Brentford 3–3 Liverpool: No Defence, Just Vibes (Instant Reaction and Player Ratings)
Liverpool’s garish yellow kit wasn’t the only eyesore on display in west London on Saturday night as their brittle defence was shattered by a belligerent Brentford side. The Reds (?) missed the chance to go three points clear at the top of the Premier League table with a disappointing 3–3 draw at Brentford Community Stadium.
It started explosively, and never settled. Brentford vs. Liverpool puts in an early claim to game of the season as an all-out attacking blitzkrieg from either side culminated with a thrilling truce, both sides walking away with a point for the table, and a point to prove.
Both sides saw shots cleared off the line within the opening exchanges, Mohamed Salah was denied for Liverpool by Kristoffer Ajer, and then minutes later Bryan Mbeumo for the Bees was denied in identical fashion by a scuttling Joël Matip.
Brentford took the lead, shockingly but by no means undeservedly, in the 27th minute. A short free-kick took Liverpool off-guard as Klopp’s men were tricked by what was no doubt a training ground manoeuvre. Canós slid a cross into the box, and inexplicably the ball managed to evade every single Liverpool defender in the box (5 in total). Defender Ethan Pinnock, who as commentator Darren Fletcher pointed out was playing National League football only four years ago, blasted home from within six yards — in the process outfoxing the sluggish Fabinho to slip in from behind the Brazilian to secure the crucial touch.
Brentford’s lead did not last long, however, as Diogo Jota restored parity just four minutes later. A rare offensive involvement from captain Jordan Henderson found the head of Diogo Jota, who finished brilliantly with his head past David Raya.
Liverpool should have gone 2–1 up earlier than they did when Curtis Jones turned well to beat his man but saw his shot clatter the inside of the post, followed by a neat Diogo Jota first time shot off the rebound which was well saved by the impressive Raya.
But Brentford’s resilience was short lived as Mohamed Salah fired Liverpool in front in the 54th minute, in the process scoring his 100th league goal for the club (despite the unwanted intervening hand of VAR attempting to make a nuisance of itself), finishing first time from a Fabinho cross with characteristic flair.
Watching the game as a Liverpool fan was immensely frustrating — it seemed that every time Brentford went forward they were going to score, and indeed aside from the aforementioned goal line clearance, every time they managed to get the ball into the box, they did score.
So it came as little surprise when Brenford found an equalizer in the 63rd minute. Another cross that was not dealt with by Liverpool’s defence, this time coupled with an unfortunate rebound off the back of Trent Alexander-Arnold, meant that the ball ended up at the feet of a Brentford attacker within the six yard box with only Alisson to beat. But Pontus Jansson failed to score, seeing his effort rattle off the crossbar. Brentford’s anguish was short-lived, however, as the rebound was finished by budding German talent Vitaly Janelt, who at 6 ft managed to climb over the 6 ft 4 in Virgil van Dijk to nod into an empty net. 2–2.
The game continued to be lively with chances at both ends. It seemed inevitable that more goals would come. And once again, Liverpool responded swiftly to conceding by scoring just four minutes later, this time Curtis Jones with a scorcher of a strike from outside the box past Raya, albeit with the aid of a fortunate deflection.
Jones’ strike was worthy of being the winner, but with major defensive frailties having revealed themselves over the course of the game, it remained an uphill battle to the final whistle trying to hold on to just a one-goal lead.
This could have been doubled when Mohamed Salah squandered a glorious chance to put the game to bed, blazing his effort one-on-one with the keeper agonisingly over the bar.
And Liverpool were made to pay the price of a pair precious points for their profligacy in the 82nd minute as yet another cross was not dealt with properly and the ball was bundled in at the far post by Yoane Wissa.
Roberto Firmino had the chance to grab a winner at the death, but Brentford did what Liverpool had failed to do all game and successfully defended the corner, with man of the match Raya getting a strong hand on the ball as well.
In objective neutrality, it was an exhilarating encounter and 3–3 was probably a fair result, but from a Liverpool standpoint it is a very disappointing result. The defence has now conceded 5 in 2 games, and concerns will surely be starting to mount regarding how they can adapt and overcome this newfound defensive challenge.
It was clear from the outset that Brentford had a clear plan of action. They had identified a concrete weakness in Liverpool’s play: that they cannot deal with long, aerial balls. Singled out for this weakness in particular was right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold. Trent and Joël Matip endured a torrid evening, being ripped to shreds by simple yet highly effective balls that sliced through the right hand side.
Forwards Ivan Toney and Bryan Mbeumo are worthy of commendation, they caused Liverpool’s defence all sorts of problems — through the air, but also with clever runs in behind the defence.
Fabinho failed to control the game as he usually does, providing security and unity in front of the back line. Brentford managed to control the centre of the park and win the crucial physical battles in midfield so that they were able to catch Liverpool’s defence off guard. They simply weren’t prepared for the sort of guerilla attack that Frank had prepared.
And Thomas Frank does deserve his share of credit, he is seemingly the first manager in five years who has managed to both correctly identify the weaknesses in Klopp’s style of play and manage to confect a game plan that effectively exploits them.
In the moment, it seemed highly frustrating that VAR did not even seem to take a look at a potential offside for Brentford’s third goal, or a penalty shout for Diogo Jota in the dying minutes. But this is probably a spur of the moment frustration from an exasperated fan rather than a justified outcry of indignation.
Player Ratings
Alisson Becker — 5. I don’t think he was necessarily to blame for any of the goals, but conceding three is always a disappointing day at the office for a goalkeeper and he’ll be frustrated at how the game played out.
Trent Alexander-Arnold — 6. As per usual, impressive going forward, but the main takeaway is that he has to work on his defensive game. He was exposed as a weak spot in the aerial game and was outplayed by Toney.
Joël Matip — 5. When is it going to be Konaté time? Matip is too old, too slow, not good enough any more. Was poor today.
Virgil van Dijk — 6. Had one vintage van Dijk moment in closing down Toney from behind, reminiscent of a similar play he had against Heung-min Son in the Champions League final, but otherwise wasn’t as imposing and dominant as he usually is.
Andy Robertson — 5. Both full-backs were poor today. A few rogue crosses and some poor first touches from the Scot underline his performance.
Fabinho — 5. Lost the physical battle to Onyeka and Norgaard in the middle of the park. Offered little going forward.
Curtis Jones — 6. Stunning and as it turns out crucial strike for Liverpool’s third. One of Liverpool’s better players on the day, with some nice touches and good forward-thinking play.
Jordan Henderson — 5. Henderson has really regressed over the last couple of seasons. He just doesn’t dictate the games like he used to. Having said that, it was a lovely ball he put in for Diogo Jota’s goal.
Mohamed Salah — 7. Perpetually Liverpool’s best player who simply cannot be blamed for not scoring at the end. Liverpool’s attacking threat runs through Salah, without him they would have lost this game.
Diogo Jota — 5. Exerted little influence over the regular proceedings of the game, but can’t be criticised too much as he scored a lovely header to open Liverpool’s account.
Sadio Mané — 6. It certainly wasn’t as bad a performance as last week, but Mané was still far from convincing this time around.
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Roberto Firmino — 5. Didn’t do much, to be honest. Had the ball pipped from his feet in the final chance of the game, which he couldn’t do anything about.
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