Liverpool Stung By Brentford’s As Hosts Claim Historic Win
Liverpool are going to face an almighty battle to secure Champions League football in the 2023/24 season, with their Premier League campaign suffering another blow at Brentford.
The Merseyside club were on the receiving end of a 3-1 drubbing which encapsulated a lot of the club’s issues in the 2022/23 campaign.
Darwin Nunez once again couldn’t find the net. The Uruguayan was getting into the right places, contributing to build-up play but he just couldn’t find the final finish. His lack of goalscoring is becoming a real problem for Liverpool and fans are starting to question whether he will ever be a suitable center-forward, especially with Cody Gakpo joining in January.
Brentford played exceptionally well, they brought their usual high-energy, direct style of football and outplayed the visitors.
Brentford are now only two points behind Liverpool
With Manchester United winning against Wolves on Saturday, Liverpool are now four points adrift of the top four in the Premier League.
This is not an insurmountable gap, but the defeat has actually allowed Brentford to move to within two points of Liverpool.
Ibrahima Konate returned from the 2022 World Cup with an enhanced reputation, but he endured a shocking evening which began with an own-goal in the 19th minute of play.
Yoane Wissa then made it 2-0 just before the half-time interval, leaving Liverpool’s defense stunned.
The turning point of the match actually came just minutes into the second-half, when Nunez thought he had finally got his much-needed goal. The Uruguayan put the ball into the back of the net, but VAR ruled the goal out for offside.
Just four minutes later the ball was in Brentford’s net once more, only this time it counted.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain headed the ball into the bottom corner of the net after a sumptuous cross from Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Konate then headed wide from 12 yards out, missing a chance for Liverpool to equalize.
Brentford delivered the killer blow with just six minutes of normal time to play. A perfect cross was played into the Liverpool penalty area finding Bryan Mbeumo, who drilled a powerful shot beyond Alisson Becker into the bottom of the net.
