Brentford head to Anfield on Sunday to take on Liverpool (4.30pm kick-off GMT), in a game that will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.
Both sides were victorious on the opening weekend of the Premier League season. The Bees beat Crystal Palace 2-1, while Liverpool – in their first competitive game under new boss Arne Slot – won 2-0 at newly promoted Ipswich Town.
Fábio Carvalho and Sepp van den Berg are set for a quick reunion with their former team-mates, with both players having swapped Merseyside for west London this month.
Analysis, team news, match officials and more. Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the fixture.
Pre-match analysis
Richard Cole, Playmaker Stats: Brentford must maintain efficiency in front of goal to break Anfield hoodoo
After kicking off the season with a 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace courtesy of Yoane Wissa’s winner, the Bees now face a difficult trip to Anfield.
For the most part, Thomas Frank’s side haven’t enjoyed their games against Liverpool since making their Premier League bow.
In fact, Brentford have defeated the current Carabao Cup holders just once in recent years: a 3-1 victory at Gtech Community Stadium when Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo were both on the scoresheet – just like they were against Palace on Sunday.
Things have certainly been more difficult at Anfield, with Brentford yet to register a Premier League goal at the stadium.
With Jürgen Klopp gone, things could be different – but Liverpool looked good in their opening top-flight win over Ipswich Town last weekend and also in pre-season under new boss Arne Slot.
After defeating Arsenal (2-1) and Manchester United (3-0) in friendlies this summer, Slot oversaw a confident performance over the newly promoted Tractor Boys at Portman Road.
While much has been made about the Reds’ lack of incomings so far this summer, Slot has an incredibly talented squad at his disposal that still has plenty of depth.
Against Ipswich, Liverpool controlled the game, amassing 62 per cent of possession and making 480 passes in total. It took a while for the first goal to arrive, though, with Diogo Jota eventually giving Liverpool the lead an hour into the game with Mohamed Salah making it 2-0 shortly after.
Those goals were two of Liverpool’s 18 shots in total at Portman Road; only Southampton (playing against 10 men) managed more shots (19) than Slot’s side across the opening Premier League gameweek.
By comparison, Brentford had 10 efforts in their game against Palace, although the Bees were more efficient in front of goal.
Mark Flekken had a good game at the weekend, with only Bournemouth’s Neto making more saves (7) than the Dutchman. He may need to do the same again.
Another curiosity from the first weekend is that Liverpool committed more fouls (18) than any other team. Brentford committed just six and Liverpool’s aggression under Slot is something the Bees will need to be wary of.
Of course, one major plotline behind Sunday’s clash is Fábio Carvalho and Sepp van den Berg returning to their former club.
Portuguese forward Carvalho featured 21 times for the Reds, scoring three times.
The 21-year-old made his debut for Brentford as a late substitute for Mathias Jensen and the attacking midfielder will hope to make an impact against his former club either from the start or off the bench.
One perhaps unexpected string to Carvalho’s bow is the threat he can pose from corners. The Bees’ new recruit scored three of his nine Championship goals on loan at Hull last season from attacking corners and his ability to find space and capitalise on loose clearances is a quality that Thomas Frank will no doubt look to exploit this season.
Scout Report
Initial signs are good as Slot looks to make his mark at Liverpool
There was bound to be a time when Liverpool dropped out of the Premier League title race after four straight top-three finishes between 2018/19 and 2021/22. That happened in 2022/23, when they just about managed to scrape fifth.
But the Reds were right back in the Premier League title race last term.
In the midst of a rare three-horse battle with Arsenal and Manchester City, the Reds won 12 and lost just one of their first 19 games leading up to Boxing Day, when a 2-0 win at Burnley took them top of the table for the first time.
They started 2024 with seven wins in eight in the league, an extra-time win over Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final and progression to the quarter-final of both of the FA Cup and the Europa League. A quadruple was still very much on the cards at the beginning of March.
What no doubt spurred them on was the desire to bid farewell to Jürgen Klopp in the best way possible, after the German announced in January he would leave at the end of the season, after a nine-year spell.
“This club, especially with the team we have and all the super things we have, needs a manager in his top game and top level. I cannot be that any more,” he said when the news broke. Only Bob Paisley, Tom Watson and Bill Shankly have managed more than Klopp’s total of 491 games.
It was not to be, though. Liverpool held onto top spot in the Premier League until early April, after which time Arsenal took over, before Man City eventually held firm to retain the trophy, nine points better off than the Reds.
They were beaten 4-3 by arch-rivals Manchester United in an FA Cup quarter-final epic at Old Trafford, then 3-1 on aggregate by eventual Europa League winners Atalanta.
“It doesn’t feel like an end. It feels like a start,” said Klopp, addressing the Anfield crowd after the win over Wolves on the final day. “Today, I saw a football team playing full of desire. That’s one part of development. That’s what you need.” Most notably, though, he gave his blessing to Slot by singing his name during his farewell speech.
Aside from the retirement of Thiago Alcantara and the release of Joel Matip, as Richard Morgan tells us, Liverpool’s squad is much the same as last year.
There have been no major incomings at the time of writing, yet no major outgoings either – barring the sale of Fábio Carvalho to Brentford, of course.
But that does not seem to have bothered too many, who know the squad at Slot’s disposal is already of the quality many can only dream of.
Pre-season was positive – with wins over Manchester United and Arsenal in the USA – and, crucially, Mohamed Salah looks to be back to his electric best.
The Egyptian scored just three times in his final 11 league games last season, but already has one goal and one assist to his name after a stellar showing against newly promoted Ipswich Town last weekend, cementing him at 10th on the list of the Premier League all-time top scorers with 158; six more goals will take him clear of Reds legend Robbie Fowler.
If Liverpool can add another midfielder before the transfer window slams shut, Slot will receive a huge boost as he looks to challenge at the top during his first season in England.
Regardless, the initial signs are good and there is widespread hope the Dutchman can collect the baton and pick up where Klopp left off.
In the Dugout
Arne Slot
Arne Slot had a long playing career in his native Netherlands, which spanned 18 years from 1995 to 2013.
He was a goalscoring midfielder – once capped internationally at U19 level – who scored 100 league goals in 462 appearances, over 300 of which came during spells at PEC Zwolle and NAC Breda.
During the three separate periods spent at Zwolle, he won the Eerste Divisie – the Netherlands’ second tier – in 2001/02 and 2011/12.
After retirement, Slot moved into a coaching role within PEC Zwolle’s youth academy, before four years at Cambuur, first as assistant to Henk de Jong, Marcel Keizer and then Rob Maas, then as joint head coach with Sipke Hulshoff. The pair guided Cambuur to a third-place finish in the Eerste Divisie in 2016/17, which secured a play-off spot, though they were defeated 3-2 on aggregate by MVV Maastricht.
Slot left Cambuur in the summer of 2017 to take up the assistant role at AZ Alkmaar and he was handed the head coach role two years later. His first and only full season in charge was disrupted by Covid but, when the season was abandoned on 24 April 2020, his side were joint top with Ajax.
He lasted less than eight more months in the role before he was reportedly sacked for a lack of focus after agreeing a deal to take over at Feyenoord in 2021. It was in Rotterdam that he really started to make a name for himself.
In 2021/22, Feyenoord finished third in the Eredivisie and as UEFA Conference League runners-up.
The following season, they won the league for the first time in six years, reached the semi-final of the KNVB Cup and the quarter-final of the Europa League.
And in 2023/24, they finished as Eredivisie runners-up and won the KNVB Cup.
In all, he won 98 of his 150 games in charge at De Kuip, before being named as Jürgen Klopp’s successor in April.
The Gameplan
With Sky Sports’ Richard Morgan
Sky Sports’ Richard Morgan explains how Arne Slot is likely to set up his Liverpool side at Anfield on Sunday:
“Much how Klopp would have, in a 4-3-3 shape, with Ibrahima Konaté likely to come in for Jarell Quansah in the heart of the Reds backline after coming on to replace the England defender at half-time at Portman Road.
“Other than that, expect the home side to line up exactly as they did against Ipswich in terms of formation and personnel.”
Last time out v Ipswich: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Quansah, van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Szoboszlai, Mac Allister; Salah, Jota, Díaz
Read our full interview with Richard Morgan here.
Team news
Toney future ‘up in the air’
Thomas Frank provided a squad update in his pre-match press conference on Friday.
On striker Ivan Toney, who missed the 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace, the Bees boss said: “Ivan has trained for the whole week with a good attitude in every aspect, so he could be involved, and he could not be involved.
“He could be here after 30 August, and he could not be here. Basically, everything is up in the air.
“If he is here, I am very happy. If he is not here, I am happy on his behalf.”
Rico Henry is “progressing very well” but Sunday’s game against Liverpool will come too soon for the full-back, while Josh Dasilva (knee), Aaron Hickey (hamstring) and Igor Thiago (meniscus) are also sidelined.
Frank confirmed that Fábio Carvalho is “definitely in the squad” and “it is possible” that Sepp van den Berg will be involved.
Match Officials
Stuart Attwell the man in the middle
Referee: Stuart Attwell
Assistants: Simon Bennett and Daniel Robathan
Fourth official: Michael Salisbury
VAR: Michael Oliver
On 25 June 2008, Stuart Attwell was promoted to the Premier League’s officials list after just one season in the Football League. This made him the youngest-ever Premier League referee at 25 years of age.
Attwell’s most recent Brentford assignment was the Bees’ 1-0 defeat at Sheffield United in December 2023.
He refereed 25 games last season, showing 100 yellow cards and five reds.
Last Time Out
Brentford 2 Crystal Palace 1
Yoane Wissa scored the winning goal as Brentford were victorious on the opening weekend of the Premier League season, beating Crystal Palace 2-1 at Gtech Community Stadium.
Bryan Mbeumo’s left-footed finish was cancelled out by an Ethan Pinnock own goal after the break, but Wissa netted on 76 minutes and the Bees withstood some late Palace pressure to get the 2024/25 campaign off to a perfect start.
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