Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

A look back at the key moments in Liverpool’s victory against Brentford.

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Brentford 1 - 4 Liverpool

Brentford: Toney 78’
Liverpool: Nunez 35’, Mac Allister 55’, Salah 67’, Gakpo 86’

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Pre-Match

Mohamed Salah was back on the bench for the first time since his injury in the early stages of the African Cup of Nations last month. Conor Bradley once again made the starting XI, replacing the injured Trent Alexander-Arnold at right-back. Liverpool are wearing their purple kit. Do I hate it? Do I love it? It’s hard to say.

First Half

The whistle blew on the early kickoff, and it shows in the teams as they get started. Neither shoot off to the races, but instead, both of them seem content to work their way into the match.

Brentford gets the first chance. Janelt is worryingly unmarked in the box, but his shot gets dragged wide. That’s an early let off for the Reds, who haven’t yet woken up. Can you get jetlag traveling from Liverpool to London? The Bees get all of the initial chances in the first 15 minutes.

Finally, Diogo Jota gets a good opportunity, but his shot off of Andy Robertson’s cross is tipped over the bar by the keeper. The resulting corner came to nothing.

Curtis Jones in pain after a rough tackle. He was replaced by Ryan Gravenberch. Not what anyone wanted to see this early in the game.

To take our minds off of that, Darwin Nunez graced us with a gorgeous goal soon after. Van dijk clears the ball in their own half. It landed with Jota, who flicked it to Nunez. 1v1 with the keeper, Nunez lofted it over his head and straight into the goal of lovely first blood.

But don’t get too happy, because moments later, it’s Jota who leaves the pitch on a stretcher after another meaty challenge. What is going on? He’s replaced by Mohamed Salah, so at least it’s nice to see him back.

All of Liverpool’s first half injuries added eight minutes in added time, so Salah had plenty of time to stretch his legs before halftime.

Second Half

Cody Gakpo joined the second half in place of Nunez, which is concerning.

The second half begins with another swift counterattack begun by van Dijk’s headed clearance. It landed perfectly at Salah’s feet to take the Egyptian away. However, he couldn’t get angle right, and his attempt is easily dealt with by the keeper.

He made up for it minutes later with a sweet pass to Alexis Mac Allister in the box. Mac Allister controlled it beautifully and slid through a few defenders to poke it into the goal for Liverpool’s second.

The purple Reds enjoy a long spell of lazy possession. They patiently kept hold of it while searching for an opening in the Brentford defense.

Kelleher’s goal kick made it straight down the middle and past the midfield line. It’s flicked back towards the Brentford goal by Gakpo. All of the Brentford defenders stare at it, while Salah sprinted to grab it. He collected, performed some trademark Salah magic, and just like that, he marked his return to the team with an assist and a goal.

Brentford got one back on 78’. Van Dijk got caught out, and it was a shame for Kelleher. He made a solid first save, but the rebound from Toney found the back of the net.

Harvey Elliott and Joe Gomez came on in place of Bradley and Mac Allister in the last few minutes of the game. Gomez almost immediately made it worth it by sending yet another long ball neatly through Brentford’s tired defense and reaching Luis Diaz. Diaz got it through to Gakpo who picked up Liverpool’s fourth goal of the game.

Kelleher made another good save on a Brentford corner. Toney nearly grabbed a second from a header, but Kelleher batted it away.

A very late header from van Dijk slammed against the woodwork and then straight into the keeper’s hands, denying the Reds a fifth.

Final Thoughts

Liverpool secured an excellent away win to, perhaps temporarily, jump five points ahead in the league.