Jurgen Klopp has warned that Brentford have plenty of weapons that can hurt Liverpool – and is very wary of their set-piece threat.
The Reds travel to the Gtec Community Stadium today where they can move five points clear at the top of the Premier League and put the pressure on rivals Manchester City and Arsenal.
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But Liverpool have failed to beat Brentford on the road since they were promoted to the top flight in 2021 – losing 3-1 in the fixture last season. The Bees have picked up in recent weeks following the return to action of talisman Ivan Toney, who served an eight-month ban for breaching FA betting regulations.
Klopp knows that the Reds must do more than focus on Toney, however. They’ll welcome back Yoane Wissa and Frank Onyeka from the African Cup of Nations, while the Liverpool manager is wary that Neal Maupay – on loan from Merseyside rivals Everton – can cause issues having scored seven goals in all competitions this season.
” It’s super, super-tricky, super-tricky there,” Klopp told reporters. “The way they play, the way they set it up with or without Toney makes a difference, [having] all the guys back from the Africa Cup of Nations makes a difference. Maupay found his feet, [he] makes a difference. [They are] well organised, set-pieces, cheeky, whether it’s rhythm-breaks… obviously when you are good at set-pieces it makes sense you get set-pieces, so they want set-pieces. That’s how it is.
“How can you defend Brentford for 95 minutes by avoiding any kind of set-piece? That’s not possible in football. On top of that, they are not only set-pieces but just really good at it, very compact defending, very good in counter-attack, very brave in these moments. [They] have the speed and a clear idea, a well-coached team and the atmosphere in the stadium they can create is really good.
“But saying all that anyway with what we want to do and where we want to end up this season, we have to be on top of our game as well. That means we have to be the team where they think in a similar way about: ‘OK, if you defend that, they do that, if you defend this, then they do that.’ That’s exactly the way we have to approach it. I’m really fine, especially with the resilience we showed recently. It’s just, yes, good form [and] then Arsenal, obviously a proper dip there.
“Then Burnley [is] a super-difficult game. But again, the domination and the attitude we showed in this game, dealing with a really difficult situation inside the squad, I really liked a lot. Now we have to be at our best. If you want to win at Brentford, you definitely have to be at your best. It’s a really smart-coached team.”
