English Premier
2025-01-18 - Brentford vs Liverpool
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 18th January 2025 - Kick Off 3pm
Brentford
The late show against Manchester City saw Brentford deservedly recover from 0-2 behind to earn a 2-2 draw to make up for some disappointing recent results. Now Thomas Frank has to prepare his team to recover and get ready to take on the Premier League leaders back in front of the home fans at the Gtech Community Stadium
Over the next four months, Brentford will be looking to find some consistency which may help them bring European Football to this part of West London. The fans will be disappointed that the team suffered an upset in the FA Cup Third Round, but Brentford have been strong at home in the Premier League where they have a 7-2-2 record.
Brentford's draw with Manchester City does mean they have won just 1 of their last 8 games in all competitions and that includes losing League Cup and FA Cup ties. They looked like being on course for a fourth home defeat in a row when trailing Manchester City on Tuesday, but the draw has snapped that disappointing run.
Thomas Frank may choose to freshen up the starting eleven, but the squad is stretched by injury and so the key names will be expected to be selected.
Liverpool
An inspired double substitution produced an immediate impact for Arne Slot and his Liverpool team, but they were not quite able to push on and beat title rivals Nottingham Forest at the City Ground. The draw might not be a bad result, but the key for Liverpool is to put the pressure on those chasing them by winning this fixture which is played before the likes of Arsenal and Forest are next out.
The side have a game in hand to be played in early February, and Liverpool are still 4 points clear of Arsenal after the matches played during the week. They will make the journey to West London with a 7-3-0 away record in the Premier League and Liverpool remain the only club in the top flight that have yet to suffer a defeat on their travels.
Liverpool might have been tough to beat this season, but it cannot be ignored that the result at the City Ground means they have won 1 of their last 4 games in all competitions and that against League Two Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup Third Round. Half of their last 6 away Premier League games have ended in draws.
Darwin Nunez is back from a suspension, which means Joe Gomez is the only expected absentee. Arne Slot may choose to rotate his squad a little bit with the likes of Curtis Jones looking for starting places. Despite his goal on Tuesday, Diogo Jota is a doubt having picked up some kind of knock that has kept him out of training.
Head to Head
Goals in each half helped Liverpool to a comfortable 2-0 win over Brentford at Anfield in August.
Brentford had scored three goals in each of their first 2 home matches against Liverpool at the Gtech Community Stadium- those matches ended 3-3 and 3-1 to The Bees.
However, it was Liverpool who won 1-4 here last season.
Prediction
This Premier League fixture in West London features two clubs who played on Tuesday and so there will be very few excuses used by Thomas Frank and Arne Slot if the result does not go their way.
Both Brentford and Liverpool came from behind to earn draws on that night and the feeling is that both will be pretty happy about that.
Backing that up with a big Premier League result on Saturday will be the ambition for the two teams and it could be an entertaining game.
Injuries are hurting Brentford, but they have shown plenty of attacking intent in their recent home games against Arsenal and Manchester City. They will certainly be aware of some of the difficulties that Liverpool have been showing in defending in some of their own fixtures of late, and Brentford may put their visitors under some pressure.
However, Arne Slot and his Liverpool attackers will be very aware of the Brentford defensive injuries that have left the hosts vulnerable too.
Nottingham Forest, Arsenal and Manchester City have all scored at least twice here, while avoiding defeat, and that means Brentford have conceded at least twice in 7 of their last 8 home Premier League fixtures.
Liverpool's away day performances have been impressive all season and only an inspired Matz Sels was able to make some big saves to prevent the Premier League leaders from winning at the City Ground. Expecting the same to happen here may be too much, but Brentford can play their part in another high-scoring game between the clubs at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Since returning to the top flight, games between Brentford and Liverpool at this Stadium have finished with six, four and five goals shared out. There is every chance that both teams find the back of the net and there are a lot of opportunities created in this one too and backing at least four goals to be shared out looks the best approach to take.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Brentford 1-3 Liverpool
