Brentford’s 100th game in the Premier League possessed all of the raw ingredients to be a truly special occasion.
Yoane Wissa and Frank Onyeka’s return from reaching the latter stages of the Africa Cup of Nations with DR Congo and Nigeria meant Thomas Frank could pick from the strongest squad at his disposal for months.
Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dominik Szoboszlai were unavailable for Liverpool, first-choice goalkeeper Alisson picked up a hamstring injury in training on Friday while Mohamed Salah was only fit enough for the bench.
Liverpool had never beaten Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium and Jurgen Klopp told TNT Sports before the game “they are set up to annoy all other football teams and that’s what they will do today again”.
Frank’s side earned 21 points against members of the ‘Big Six’ last season, which was the joint-best record along with the champions Manchester City, but they have struggled to replicate that success during this campaign. They had only taken four points from seven games before Saturday’s encounter with Liverpool, which presented them with a great opportunity to change that.
By the start of the second half, Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota and Curtis Jones had all been substituted with injuries. The quality of the rest of Liverpool’s squad still exceeds Brentford’s, but they were missing enough key players to be thrown off-balance and look vulnerable. In the opening half an hour, Christian Norgaard, Ivan Toney and Vitaly Janelt all wasted good goalscoring opportunities.
Mathias Jensen reacts to Liverpool’s second goal (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Nunez’s chip in the 35th minute proved to be the turning point and Brentford went on to lose 4-1 — their joint-heaviest defeat at home in the last three years.
Frank’s side only kept their first clean sheet since October, and only their fourth this season, when they beat Wolverhampton Wanderers on February 10.
“We know, when we are on it, we are one of the good defensive sides in the league, and we have lacked that level of consistency or urgency or whatever in too many games,” Frank said afterwards. “It feels like it’s been three years since we had a clean sheet.
“I’m happy with the way we defended as a team: our principles, but also the 50-50 duels, closing down one-on-one situations, running hard to get under the ball, and good blocks. I was so pleased with that side of the game.”
Following the defeat to Liverpool, Frank said that Brentford had taken a “step backwards”.
Liverpool are at the top of the league for a reason. They are one of the most dangerous counter-attacking teams in the world and one chance is enough for them to punish you. Frank will be frustrated with the way Brentford offered Liverpool those opportunities to capitalise, however.
Sergio Reguilon should have challenged Jota aerially in the build-up to Nunez’s goal while poor communication between Ben Mee and Nathan Collins is to blame for Liverpool’s third, scored by Salah. Collins completely missed the ball when he tried to clear it just before Cody Gakpo scored the fourth, too.
Brentford have one of the best records from offensive set pieces in the top flight and this is partially because they are so aggressive with the number of players they push forward. This can leave them susceptible to counter-attacks, which happened multiple times against Liverpool but, somehow, only directly led to one goal. It was emblematic of how erratic they looked.
Brentford have not chained together two positive results since they beat Chelsea at the end of October and followed it up with a 3-2 victory over West Ham United a week later.
They have already lost more games (13) than last season (nine). Frank’s team have conceded 43 goals with 14 fixtures remaining, nearly as many as they did in the whole of last season (46). Brentford have conceded at least twice in eight of their last 10 fixtures and have also lost four of their last five matches at home. They are lacking the defensive solidity they displayed in their first two seasons at this level without any major improvement in attack to compensate for it.
Ivan Toney scored Brentford’s consolation goal (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Injuries have been a significant factor. Ethan Pinnock suffered a heavy blow to his ankle in the final few minutes of Brentford’s victory over Wolves and will be unavailable until after the March international break. The 30-year-old centre-back will miss crucial fixtures against Manchester City, Chelsea, West Ham United, Burnley and Arsenal.
Aaron Hickey picked up a hamstring injury in training in October and has not been spotted on the pitch since. The club said this week that the Scotland international experienced a setback and it is unclear if he will feature again this season.
Rico Henry tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in September and it is unlikely he will return before the summer. Kristoffer Ajer started for the first time since November against Liverpool in a slightly unfamiliar role as the deepest centre-back in a 3-5-2, and there were a couple of moments where you could see he was rusty.
“I don’t think we have played one game this season with our strongest line-up,” Frank said. “No complaints. Some seasons you’re more unlucky with situations and that’s part of football. If you can’t handle that, you shouldn’t go into the industry because you can’t control it.”
In normal circumstances, losing to Liverpool would not provoke such a strong sense of disappointment. Brentford are only six points above the relegation zone, though, and seven of their next eight fixtures are against teams above them in the table.
They have conceded 10 times against Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur in the last couple of weeks — one goal fewer than they managed in total when they faced members of the ‘Big Six’ last season.
Toney’s comeback has provided Brentford with a spark up front but if they want to enjoy the rest of the season without the threat of relegation, improvements at the back are required.
(Top photo: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
