Liverpool suffered a defeat for the fifth time this Premier League season on Monday evening. In a crazy duel visiting Brentford, in which no fewer than three goals were disallowed for offside, the Reds down hard: 3-1. Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo were accurate, while Ibrahima Konaté scored an own goal. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain returned for Liverpool shortly after the break. Virgil van Dijk was replaced by Jürgen Klopp after an uncertain first half. The away team remains in sixth place due to the defeat, while Brentford climbs up to seventh.
Klopp changed his team in three places compared to last Friday’s home game against Leicester City (2-1). Konaté and Fabinho replaced Joel Matip and Jordan Henderson respectively, while Kostas Tsimikas took over from Andrew Robertson in West London. The latter was not completely fit from the duel with Leicester and therefore started on the bench. Brand new acquisition Cody Gakpo was not yet in the match selection of Liverpool. The work permit of the former PSV member has not yet been completed.
The pressure was already on for Liverpool prior to the game. The Reds had to win in order not to let the deficit on Manchester United grow to four points and to take advantage of Tottenham Hotspur’s defeat last Sunday. Klopp’s team therefore shot out of the starting blocks at the Gtech Community Stadium and was close to the opening goal twice in the first ten minutes. For example, Van Dijk hit the crossbar after a nice volley via Brentford goalkeeper David Raya, while Darwin Núñez killed the biggest opportunity. The Uruguayan outplayed the goalkeeper after a good through ball from Mohamed Salah, but saw his effort taken off the line by Ben Mee.
More than ten minutes later it was Brentford who opened the score. A corner kick from Brentford striker Mbeumo landed on Konaté’s knee, after which the ball rolled into the Liverpool goal behind Alisson: 1-0. Less than five minutes later, Tsmikas seemed to have the equalizer on his shoe, but the Greek defender saw his shot bounce on Raya’s foot. Twenty minutes before the break, Brentford seemed to double the score, but referee Stuart Attwell put a stop to that. A corner kick got messed up at Wissa’s feet, who then shot in. However, the striker was in an offside position, so that goal did not go through.
Five minutes before the break, Wissa again passed Alisson from a corner. The Congolese took a corner kick from Mbeumo on his chest and hit the target. However, the ball was lightly touched along the way by Mee’s thigh, who was in an offside position. As a result, a goal from Wissa was canceled for the second time, keeping Liverpool alive. That did not last very long, as the same Wissa did appear on the scoreboard less than two minutes later. Brentford took advantage of Liverpool’s sloppy ball loss and came out very quickly on the counter. Mathias Jensen served Wissa with a fine cross, after which the latter headed on goal. Alisson initially seemed to stop the ball in front of the line, but goal-line technology made it clear that the ball had already crossed the line: 2-0. Three times is a charm, as it turned out again for Wissa on Monday evening. Van Dijk then stayed behind in the dressing room. At first glance, the captain of the Dutch did not seem to be suffering from an injury and was therefore sacrificed by Klopp.
Shortly after the break, Núñez seemed to make the connection goal, but that goal was also rejected due to offside. In the fiftieth minute of the game it was Oxlade-Chamberlain who did score for Liverpool. Trent Alexander-Arnold gave a great cross from the left to the ex-Arsenal player, who only had to put his head against the ball to score: 2-1. Five minutes from time, Mbeumo ended all Liverpool’s hopes after a big mistake by Konaté. The French defender was easily put away by the attacker, after which Mbeumo could easily shoot past Alisson: 3-1.