Liverpool vs Brentford LIVE: Premier League result and final score as Mohamed Salah double helps Reds go top

It’s a damp and blustery day in Liverpool as kick-off nears. Could the conditions play a part in today’s outcome? Only time will tell.

Just over five minutes until we’re underway now...

A few pre-match stats as Brentford go in search of an unlikely away win at Anfield:

• Liverpool have won their last seven home games against Brentford in all competitions, scoring 16 and conceding one, since a 4-3 loss in the top-flight in November 1937.

• Brentford haven’t kept a clean sheet in any of their last 16 meetings with Liverpool in all competitions, since a top-flight goalless draw at Anfield in April 1936.

• Liverpool have won their opening five home Premier League games this season – only twice in the Premier League era have they started a season with six wins at Anfield: 2019-20 (won first 17) and 2020-21 (first seven).

• Brentford have won their last three Premier League matches, scoring at least twice in each victory. The Bees haven’t won four consecutive top-flight matches since March 1939.

One thing to make a note of is the profile of Liverpool’s bench. Injuries have clearly taken their toll on Jurgen Klopp’s options, with Diaz and Kelleher the only players over the age of 20.

Could that cost them as the game wears on?

Jurgen Klopp is afraid. If Darwin Nunez can scare defenders, he has the same effect on his own manager, albeit for different reasons. “I’m a bit afraid of the highs he could reach because there is so much there,” Klopp reflected. “It’s crazy.”

And if craziness appears central to the conundrum of Nunez, the agent of chaos, the fearsome forward who can become the master of misses, it was the potential that blew Klopp away when Liverpool faced Benfica in the Champions League in 2022. Now, albeit in his idiosyncratic manner, he feels closer to realising it. Certainly his manager is still captivated, still wondering where Nunez’s various talents will take him.

“The speed, the finishing skills, the desire he has… when he’s fit he is really fit so he can go and go again,” the Liverpool manager said. “You just don’t know where he will end up.” The same may be said when the Uruguayan embarks on a charge towards his goal. He managed to miss an open goal against Toulouse and spurn a sitter against West Ham.

He also got an extraordinary winner at Bournemouth on Wednesday with a ferocious shot from an acute angle. He has scored in his last three games, has seven goals already this season and a goal or an assist every 83 minutes for Liverpool this season. He has become a consistent threat, albeit in an inimitably inconsistent manner.

Richard Jolly takes a look at the rebuild of Darwin Nunez, who starts again in attack for Liverpool today:

The Liverpool manager has much to mull over after the disappointing results against Luton and Toulouse but the German still believes that his Liverpool side are progressing in the right direction.

Despite wobbles in recent weeks, his side can still move level on points with Manchester City temporarily should they return to winning ways against Brentford this afternoon.

But after a draw and a defeat in their last two, Klopp is certain that there is work still to be done with this new-look Liverpool side.

“Things are going in the right direction but we are not there yet. We are not as stable as I wish but that’s normal as well,” he said.

“Generally we are in a positive situation and it is important to learn to deal with that. There has been a lot of praise. It really feels like this [Toulouse] and Luton is a real learning curve. I wish it would not be necessary, to be honest. I wish we would learn it quickly.

“We can be a really good team. We have shown that. We cannot have what happened [in Toulouse] - we were not aggressive enough. It was as easy as that. We can lose a game but we have to use it to learn the right things. To win a football game, you need to be aggressive.”

Speaking ahead of today’s fixture, the Brentford boss was under no illusions as to the difficult task facing his side as they travel up to face Liverpool.

Jurgen Klopp’s side have won all of their home league games this season, but the Bees are aiming for their fourth straight league win following their derby-day 2-0 victory against Chelsea last time out.

“For five years, Liverpool have been one of the top teams not just in the Premier League, but the world,” Frank said at his pre-match press conference.

“They have a fantastic coach and staff, with great players. They have new energy in their squad with some of their new signings.

“It is an unbelievable team at Anfield - one of the most difficult away grounds to go to, if not the most difficult. It will be a tough test, but as always, we trust ourselves. We will try to take the game to Liverpool.”

There’s a spot on the bench again for Luis Diaz who on Thursday finally received the good news that his father had been released following his abduction by Colombian guerrilla group National Liberation Army (ELN) two weeks ago.

Speaking for the first time since his release, the father of the Liverpool said he went “almost 12 days without sleep” and endured long horseback treks through mountain passes whilst in the hands of ELN.

“It was a lot of horseback riding, really hard, a lot of mountains, a lot of rain, too many insects,” said an emotional and weary Diaz Sr, speaking alongside his family near the Colombia-Venezuela border. “I couldn’t sleep peacefully, it was very difficult, almost 12 days without sleep.”

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As suspected, Endo comes in to replace the suspended Mac Allister in central midfield, but there is also a place for Gakpo who comes in for Gravenberch who misses out with a knee injury. There is one further change in central defence as Matip partners the returning Van Dijk, with Konate missing out altogether.

Brentford, meanwhile, look to have moved to a back five as Mee starts alongside Collins and Pinnock in central defence. Maupay and Onyeka drop to the bench, with Roerslev also coming into Thomas Frank’s side for this big away fixture.

The team news is in!

Liverpool XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; Endo, Szoboszlai, Gakpo; Jota, Salah, Nunez.

Brentford XI: Flekken; Ajer, Collins, Pinnock, Mee, Roerslev; Norgaard, Jensen, Janelt; Mbeumo, Wissa.

Just a few minutes away from the confirmed team news. A reminder that Alexis Mac Allister is suspended after picking up a fifth booking but Virgil van Dijk is expected to return after his brief illness.

For Brentford, goalkeeper Mark Flekken was taken off last week with an apparent injury, but the Dutchman seems to have recovered sufficiently from a dead leg to start. Aaron Hickey, though, will miss the rest of the year to add to a growing injury list for Frank.