of shots and general triggers and movements, up against a more studied and careful opponent.
That ‘rock and roll’ sort of gameplan can also be seen by how often they hit teams in transition, catching a side off guard with their intensity. Liverpool lead the way in the Premier League for most goals on the counter-attack with four. That will be something difficult to do against a smarter and more studied and pragmatic side coached by Thomas Frank.
Brentford will head to Anfield like they do to any major or ‘big club’ with a thorough and well thought out gameplan aimed at stifling their opposition, which if successful could prove very useful in a game against a team perhaps lacking precision by design.
Scout Report
Liverpool looking to maintain unblemished home record
The 2022/23 season will not go down as one of the best in Liverpool’s history.
It came as something of a surprise, in truth. Just one season before, Jürgen Klopp’s side had challenged for an unprecedented quadruple - and come extremely close to achieving it. They had won the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup, lost out to Manchester City by just a point in the Premier League and been beaten 1-0 by Real Madrid in the Champions League final.
However, they followed it up by disappointingly bowing out at the fourth round in both domestic cup competitions, suffering a last-16 exit in Europe and, after finishing outside of the top four for the first time since 2015/16, failing to qualify for the Champions League.
“We will remind ourselves we will do better – we have to do better,” said Klopp after the 4-4 draw with Southampton on the final day.
In order to do better, the Reds’ midfield needed a revamp after something of an exodus. Fabinho and Jordan Henderson joined the Saudi Pro League revolution, with James Milner joining Brighton, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain heading to Turkey with Besiktas and Naby Keita returning to Germany with Werder Bremen.
By the start of September, Liverpool had spent almost £150 million on Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch.
The first two of those four have been ever-present in league games this season, as Liverpool have put last season very much behind them.
Liverpool drew their curtain-raiser 1-1 with Chelsea, but won each of the next five and climbed up to second in the table as a result.
They suffered their first – and only – defeat thus far against Tottenham Hotspur on 30 September, which will be not be remembered fondly after a bizarre VAR review incorrectly ruled out Luis Diaz’s first-half strike.
Since then, Klopp’s men have won two and drawn two, keeping themselves firmly in what looks to be a relatively open title fight at this stage of the season.
Meanwhile, it seems to be a case of rinsing and repeating this line: Mohamed Salah has been integral to Liverpool so far this term. The Egyptian’s 10 goals and four assists in 15 games in all competitions have even led some to ask whether the 31-year-old – who was reportedly the subject of Saudi interest in the summer – is even better now than he has ever been before. Four more league goals will see him replace Michael Owen as the Premier League’s 10th highest scorer of all time.
Aside from league form and personal successes, the Reds have progressed excellently in cup competitions so far, too. In seeing off Leicester City and Bournemouth, they have reached the Carabao Cup quarter-finals, where they will face West Ham United, while they lead their Europa League group with nine points from nine and qualification almost wrapped up.
Liverpool are back – there’s no doubt about that – and with eight wins from eight games on home turf, they are reinforcing the Anfield fortress that even the meanest of opponents will be fearful of.
In the Dugout
Jürgen Klopp
Jürgen Klopp was an amateur footballer in his youth and, after studying at university and playing for Eintracht Frankfurt’s reserve team, it was after his 23rd birthday that his playing career began when 2 Bundesliga side Mainz 05 signed him.
He spent 11 seasons as a player at the Bruchwegstadion; his 340 appearances put him third on the club’s all-time list.
Klopp retired at 33 in February 2001 when he was installed as Eckhard Krautzun’s successor at Mainz.
Just over two years later, he guided the club to promotion to the Bundesliga, where they spent three seasons before being relegated back to the second tier. When Klopp could only guide the club to fourth in 2007/08, he resigned.
His reputation had blossomed during his time with Die Nullffunfer and, before long, he had been appointed by Borussia Dortmund.
It took a little bit of time for his plans to take effect, but the club became a real powerhouse under his direction. Between the 2010/11 and 2014/15 seasons, they won the Bundesliga twice, finished as runners-up twice, won the DFB Pokal twice, the German Super Cup twice and reached the 2012/13 Champions League final.
The conclusion of the 2014/15 season saw Klopp depart after seven years and he had a rare breather before taking over from Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool in the October.
At Anfield, he has won the lot: the FA Cup, the Carabao Cup, the Community Shield, the UEFA Super Cup, the Club World Cup, the Champions League and, of course, that elusive first Premier League title in 2019/20.
He has written himself into Liverpool folklore a hundred times over and is closing in on becoming only the fourth man in the club’s history to manage 500 games.
Having passed eight years in the job last month, he is the current longest-serving manager in the top flight and the third longest-serving across the top four divisions of English football.
The Gameplan
With The Athletic’s Andy Jones
Andy Jones, Liverpool correspondent for The Athletic, explains how Jürgen Klopp is likely to set up his side on Sunday:
“Alexis Mac Allister is suspended after picking up his fifth booking against Luton, so it will be interesting to see who plays in that no.6 role.
“[Klopp] may want to use Wataru Endo, who has been playing in the cup games and the Europa League, or push someone like Curtis Jones a bit higher, but I would suspect it will probably be Endo who comes in.
“The back four picks itself, bar left-back, so that will be Alisson, [Trent] Alexander-Arnold, probably Ibrahima Konaté (though he has used Joel Matip at times) and Virgil van Dijk.
“It will then be Kostas Tsimikas or Joe Gomez at left-back, with Andy Robertson out. There is not a clear, definite pick in that position.
“The front five are all fit and firing, so it will be interesting to see which three Klopp goes with.
“He has been able to rotate and keep opposition managers guessing, which has not always been the case with Liverpool teams. The style, structure and shape, though, will be the same as it has been all season.”
Read the full interview with Andy Jones here.
Team News
Flekken in contention for Liverpool clash
Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken is expected to be fit for the Bees’ Premier League game against Liverpool on Sunday.
Flekken was withdrawn at half-time during Brentford’s 3-2 victory over West Ham United last weekend, but head coach Thomas Frank confirmed the Netherlands international has been involved in full training this week.
Josh Dasilva (hamstring), Keane Lewis-Potter (calf) and Mikkel Damsgaard (knee) have also been training with the squad at Jersey Road as they close in on a return to competitive action.
Shandon Baptiste and Myles Peart-Harris – who both featured in Brentford B’s 3-2 victory over Strasbourg Under-21s last month – are close to being available, while Kevin Schade (adductor) is ‘on track’ but will remain sidelined until the new year.
Match Officials
Paul Tierney
Paul Tierney first officiated in the Premier League in August 2014.
He has refereed eight games this season, showing 37 yellow cards and three reds.
Tierney took charge of 34 games last term, including the FA Cup final between Manchester City and Manchester United in June 2023.
His last Brentford assignment came in October this year: the Bees’ 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.
Last Meeting
Liverpool 1 Brentford 0 (Premier League, 6 May 2023)
Mohamed Salah netted for the ninth Liverpool game in succession to hand Brentford a first defeat in four Premier League games.
The home side started strongly and were rewarded when Salah bundled home from close range after 13 minutes.
After weathering Liverpool’s early storm, Brentford improved and thought they would go in level only for the offside flag to deny Bryan Mbeumo a fine individual effort.
The second half was an even affair. Rico Henry fired the Bees’ best chance wide from 10 yards before Cody Gakpo somehow deflected Diogo Jota’s cross off target from under the shadow of the crossbar.
Despite pressing for a leveller late on, Thomas Frank’s side could find no way through as the hosts wrapped up a sixth-straight Premier League win.