That’s all for today, but we’ll have a match report along shortly. Goodnight!
Liverpool reaction
Alexis Mac Allister
We played a fantastic game and gave everything with and without the ball. We know there is still room for improvement – there are times we need to be patient but we are used to being quite direct. We are in transition and working very hard to get used to Arne’s ideas.
Luis Diaz (with the help of his translator, Alexis Mac Allister)
As a winger I need to score and assist so I’m very happy. It was a nice counter-attack.
Full time; Liverpool 2-0 Brentford
Liverpool continue their strong start under Arne Slot with another impressive 2-0 victory. They were brilliant in the second half, when Mo Salah added to Luis Diaz’s thrilling early goal. They also hit the woodwork twice and Nathan Collins twice denied Diogo Jota with brilliant blocks. Bigger tests await, but they look really good.
Updated
90+1 min Endo replaces Ryan Gravenberch in the Liverpool midfield. Five minutes of added time.
88 min Gakpo seems to foul Roerslev in the area but gets away with it and wallops a dangerous cross that is headed clear by Pinnock. Liverpool have been far too good in the second half.
85 min Elliott's cross is headed wide by Nunez, though he was offside anyway.
83 min: Liverpool substitution Harvey Elliott replaces the goalscorer Mo Salah.
81 min: Gakpo hits the bar! Robertson vrooms forwards from midfield and pushes the ball out to Gakpo. He cuts inside, 20 yards out, and whips a trademark effort that hits the noggin of Collins and flashes against the crossbar. The resulting corner is headed wide by Konate.
Liverpool have played some exhilarating stuff, particularly in the second half.
78 min Brentford played quite well without really testing Alisson. That second goal has finished them off, though, and they’ll be glad to get away with conceding three or four.
74 min: Double substitution for Brentford Kevin Schade and Frank Onyeke replace Yoane Wissa and Vitaly Janelt.
72 min: Triple substitution for Liverpool Diogo Jota, the eyecatching Trent Alexander-Arnold and the outstanding Luis Diaz give way to Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Conor Bradley.
Szoboszlai won the ball in midfield, which Mac Allister then played early to Diaz. He angled a precise through pass to Salah, who ran round the ball and teased it slowly over Flekken. Expertly done.
There will be a check for offside but it looks fine.
Updated
GOAL! Liverpool 2-0 Brentford (Salah 71)
Mo Salah makes it two with a fine goal!
Updated
69 min Mbeumo wants a penalty after some heavy-handed defending from Andy Robertson in the area. Stuart Attwell doesn’t give it, and then the flag goes up, though presumably both are being checked. Either way, no penalty.
67 min: Great defending! Jota’s close-range shot is superbly blocked by Collins. The chance was made by Diaz, who has been electric today. He swerved infield, away from Roerslev, then reversed a neat pass to give Jota a shooting chance.
66 min: Double substitution Mikkel Damsgaard and Fabio Carvalho, who gets a warm welcome from both sets of fans, replace Keane Lewis-Potter and Mathias Jensen.
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64 min: Terrific save! Salah scurries away from Ajer and into the area. His cutback is deflected towards Diaz, who sweeps a shot from 10 yards that is brilliantly tipped round the post by Flekken.
Liverpool have played some sheer delightful football in the last 10 minutes.
62 min: Alexander-Arnold hits the post straight from a corner! He was definitely trying to score. There might have been a slight touch off somebody but either it thumped the post. Moments later, Konate heads too close to Flekken from 10 yards.
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61 min Beautiful football from Liverpool, five consecutive one-touch passes in and around the area. The last was an ingenious through ball from Mac Allister towards Salah that was just poked behind for a corner by Janelt.
Updated
59 min: Great block by Collins! That’s surely saved a goal. Mac Allister, 25 yards out, drove a flat pass towards Alexander-Arnold on the right side of the area. He volleyed it back across to Jota, who looked set to score untl Collins appeared on his blindside to deflect the shot over the bar.
56 min: Chance for Brentford! Jensen takes a short corner on the left, gets it back and curls a fine ball to the far post. Collins climbs all over Diaz and forces a close-range header that is pushed up in the area by Alisson. That’s a pretty good save, and he completed the job by punching the loose ball away.
53 min Alexander-Arnold, on the halfway line, cuts across the sweetest long pass into Jota, 25 yards from goal. He turns, moves forward and hits a shot that is blocked. The pass from Alexander-Arnold really was gorgeous.
51 min Lewis-Potter runs infield from the left and curls the ball across to Mbeumo on the right edge of the area. He uses the overlapping Roerslev by not using him, cutting inside to whack a shot that deflects behind off Konate. Brentford have had a number of promising openings like that.
49 min Szoboszlai’s driven cross from the right is met at the near post by Diaz, whose jaunty flicked is well blocked.
47 min: Fine save by Flekken! Diaz’s driven cross is thighed up in the air by Jota, who then launches into an overhead kick. It’s going wide but turns into a great pass for Robertson, whose close-range header hits Flekken just below the neck and goes behind for a corner.
Updated
46 min Jota elbows Collins in the jaw, almost certainly accidentally, and the referee settles for giving Brentford a free-kick. Looked painful though.
46 min Peep peep! Liverpool begin the second half.
“I wonder if Brentford are keeping Toney off the field to drum up interest,” says Kári Tulinius. “Last year wasn’t the same player when he came back from his suspension, and I wonder if the Bees hierarchy think having him play would make his value go down. If not, it seems a bit daft not to have him in the squad because they need someone to unsettle the Liverpool defense, who’ve been very comfortable.”
Match reports
“Update from the important game today: Hearts handed a 3-1 skelping by the mighty Motherwell, whose scorers of Mcginn, O’donnell and Sparrow (two defenders and a midfielder) are definitely indicative of scoring threats all over the park and not, eg, that our forwards have one shooting boot between them,” writes James Humphries.
“Genuinely though, keep a eye out for Tawanda Maswanhise - young Zimbabwean forward in on loan, and he looks proper tasty. In any case, had to buy two pints and a whisky to hit the minimum card payment in the 100 Club, so must dash; up the Well!
Half time: Liverpool 1-0 Brentford
An engaging first half at Anfield. Liverpool played some bright stuff either side of Luis Diaz’s coruscating goal and deserve to be in front. It took Brentford a while to get going, but they finished strongly and will still fancy their chances.
44 min Janelt runs Mac Allister over and is booked. Thomas Frank is not impressed.
43 min Janelt pings a crossfield pass out to Lewis-Potter on the left. He cuts inside Alexander-Arnold on the edge of the area and whips a curling shot that is too close to Alisson. It was a good attack, though, and Lewis-Potter will be encouraged by how easily he beat Alexander-Arnold in the hyphen wars.
41 min Alexander-Arnold, who has been a constant threat, cuts inside Pinnock n the edge of the area and whizzes a left-foot shot that deflects over the bar.
Updated
40 min Now Norgaard is booked for a cynical off-the-ball block on Diaz.
38 min Gravenberch nobbles Jensen and is booked. Jensen is in a fair bit of pain, though hopefully it’s just an impact injury.
36 min “Liverpool still look like you can play through their midfield easily enough,” says Niall Mullen. “It really feels like they could do with a (quality) defensively minded midfielder if they are to have a chance at winning a big pot this season.”
They’re still after Zubimendi I think, though no idea whether there’s a Plan B.
And that’s all from me, I’ve been Fabrizio Ornstein, good night!
Updated
35 min The corner is only half cleared. Collins has a shot blocked by Szoboszlai and Liverpool threaten to break again, only for Gravenberch to underhit his lofted pass to Diaz.
35 min This is a good spell for Brentford. After some intricate play on the right, Roerslev lofts a dangerous deep cross that is headed behind by Konate. Excellent defending.
32 min Free-kick to Brentford 40 yards out on the left. Mbeumo’s cross is met by Norgaard (I think), who heads across goal and wide. That looked a very presentable chance but he barely made contact with the ball.
30 min Szoboszlai loses the ball to Wissa, fouls him in trying to win it back and is booked. Wissa has been Brentford’s most lively attacker.
28 min Diaz is flattened on the edge of the area after another sinuous run. Alexander-Arnold clips the free-kick over the bar. While this isn’t a battering, LIverpool are well on top.
24 min “That was an absolute beauty of a counterattack goal, writes Mary Waltz. “Brentford defenders had no chance to stop that perfection.”
The timing of the run and pass were the key; it was a beauty.
21 min Alexander-Arnold plays a really clever pass into the area for Salah, who slices miles wide under pressure. A quarter chance at best, but Liverpool are well on top now.
19 min Good stuff again from Liverpool. Diaz reverses a short return pass to the underlapping Robertson, whose first-time shot is pushed round the near post by Flekken.
17 min Check this out then.
LUIS DIAZ!!
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 25, 2024
What a counter-attack this is from Liverpool 😍💫 pic.twitter.com/wjWfsPxJU8
15 min “A man waiting for a Tesco Express to open is not a calm man,” says Niall Mullen. “There is something in there that he desperately needs, possibly why he’s so sweaty and fidgety.”
I was going to say a man waiting for the cinema to open because he got there too early for the screening, but I couldn’t think of the word. And that, ladies and germs, is why you should never show what’s behind the curtain.
All that possession football and the goal came from a devastating break, “a Jurgen Klopp goal” as Jamie Carragher puts it. Gravenberch won a 50/50 with Janelt on the edge of his own area, with the ball ricocheting to Jota. He got on his bike, covering 40 yards before reversing a through ball to Diaz. He timed his run perfectly, scooted away from Pinnock and clipped a very confident finish past Flekken from 15 yards.
What a cracking goal.
Updated
GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Brentford (Diaz 13)
A Brentford corner leads to the opening goal – for Liverpool.
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12 min “It’s a bit off topic for this match but i’ve been thinking about Chelsea and the fact that other clubs are starting to circle like shoppers in Tesco around the assistant with the yellow label machine when it’s approaching late afternoon,” says David Wall. “Wouldn’t it be more fun if those other clubs tacitly agreed to not buy or loan any of those 15 ostracised players before the end of this transfer window, so Chelsea have to handle all those unhappy players who now have no reason to show any loyalty to the club. And it’d be a treat for journalists, the scale of leaks from the dressing room would shame even a water company executive.”
It’s a lovely idea. Alas, football clubs and the greater good go together like Marilyn Monroe and Phil Mitchell.
11 min Wissa breaks dangerously from that corner but Szoboszlai tracks him well and Liveprool get back into their shape.
9 min Liverpool are keeping the ball in the middle third for long periods, a notable change of style from the Klopp years. After one such spell, the ball is fired down the right towards Szoboszlai and Pinnock concedes the first corner.
8 min “I already have one regret about the Slot era and that is that in his first presser he did not announce himself as the Shiny One,” says Ian Copestake. “It’s about time Liverpool had some bald energy after years of hirsute emotion.”
7 min See 4 min. It’s genuinely been a decent start; there just hasn’t been anything of note to describe.
4 min Both teams have started brightly, albeit without creating anything of note. It’s interesting that Brentford have stayed with a back four; as Jamie Carragher says on Sky, they usually always play a back five against the big teams.
2 min This is how the two tems have set up.
Liverpool (4-1-4-1) Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch; Salah, Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Diaz; Jota.
Brentford (4-3-3) Flekken; Roerslev, Collins, Pinnock, Ajer; Jensen, Norgaard, Janelt; Mbeumo, Wissa, Lewis-Potter.
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1 min Peep peep! Brentford kick off from left to right as we watch. It looks like they’ve started with a back four, which is a surprise to me anyway.
Arne Slot is either really calm or a really good actor. He stands around in the tunnel with the expression of a man waiting for the Tesco Express to open. When he walks out there are no elaborate gestures, just a wave to the fans and a smile.
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Don’t cross Arne’s path/cos you’re gonna get stomped
The main man speaks
"It's nice to play your first home game." 💪
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 25, 2024
Arne Slot says he's excited for his first game at Anfield as Liverpool boss 🔴 pic.twitter.com/BwSKKSPHdx
#baldcommunity
The world’s best keeper (arguably) talks to Will Unwin (definitely)
[Arne Slot] is a nice person, a family man with a lot of conviction in his ideas of what he wants from the players and the team and what he wants to achieve. His goals are for greatness, great things at the club. The same as mine. So it was a good conversation.
Plenty going on in the early games. Anthony Gordon has just equalised for Newcastle at Bournemouth, and Noni Madueke has scored a second-half hat-trick to put Chelsea 5-2 up at Wolves.
Team news
Arne Slot continues the systematic destruction of Jarell Quansah’s self-confidence by replacing him with Ibrahima Konate. That’s the only change from the team that started at Ipswich last week.
Brentford almost make one change: Keane Lewis-Potter in, Kevin Schade out. That almost certainly means a switch to a back five. The two new signings from Liverpool, Fabio Carvalho and Sepp van den Berg, are on the bench.
Liverpool (4-1-4-1) Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch; Salah, Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Diaz; Jota.
Substitutes: Kelleher, Endo, Gomez, Nunez, Gakpo, Elliott, Tsimikas, Quansah, Bradley.
Brentford (5-3-2) Flekken; Roerslev, Collins, Pinnock, Ajer, Lewis-Potter; Norgaard, Janelt, Jensen; Mbeumo, Wissa.
Substitutes: Valdimarsson, van den Berg, Schade, Carvalho, Onyeka, Mee, Yarmolyuk, Damsgaard, Trevitt.
Referee Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire)
Updated
Preamble
Arne Slot, welcome to Anfield. The status of Liverpool manager is such that a home debut counts as a major event, one that has happened only five times this century If you include caretakers, which is exactly what we’re going to do as it supports the half-arsed narrative we’re peddling, Chelsea have had as many in last two years.
It surely won’t always be this way, but the transition between Jurgen Klopp and Slot has been very smooth. Even though Liverpool didn’t get Martin Zubimendi, they look in decent shape and started the season with an ultimately emphatic 2-0 win at Ipswich.
Their opponents today are the great regenerators: Brentford. They don’t change manager too often but their team continues to evolve, and last week they beat Crystal Palace 2-1 without Ivan Toney, who was left out because of the distraction of that bloody open window. He’s absent again today; we’ll have the rest of the team news shortly.
Kick off 4.30pm.
