Víctor Munoz and Alexander Isak scored within nine minutes of the second half as Liverpool came from behind to beat nine-man Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium and move into fifth in the Premier League.
Keane Lewis-Potter headed home Igor Thiago’s shot in the first half Beeswhose task was made considerably more difficult when Yehor Yarmolyuk was dismissed in first-half added time for headbutting rival defender Jeremy Jacquet.
Bradley Barcola he collected Florian Wirtz’s insightful pass, cut inside the box and equalized after the restart, then nodded the ball down for Isak to strike from close range for the winner.
New signing Barcola fired against the crossbar with 11 minutes remaining and Brentford’s Vitaly Janelt received a second booking in the 92nd minute. Liverpool won for the second time in three days after a 6-3 win at Austria’s LASK in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Brentford v Liverpool: Isak’s goal ‘fantastic game’
Dominik Szoboszlai was injured before Brentford’s goal left Liverpool facing back-to-back league defeats after his Defeat 3-0 Sunday at home to Manchester City.
The departure of midfielder Yarmolyuk was a turning point, although Liverpool could have backed themselves to win against 11 men with the help of a £361m front trio in Isak, Wirtz and Barcola.
“It’s excellent play from a centre-forward,” former Premier League striker Glenn Murray told BBC Radio 5 Live of the Sweden international’s goal.
“Touch it, finish it, as fast as you want. The keeper (Caoimhin Kelleher) can’t get it and it’s in the back of the net.
“Excellent from Alexander Isak. He wasn’t really in the game too much, but that’s the sign of a top centre-forward when you don’t have a lot of attention, when you haven’t had the ball a lot, and then you come alive.
“It’s a wonderful touch. Right foot just to keep it under control, left foot, same step, into the far corner.”
Brentford team vs Liverpool
Brentford made three changes from their previous squad at Aston Villa.
Sepp van den Berg returned from a groin injury for his first appearance of the season in defense in place of Jannik Schuster, who had an ankle problem.
Mathias Jensen and Dango Ouattara also replaced El Hadji Malick Diouf and Kevin Schade, the latter picking up a shoulder injury at Villa Park.
Mikkel Damsgaard (ankle) and Nathan Collins (shin) returned to the matchday squad after injury. Antoni Milambo (knee) was out.
Brentford: Caoimhin Kelleher, Michael Kayode, Sepp van den Berg, Kristoffer Ajer, Yehor Yarmoliuk, Vitaly Janelt, Dango Ouattara, Mathias Jensen, Keane Lewis-Potter, Igor Thiago, Fabio Carvalho
Substitutes: Hakon Valdimarsson, Mark Flekken, Aaron Hickey, Kevin Schade, Josh Dasilva, Mikkel Damsgaard, Yunus Emre Konak, Nathan Collins, Paris Maghoma
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place
- Gtech Community Stadium
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referee
- John Brooks
Keane Lewis-Potter 44′
Víctor Muñoz 62′
Alexander Isak 70′
Liverpool vs Brentford team
Liverpool made six changes from their defeat at City, bringing in Virgil van Dijk, Milos Kerkez, Alexis Mac Allister, Szoboszlai, Isak and Munoz.
Szoboszlai (hamstring) and Isak (thigh) had been doubts. Cody Gakpo was benched after an ankle problem.
Ryan Gravenberch was booked after being sent off in their 3-0 defeat at Manchester City six days earlier.
Giovanni Leoni and Conor Bradley (both knee) and Hugo Ekitike (Achilles) were sidelined.
Liverpool: Alisson Becker, Ronald Araujo, Jeremy Jacquet, Virgil van Dijk, Milos Kerkez, Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis MacAllister, Victor Munoz, Florian Wirtz, Bradley Barcola, Alexander Isak
Substitutes: Giorgi Mamardashvili, Joe Gomez, Wataru Endo, Cody Gakpo, Kostas Tsimikas, Jeremie Frimpong, Trey Nyoni, Lewis Koumas, Rio Ngumoha
Brentford vs Liverpool Premier League Stats
- Brentford went unbeaten in their two Premier League games against Liverpool last season (W1 D1), the latter their longest unbeaten run against the Reds in the league between April 1936 and November 1937 (4)
- The previous five Premier League meetings between Brentford and Liverpool at the Gtech Community Stadium had featured 22 goals at an average of 4.4 per game, with both sides scoring in four of those five games; the exception was a 2-0 win for Liverpool in 2024/25 in their title-winning campaign under Arne Slot.
- The Bees (4th) faced Liverpool (9th) while above them in the league table for the first time since March 1938, when the 20th-placed Reds beat their sixth-placed opponents 3-1 at Griffin Park.
- Brentford had been on their best run since the start of a league campaign since 2006/07 in League One (top 7) and are unbeaten in eight games in the division, which is the current longest run of any team (2 wins, 6 draws).
- Since their promotion to the top flight in 2021, Brentford have dropped more points from winning positions than any other team in the Premier League (102), including eight points ahead before this game this season.
- Liverpool have won their last three Premier League games away from home, the last with their longest away winning streak between August and October 2024 (four)
- The Reds suffered their first Premier League defeat of the season last time out, also ending manager Andoni Iraola’s 23-match unbeaten run in the competition.
- Alexander Isak has scored in all five Premier League appearances against Brentford, including four at the Gtech Community Stadium.
- Since Brentford joined the Premier League in 2021/22, only Phil Foden (6) and Harvey Barnes (4) have as many or more as away players than Isak (3).
Latest updated Premier League table
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position 1, 2, 3, 4: Promotion – Champions League (League stage)
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position 5: Promotion – Europa League (League phase)
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position 18, 19, 20: Relegation – Championship
