1 year ago
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26 min: Brentford win a corner after a Jensen shot is deflected over the bar.
25 min: David Raya saves well from a Kostas Tsimikas drive after Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had dug the ball out of a thicket of legs in the Brentford penalty area and teed him up with a rabona of sorts.
22 min: Often imaginative and innovative at set-pieces, Brentford had put several bodies at the front post for that corner and it may well have been their presence that caught out Konate. Marking Ben Mee, he appeared to lose sight of the ball and seemed oblivious to it dropping his way, off his leg and into the goal.
21 min: There was a VAR check following that goal, for a possible handball by Ben Mee as the ball came in from the corner. The goal stands!
GOAL! Brentford 1-0 Liverpool (Konate 20og)
Brentford lead! The delivery from the ensuing corner is excellent, the dropping ball clanks off Ibrahima Konate’s shin and rolls into the bottom corner from about four yards out. Alisson dives to his left but can’t keep it out before it crosses the line.
18 min: Alisson is forced off his line to the edge of the penalty area to block a shot from Mbeumo, who had been released one on one on the counter-attack and left Virgill van Dijk wading in treacle.
17 min: Rico Henry crosses to the far post, where Bryan Mbeumo outjumps Kostas Tsimikas but is unable to steer his header on target or back across the face of goal from a ridiculously tight angle.
15 min: A crossfield pass from Virgil van Dijk is intercepted and Brentford quickly get the ball into the Liverpool penalty area. Bryan Mbeumo tries his luck with an overhead kick that fizzes over the bar but is penalised for offside.
13 min: Another long throw from Brentford, deep in Liverpool territory. Danish trebuchet Mathias Jensen hurls the ball into the penalty area but it’s cleared again.
12 min: Rico Henry gallops deep into Liverpool territory to run on to a long ball but Ibrahima Konate robs him of possession as he tries to turn.
10 min: Harvey Elliott’s name goes into the book for a reckless challenge on Rico Henry.
8 min: At the near post, Ben Mee blocks superbly from Darwin Nunez, whose low diagonal effort was goalbound. He’d been played in behind the Brentford defence by a pass that, on this occasion, was perfectly weighted. Another good chance goes to waste for the Uruguayan, who is fast earning himself a reputation for being a dreadful finisher. It’s a bit early to jump to that conclusion, in my opinion, but who am I to disrespect the media narrative?
7 min: Mo Salah plays a ball through the centre for Nunez to chase but there’s too much weight on his pass.
5 min: Brentford take their first long throw of the night, cvatapulting the ball into a crowded Liverpool penalty area. Darwin Nunez heads clear at the near post.
3 min: Brentford half-clear a Liverpool corner and the ball is sent back into the mixer by Harvey Elliott. In an offside position, Virgil van Dijk sticks out a leg to hook the ball goalwards and brings an astonishing save out of David Raya. The flag goes up.
2 min: Zanka gets an early yellow card for a bodycheck that takes out Darwin Nunez.
1 min: Out injured tonight, Ivan Toney, who has until tomorrow to respond to allegations of illegal betting activities levelled against him, has taken his place in the stand.
Brentford v Liverpool is go ...
1 min: Following the traditional minute’s applause to remember the members of the Brentford football family who have passed away in the previous 12 months, their first home game of the New Year gets under way. Liverpool get the ball rolling, their players wearing green shirts, green shorts and white socks.
Not long now: Following an extravagant light show at the Gtech Community Stadium, the teams emerge from the tunnel to the strains of Hey Jude by The Beatles. Brentford are led by Christian Norgaard, while Virgil van Dijk wears the captain’s armband for Liverpool. Kick-off is just a few minutes away.
Warm-up news: Reasonably good news for Liverpool fans. Somewhat erratic finisher Darwin Nunez has tried to curl a shot past Liverpool reserve goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher. It was on target but the Irishman saved it.
Thomas Frank on Ivan Toney’s absence: “He was close-ish to being on the bench,” the Brentford manager tells Sky Sports. “Ivan is a monster, capable of dealing with a lot of pain or niggles and so on. Today it was too close and actually I think with one or two days more he could have done it. We expect him to be close to being available for West Ham [in the FA Cup on Saturday].”
Ivan Toney is not in Brentford's squad
Those teams: Despite Thomas Frank’s upbeat talk yesterday, Ivan Toney is not in Brentford’s matchday squad and who is to say the Dane was not just messing with Liverpool’s minds when he said the striker would be OK for today’s game. In other news pertaining to Brentford, midfielder Josh Dasilva drops to the bench, while there are starts for Yoane Wissa and Vitaly Yanelt.
Kostas Tsimikas comes in at left-back for Liverpool in place of Andy Robertson, while Ibrahima Konate replaces Joel Matip in the heart of their defence. Fabinho returns in place of Jordan Henderson, who is sidelined with a concussion. New signing Cody Gakpo is not in the Liverpool matchday squad.
Brentford v Liverpool line-ups
Brentford: Raya; Jorgensen, Pinnock, Mee; Roerslev, Janelt, Norgaard, Jensen, Henry; Wissa, Mbeumo.
Subs: Strakosha, Canos, Dasilva, Ghoddos, Lewis-Potter, Damsgaard, Bech Sorensen, Crama, Trevitt.
Liverpool: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; Elliott, Fabinho, Thiago; Salah, Nunez, Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Subs: Kelleher, Gomez, Keita, Jones, Robertson, Carvalho, Matip, Bajcetic, Phillips.
Liverpool: Virgil van Dijk has said World Cup disappointment will fuel his desire for success with Liverpool and the Netherlands in 2023, claiming anything is possible in what could prove “a very crazy” Premier League season. Andy Hunter reports …
Early team news
Despite being stretchered off with a knee injury during Brentford’s win over West Ham, Ivan Toney is reported to be in contention for at least a place on the bench, if not a start today. “It’s good news with Ivan,” said Thomas Frank in yesterday’s pre-match presser.
“It’s not a significant injury and he could potentially be available for tomorrow. There’s nothing wrong with his knee. Without going too much into the details, it’s something with the muscle. The physios explained the details and I completely forgot! I’m just glad it isn’t serious.”
Brentford left-back Aaron Hickey and central defender Kristoffer Ajer are both well on the road to recovery from injury but will be unavailable to face Liverpool this evening. Shandon Baptiste is also sidelined.
While Liverpool wingers Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota, midfielder Arthur and midfielder Curtis Jones all remain out, Jurgen Klopp has fresh concerns over Harvey Elliott and Andy Robertson, who were both forced off in their win over Leicester.
James Milner and Robertto Firmino may be fit enough to play some part today after recovering from soft tissue injuries. Absent from the win against Leicester to attend the birth of his child, Fabinho is likely to return, while new signing Cody Gakpo, in from PSV, is also eligible to play today, paperwork permitting.
Premier League: Brentford v Liverpool
In sixth place in the table, 15 points behind league leaders Arsenal but just four behind Manchester United in the fourth Champions League qualification spot, Liverpool travel to Brentford on the back of consecutive, if not hugely impressive festive wins over Aston Villa and Leicester City.
In Brentford they take on a side that is just five points behind them in 10th and also unbeaten since the resumption of the league following the World Cup. A draw against Tottenham followed by victory over West Ham means Thomas Frank’s side have every reason to be confident as they welcome their exalted opposition to the Brentford Community Stadium. Kick-off in west London is at 5.30pm (GMT) but stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up.
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