Liverpool 3 Brentford 0: Reds keep faint Prem title hopes alive with comfortable win over toothless Bees
A MUCH-NEEDED result, but this was not a performance that will leave Manchester City sweating at the top.
Liverpool require a near-perfect end to the season to have any hope of catching Pep Guardiola’s ruthless Premier League machine – currently on a fearsome 12-game winning streak.
If anyone can do it, then Jurgen Klopp’s men can. They have proven that in the past, keeping chase and trading blows with one of the greatest sides the Prem has ever seen.
But this – with Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane at the African Cup of Nations – is not the same Liverpool team.
Coming off the back of a three-game winless run in the league, Klopp was a relieved man to see off Brentford but even should admit the score line was flattering.
On another day, it could have been so different.
Fabinho’s scrappy goal at the end of the first half summed up his team’s display: unconvincing and lacking any sort of edge.
Even the usually raucous Anfield felt flat at times as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain doubled their lead with a header in the 69th minute before Takumi Minamino grabbed a third late on thanks to a defensive horror show moment.
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Guardiola must have watched this one from his Manchester home with the wryest of smiles.
Carry on like this, and Liverpool have no chance of making up the 11-point gap – even with a game in hand on their title rivals.
It could all be done and dusted by the time Salah and Mane touch back down in Merseyside from Cameroon in a few weeks, and no one would be surprised.
Liverpool have lost their zip, their aggression, their desire to not just beat teams but destroy them. Embarrass them. Send them home with their tails between their legs.
Instead, Thomas Frank’s Bees can leave Anfield with their heads held high, and will perhaps feel aggrieved they did not nick another point off Klopp’s side after that stunning 3-3 draw in west London back in September.
Frank has recently seen his injury issues ease, and was able to start wing-back Rico Henry for the first time since December 22 for Brentford’s first visit to Anfield in the league since 1946.
Having failed to break down 10-man Arsenal in the Carabao Cup, Klopp brought in Curtis Jones and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in place of Minamino and James Milner.
But from the off there was a sense of déjà vu as the visitors sat back and contained while Liverpool struggled to produce any real moments of quality to break them down.
Cross after cross was whipped into the Brentford box only to be fired back at them while Kristoffer Ajer and Henry made a few crucial blocks in the opening stages.
It was the first time since Salah joined in 2017 that both he and Mané missed a Prem game.
And without their pace in behind, Liverpool were insistent and stubborn in their game plan – pepper the box with crosses and hope someone gets on the end of one.
They finally did from a corner in the 22nd minute. Alvaro Fernandez flapped at the delivery with the ball falling to Virgil Van Dijk, yet the Spanish keeper recovered well to block his shot on the line.
Frustrations were brewing. Van Dijk was seen bickering with Jordan Henderson on the half-way line as Brentford had some small success on the counter. Ivan Toney went close several times.
With 71 per cent possession after 30 minutes but little to show for it, this was proving to be another tough afternoon for Liverpool.
But they got their break in the 44th minute – a Trent Alexander-Arnold corner was allowed to bounce in the six-yard box and Fabinho had the simplest of flicked headers at the far post.
Brentford responded in the second half by bringing on ex-Reds player Sergi Canos as Liverpool continued to struggle for any sort of fluidity.
Jota really was playing off scraps, smacking the post after a mistake from Pontus Jansson before being denied by another brilliant Fernandez save.
Yet the second goal came from the first accurate cross of the game – Andy Robertson’s looping delivery guided home by Oxlade-Chamberlain.
And then with 13 minutes left, Brentford decided to gift Liverpool an underserving third from their own goal kick as Fernandez’ short pass to Christian Norgaard being picked off by Roberto Firmino.
The Brazilian fed Minamino for the easiest of tap-ins.
Winning by three goals at home should never be sniffed at, but if they are to catch City, performances like this cannot become the norm.
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