Liverpool secured a 4-1 win against Brentford, maintaining their position atop the Premier League standings.
Brentford manager Thomas Frank conceded that his team’s defensive performance against Liverpool was lacking, citing uncharacteristic mistakes.
Despite Brentford’s early chances, including misses from Neal Maupay and Ivan Toney, Liverpool took the lead in the 35th minute through Darwin Nunez’s goal, capitalizing on a rapid counter-attack.
The victory saw Liverpool extend their lead at the Premier League summit by two points, marking a commanding performance at the Gtec Community Stadium.
Liverpool claimed their dominance in the second half, as Alexis Mac Allister and Mo Salah, who was making his comeback from a hamstring injury, found the back of the net. Despite Toney pulling one back for Brentford, Cody Gakpo sealed the victory for Liverpool in the dying moments of the match.
Following the game, Frank addressed the media in his post-match press conference, expressing caution about Brentford’s chances against the league leaders.
He emphasized that Brentford would need to be flawless to beat Liverpool, admitting they are “probably the best team in the world” and highlighted the significance of avoiding errors in such high-stakes encounters.
The Brentford boss said: “I thought we were brilliant in the first 35 minutes. We were the best team and created a lot of good moments. On a day, we should have shown the last quality to create a bigger chance or goal.
“We concede the first goal. We know we are a team that are very good at offensive set-pieces. We know we face a team that are very good at offensive transitions, probably the best in the world and also very good from their defensive set-pieces, we are completely aware of that.
“We know we are brave and had a lot of people forward but we made an unlikely error. It is the first goal we have conceded from an offensive set-piece in two years. I would have loved to avoided that but the third goal is unlikely we concede.
“Everyone knows we want to go man-to-man, everyone knows we are brave there for three years in the Premier League, we have created a lot of goals and chances from that.
“This season, we have conceded zero goals until today and zero chances and today we concede a goal. Two goals we’re normally very good at. To beat the best in the Premier League, you have to be perfect and unfortunately, we weren’t.”
In other Liverpool news, Jurgen Klopp Provides Details of Conversation Between Him and Brentford Star Ivan Toney After Saturday’s Win