Liverpool vs Brentford prediction: Mo Salah to score two or more and Bryan Mbeumo continue superb form

Arne Slot will get to experience the Anfield crowd when he takes his place in the home dugout on Sunday as his Liverpool side welcome Brentford up to Merseyside (4.30pm, Sky Sports Main Event).

He got his first win under his belt last weekend away at Ipswich but he will be expecting a trickier match this week against a side who also opened with a win, as they ran out 2-1 winners over Crystal Palace.

Brentford head up to L4 with only one Premier League win over Liverpool, which came in January 2023 when goals from Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo added to an own goal from Ibrahima Konate to secure a 3-1 result at the Gtech Community Stadium.

They have to go back to November 1937 for a win at Anfield, and it is in fact their only win on Merseyside in 12 attempts.

It’s hard to see anything but a Liverpool win this time around, especially as the Reds have managed three or more goals in four of six Premier League meetings.

Betting sites all favour a Reds win, offering 1/4 for Slot to make to two victories on the bounce, while Brentford are priced up at 10/1 to secure a rare win at Anfield.

There aren’t many teams Mohamed Salah doesn’t like scoring against but he has taken a special liking to Brentford with five goals in five appearances, including three last season in the 4-1 away win and 3-0 victory at home.

His lowest league goal tally since arriving at Liverpool came last season, when he finished with 18, but he did manage 31 for club and country in all competitions.

It’s not just his goals though that have made him a firm favourite at Liverpool, he also has 70 assists for Liverpool taking his goal involvement since arriving in 2017 to 226 in 244 appearances.

He scored and assisted in Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Ipswich, last weekend which is the 32nd time he has done so in a Premier League game, level with Thierry Henry. Only Wayne Rooney has both scored and assisted in more games in the history of the competition, in 36 games - but there is plenty of time for Salah to break the record.

In the new-look Liverpool set up Salah’s goals could be even more important this season and if last week is anything to go by he is loving the new style, making him an option to look at this weekend on football betting sites.

Liverpool v Brentford prediction 1: Mohamed Salah to score two goals or more - 7/2 Bet365

One of Liverpool’s biggest problems last season was their shooting accuracy, especially that of Darwin Nunez. They scored 86 in total in the league but their accuracy stood at just 35 per cent, something which the new manager will be desperate to improve.

Last weekend the Reds managed 50 touches in the opposition box, which was the most in a manager’s first game in charge since Opta records began - but the accuracy was just 28 per cent, converting just two of five shots on target.

Many felt Slot was “brutal” for substituting defender Jarell Quansah at half-time at Portman Road because his side “lost too many duels” so it will be interesting to see how forgiving he is in front of goal if his strikers are not converting the chances.

Diogo Jota seems to be the main man down the middle and it’s a position he always looks most comfortable in with betting apps offering just 8/13 on him scoring anytime.

To give themselves a chance of taking anything from the match Thomas Frank will know his side will have to be at their defensive best, especially after conceding 1.71 goals per game last season. They kept just seven clean sheets all season, but three of them did come away from home, in wins over Fulham, Chelsea and Wolves.

Liverpool v Brentford prediction 2: Liverpool to win 3-0 and Salah to score first or last - 33/1 William Hill

Bryan Mbeumo is in line to make his 100th Premier League appearance for Brentford and if he plays on Sunday he will become only the fourth Bees player to achieve the landmark behind Vitaly Janelt, Yoane Wissa and Mathias Jensen.

Since joining from Troyes in 2019, the Cameroon international has averaged a goal or an assist every 108 minutes in the games without Ivan Toney (14 goals, 8 assists), compared to a goal involvement every 250 minutes in matches that feature him (9 goals, 13 assists).

With Toney unlikely to feature as he is still the subject of speculation about a move to Saudi Arabia club Al Ahli it could be worth a look at Mbeumo to play a big part, particularly as a hedge against the aforementioned clean sheet win for the Reds.

Another player who will hope he can impress is Bees’ new signing Fabio Carvalho, who joined from Liverpool just over a week ago. He came on with just six minutes remaining against Crystal Palace but if anyone knows the Reds it’s him, after he was a regular throughout pre-season.

Liverpool v Brentford prediction 3: Mbeumo to score and be booked - 18/1 Betway

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