Topic: PL: Liverpool 3 vs Brentford 0 Fab 44' Ox 69' Taki 77’

[Ghost Town]

They had 2 shots that flashed by the post from sloppy giveaways. They aren't "on target" but had me much more nervous than the one by Toney at the end!

Ah yes, that's true. now you mention it. One them I was sure it was going in

[stockdam]

I think we missed a player of pace up front. Bobby doesn’t have that explosive pace and at times he could have been in if he was faster. That’s what we miss most with Salah and Mane……..both are quick. Maybe Gordon will get some further minutes to see if he can bring us something different.

[Sarge]

The 3-0 result flatters us. If we hadn't gotten that set piece goal from Fabinho things could have been ugly the second half. Brentford was behind so they had to spring forward a little bit which gave us space in the second half and even so the goals kinda came out of nowhere. Otherwise it could have been Arsenal in the league cup again.

We don't look like we can pull off some decent attacking play without Salah and Mane. Just pass pass pass around their box without any penetration. The only hope we have for creating a chance is crosses from Trent and Robbo.

Kidding right?

[Crosby Nick]

About as good a win as we could have reasonably expected I think. Please for Ox and Taki to contribute to a good League win. Can only keep winning and see what happens with City but we’ve put some distance between the sides fighting for 4th just to avoid any risk of being sucked into that battle and also have a little buffer over Chelsea.

Throw in Everton losing and United chucking away a lead (we’re not the only ones who do it!) and it’s a pretty decent weekend.

[Beninger]

The 3-0 result flatters us. If we hadn't gotten that set piece goal from Fabinho things could have been ugly the second half. Brentford was behind so they had to spring forward a little bit which gave us space in the second half and even so the goals kinda came out of nowhere. Otherwise it could have been Arsenal in the league cup again.

We don't look like we can pull off some decent attacking play without Salah and Mane. Just pass pass pass around their box without any penetration. The only hope we have for creating a chance is crosses from Trent and Robbo.

Set piece is often the way you unlock a low block. And, as a goal, it counts the same as any other.

[RedKenWah]

Good result in the end. I probably feel the same as others in that we are missing pace upfront. However despite the way the first half panned out we got 3 goals and didn’t concede so it’s good. Onwards and upwards for Thursday

[wige]

Much better balance to the side today I thought. Jota and Ox flanking Bobby helped, Jones being given licence to roam and probe added some guile and unpredictability to our midfield. Fullbacks back to near their 7 or 8 out of 10 levels. Centrehalves excellent. (exclude Mo and I think Matip's having a player of the year type season.

Looking forward to the Emirates 2nd leg. Think the lads are gonna be pumped for that and they'll grow in belief and confidence from today.

[El Lobo]

I'll be lumping on them lot to go down next season. They're not a very good side at all - makes that draw at their ground all the more frustrating, especially as we'd have had a fairly decent lead at the top had we held on if memory serves.

Depends. He’s a good manager and they seem to have a good scouting system. Staying up in your first season is the only important thing, then you can build.

[Fromola]

Set piece is often the way you unlock a low block. And, as a goal, it counts the same as any other.

It's exactly what we've been crying out for in recent weeks. We've had 4 or 5 games since our scoring glut ended where we've had corner after corner and done nothing with them but struggled to get the first goal in the game. When we score first it always opens it up.

[Crosby Nick]

Depends. He’s a good manager and they seem to have a good scouting system. Staying up in your first season is the only important thing, then you can build.

Yeah, I’m with you although the league is littered with the likes of Huddersfield and Reading who stayed up in the first season before reverting to the mean.

I’ve seen a fair amount of Brentford these last 3-4 seasons and they do seem to lack a bit of guile and quality compared to the seasons when they had Maupay. Benhrama and Watkins. And none of them have gone on to be exceptional Premier League players but they have held their own.

I think they need a bit more guile in midfield. Norgaard is an alright holding midfielder at this level. Janet I think has some promise but Jensen has struggled this season and I don’t really rate Baptise who played today. Their front two can hold their own but need a bit more support.

They’ll be delighted to be where they are at this stage of the season and just need to pick up wins every few games to keep the bottom three at arms length. They have United at home midweek which they should be targeting as one of those games.

As said above, losing their keeper has been quite a big blow to how they play.

[buttersstotch]

Brentford offered absolutely nothing all game - was totally dominant. I agree with an above post there that is already a set in stone narrative in the media and fans that we are useless without Salah and Mane. I thought we were quite good today, we stepped it up in the second half but you could feel the crowd starting to get edgy in the 1st half particular.

Overall a good 3 points. I know the game ended quite chaotic after we made some changes. My one concern is that we don't know how to be really, really, really boring

[Crosby Nick]

Was surprised to read it was the first League game we’ve started without either Salah or Mané since May 2017! That was before Salah joined obviously and I think when Mané missed the end of the season.

[PoetryInMotion]

Looks like some HT whining has overflown to this thread even after a comfortable routine 3-0 win. Some of them making it out as if it was a tight game/tough game or as if we made many mistakes - it was two sloppy passes, one by Trent, one by Matip - both in the same move I think? And another mis-control by Jones from a Fabinho pass when pressed - If these simple moments make a sloppy game of 90 minutes, some people should be watching a different sport.

Just because some of you were expecting another struggle as against Arsenal without Salah and Mane doesn't mean this was actually one, our forwards played well today and we had plenty of chances to score, in fact it wouldn't have been a travesty if we had taken 1 or 2 more of our other chances as well.

[duvva 💅]

Wasn’t able to watch this, so just seen the 3 minute highlights on sky go. Looks like we were at least able to create more opportunities and shots on goal than v Arsenal. While I gather from some of the earlier comments it’s wasn’t our greatest performance right now a 3-0 win was exactly what we needed. Fingers crossed Ox is ok.

Hopefully build on this Thursday night.

[wige]

Looks like some HT whining has overflown to this thread even after a comfortable routine 3-0 win. Some of them making it out as if it was a tight game/tough game or as if we made many mistakes - it was two sloppy passes, one by Trent, one by Matip - both in the same move I think? And another mis-control by Jones from a Fabinho pass when pressed - If these simple moments make a sloppy game of 90 minutes, some people should be watching a different sport.

Just because some of you were expecting another struggle as against Arsenal without Salah and Mane doesn't mean this was actually one, our forwards played well today and we had plenty of chances to score, in fact it wouldn't have been a travesty if we had taken 1 or 2 more of our other chances as well.

Think this is spot on personally

[darragh85]

could have won by more i thought although i guess Brentford has a couple of chances too.

nice that minamino scored. he is showing that he can offer something lately.

[disgraced cake]

6 pages? Come on guys!!!

Good win today, All we needed was the three points. Onto Palace next Sunday, and hopefully set up a cup final in between

[Kashinoda]

[mattD]

I thought the pressing was really good today, and Hendo and Fabinho (the latter MotM) mopped up well.

Hopefully a sign of some sharpness and spark coming back into their play. Fabinho was a bit off it in the game after his covid isolation (another topic entirely but I wonder how much covid, even after isolation period ends, impacts performance?) but is getting back to the player we all know.

[Penfold78]

  Apt.

[andyrol]

Thought Curtis was good today, all the defenders were as well. Brentford are a hard team to play against, who all throw everything into the game, and we could have won 4-0 (with Gordon's chance late on, hitting the post etc) without really playing at our best and people still moan!

[Geezer08]

Great performance and win. Trent improved great compared to midweek.

Not related question, when is the Leeds game scheduled for?

[PoetryInMotion]

Wasn’t able to watch this, so just seen the 3 minute highlights on sky go. Looks like we were at least able to create more opportunities and shots on goal than v Arsenal. While I gather from some of the earlier comments it’s wasn’t our greatest performance right now a 3-0 win was exactly what we needed. Fingers crossed Ox is ok.

Hopefully build on this Thursday night.

Don't believe the comments mate. See the stats if you can't watch the game and decide for yourself.

Shots - 27 to 6
Shots on Target - 13 to 1
Possession - 68% to 32%
Corners - 9 to 0
xG - 3.5 to 0.6

Yes, not the greatest performance, but not an average performance too, in fact way better than against Arsenal. I thought it was a complete domination.

[Gnurglan]

3-0!
Another game where we dominated just about everything. The first goal was important. We needed it and it came at a very good time for us. The second pretty much killed the game. We looked better than we did vs Arsenal. Thought we had more variation and I reckon Jones was a contributing factor. It got even better as the goals came. Was happy to see Jota and Firmino go off a little early as they are so important. The game was won and we have more games coming up without Salah and Mane.  Happy to see a goal from Minamino. Important times for him now. Hope he can make the most of the chances he gets. Still think there's another level in him.

[duvva 💅]

Don't believe the comments mate. See the stats if you can't watch the game and decide for yourself.

Shots - 27 to 6
Shots on Target - 13 to 1
Possession - 68% to 32%
Corners - 9 to 0
xG - 3.5 to 0.6

Yes, not the greatest performance, but not an average performance too, in fact way better than against Arsenal. I thought it was a complete domination.

Cheers for that, should know by now not to believe everything I read on the internet.

The game is on Sky at 10pm so will be watching, the biggest thing for me about Thursday was the fact we didn’t hit the target until the 91st minute so this sounds like a big step in the right direction, which is just what we needed in the league. Great performances can come later right now we need to start winning again, hopefully that’s just the start

[keyop]

That was just what the doctor ordered. A fairly comfortable win in the end, a clean sheet, and 3 goals whilst Mo and Sadio are away.

I liked that midfield 3, and Jones really grew into the game. His directness and energy could be a big asset and he has a great chance to hold down a regular place. Virgil and Joe looked very assured at theback, Trent and Robbo were much improved, and I thought Henderson was excellent.

Happy for Minamino to get his goal. It looked like Bobby really wanted him to score after that miss vs. Arsenal - he's one of the least selfish number 9's we've had, which is why he's often so effective at making things happen for others.

Hopefully we can go on a run now, get in the winning habit and hope City slip up somewhere. Onwards and upwards.

[LFCEmpire]

Really good win today. Thank fuck Fab scored the header just before half time, it would have been a nightmare going in at ht 0-0.

[Pistolero]

Saying that, this was not a particularly good perfromance by Liverpool. A lot of loose passing and unforced errors. Brentford were twice set up by incredibly poor passes from the back, straight to opponent's feet. Luckily Brentford couldn't take advantage, but still.

The result was kind of brute forced as well, a bouncing ball from a corner and an Ox header (a collector's item). The third was just piss poor by the Brentford keeper, but fiar play to Minamino for the chase and pressure.

Overall there were some issues arising; I felt Jones was quiet, didn't really impose himself on the game. Chamberlain played a lot of loose passes, but did score. Neither really put their hand up to say "play me every week". I felt Robertson threw in a lot of scuds without any great accuracy. Jota also struggled to impose his game minus Salah and Mane (but at least hit the bar).

Still, 3 points, second place, West Ham lost too, so Liverpool can look forward, and less backward, all to the good. The worry is next thursday and that league cup game. Funnily enough I think Arsenal's shenanigans in getting the game called off might backfire on them, if they are slow to get up to speed in the game. Worrying though, that team today were quite blunt, truth be told.

A fair summary DW.....fairly humdrum but 3 goals, 3 points, a clean sheet and a welcome lack of drama........onwards

[Schmarn]

But for City’s blood money we’d be 2pts clear with a game in hand. Hard to imagine that now that they’ve warped everyone’s understanding of the competition. I don’t for a minute pretend that we haven’t thrown away too many points but this could well have been a title winning team.

If we do beat Arsenal and Palace (and Cardiff for good measure) the squad will have done brilliantly during AFCON.

You wonder whether eventually non-relegation teams start rotating in the league to focus on the cups. We’ll not give up but I do feel a sadness that the game has changed perhaps irreversibly.

[Tonyh8su]

My favourite non goal part of the game today was Rafa's name being sung in the second half. Class.

[duvva 💅]

Have watched the game now. Perhaps it’s easier to view knowing it’s going to turn out ok, but I thought we were pretty good first half. Dominated the first 35 mins had a few chances, then seemed to lose a bit of intensity and let them into it for the first time really, then finished the half well with a goal.
I actually thought we were better first half than second but we scored the goals at good moments and while we weren’t as dangerous as we can be, after the last few performances this was much better

[Son of Spion]

But for City’s blood money we’d be 2pts clear with a game in hand. Hard to imagine that now that they’ve warped everyone’s understanding of the competition. I don’t for a minute pretend that we haven’t thrown away too many points but this could well have been a title winning team.

If we do beat Arsenal and Palace (and Cardiff for good measure) the squad will have done brilliantly during AFCON.

You wonder whether eventually non-relegation teams start rotating in the league to focus on the cups. We’ll not give up but I do feel a sadness that the game has changed perhaps irreversibly.

Take the two sports wash vehicles out of the equation and we are 8 points clear at the top, ahead of West Ham and having played a game less than them.

[Ghost Town]

I think they need a bit more guile in midfield. Norgaard is an alright holding midfielder at this level. Janet I think has some promise

He was a bit rocky, a bit of a horror show. Still, the future is his, so he'll plan it (Janet)

[Prof]

He was a bit rocky, a bit of a horror show. Still, the future is his, so he'll plan it (Janet)

Am I in a time warp?

[GreatEx]

Feels good to ease to victory... Been a while since we did that (at least against top flight opposition)!

[Bergersrightwingviews]

Really pleased to see us get a goal from a set piece. Feels as if they have been hard to come by this season. Being a consistent threat from set pieces can often be the difference between a good season and a disappointing one.

[Mighty_Red]

Biggest change to Thursday was the quality of set pieces, we got close a couple of times before breaking the deadlock. After that the game was always going to be different.

One or two hairy moments in the 2nd half but nothing major and we also created tonnes of chances. Jota should've been on the scoresheet before Ox scored. Hope Ox is ok, last thing we need is another injury both in terms of numbers and his own progress.

Happy for him and Taki to get on the scoresheet we need those confidence levels to stay high during this period.

[NarutoReds]

Come on you Mighty Reds... We can still do this!!! 8-10 more games, who knows Leicester City, Brighton, Wolves, Everton or Spurs can do the damage to Manchester City, we could go for the league title!!!

Keep the hope alive, lads here!! We are Liverpool FC, we don't do boring things. Let's keep the pressure, lads!!! More wins after this.

p/s: Fucking cretin thyroid soft pub teams, why others just simply roll over easily against City!!! Fight, yer dogs!! They are like fighting for their lives if against Liverpool FC. Errgghh!! Sick.

We could still do this, lads. We could. Up the Mighty Reds!!! Up!!

[RedG13]

Biggest change to Thursday was the quality of set pieces, we got close a couple of times before breaking the deadlock. After that the game was always going to be different.

One or two hairy moments in the 2nd half but nothing major and we also created tonnes of chances. Jota should've been on the scoresheet before Ox scored. Hope Ox is ok, last thing we need is another injury both in terms of numbers and his own progress.

Happy for him and Taki to get on the scoresheet we need those confidence levels to stay high during this period.

Also whenever there is break partially with players having Covid and not being able to train. Some of the rhythm from playing is gone which didn't help on Thursday either.  Being in the routine of playing, training every day took a hit too.
Created a ton of chances and felt in control the whole game

[thaddeus]

Take the two sports wash vehicles out of the equation and we are 8 points clear at the top, ahead of West Ham and having played a game less than them.

I wouldn't classify the Chelsea project as sports-washing, it's more of a vanity project for Abramovich (and, arguably, part of the city of London being used to launder Russian money).  I take your point though, neither Man City or Chelsea operate within the standard financial constraints.

Roll forward five years and the top three spaces may well be locked down by two state-owned and one oligarch-owned club.  Possibly the only way for other clubs to break into that will be to get similar financial backing.

Anyway, coming from a long way... irrespective of some of the flaws of this squad, we should enjoy every game.  We're in contention for trophies and, generally, playing ambitious football.