Who: Liverpool vs. Brentford
What: English Premier League
Where: Brentford Community Stadium in London, United Kingdom
When: Saturday at 8pm (19:00 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 5pm (16:00 GMT) in advance of our live text commentary stream.
Liverpool’s four-game losing streak was ended on Tuesday when they came from behind to win at Eintracht Frankfurt, but Brentford’s continued Premier League dominance will likely put the title defense under serious pressure.
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When fierce rivals Manchester United defeated the Reds 2-1 at home on Sunday, their fourth straight defeat, three of which came in the league, was a 2-1 defeat.
Brentford, who had already put pressure on United with a 3-1 home win on September 27, have had a mixed season in comparison to their impressive recent performances following their long-awaited top flight debut.
The selection of Liverpool’s mercurial Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah will be the favorite to win three points, but Brentford Community Stadium in West London is rarely an easy place to visit.
Our featured Premier League game on Saturday is examined more closely by Al Jazeera Sport:
What has been Isak’s most recent status at Liverpool?
Alexander Isak’s poor start to his Liverpool career was compounded by a groin injury in the Champions League victory in Frankfurt.
At the halftime of the 5-1 victory, the Sweden striker, who was signed from Newcastle for a British record fee of 125 million pounds ($170m) at the end of the summer transfer window, was withdrawn.
After right back Jeremie Frimpong fell off midway through the first half due to a hamstring issue, this was Liverpool’s second injury of the night.
After training with the main Newcastle squad in the offseason while battling for a move to Liverpool, Isak has been improving his match sharpness over the past few weeks. For his new club, he has only one goal in eight games in all competitions.
Given the player’s turbulent preseason, Slot stated last week that only now could be fairly evaluated.
The Liverpool manager said, “I hope it’s not that bad, but he had to go off because he felt his groin.” “Many people wanted me to play him more, and we needed to strike a balance, and sadly, today, that balance wasn’t exactly what we wanted to achieve. But let’s hope for the best.
Slot expressed concern about managing Isak’s playing time over the past month and how the striker’s recent international success strengthened his belief that he was prepared to string together starts.
The Dutchman claimed that when he arrived at the club, he had hardly trained. You bring him slowly forward, and then you realize there must be a time when he can play twice per week, and the first time we try, he did it with Sweden, he must go off.
You typically try to get players ready for once-a-week football, but if you’re Liverpool, you play three days or three times in eight days, but we’ve had a bad season this year. In a week, we must play three times.
We’ve made an effort to get that ready for him. He returned from the national team on Sunday after being rested, and we were extremely cautious. Although the margins at the top are small, we believed he was well-prepared for that.
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Could Isak’s injury benefit Liverpool?
The Premier League’s most expensive player’s departure could actually aid Slot in discovering the winning formula to turn around Liverpool’s fortunes.
The Sweden attacker’s only goal has been scored since moving from Newcastle to second-place Southampton in the League Cup.
Isak was substituted at halftime in Eintracht Frankfurt’s 5-1 Champions League victory on Wednesday.
Liverpool quickly jumped into action in the second half thanks to Florian Wirtz playing his preferred role behind the striker and Hugo Ekitike returning as the center-forward.
Since making a 100-million-pound ($133m) transfer from Bayer Leverkusen, Wirtz has had his first two assists. He has been dropped for the last two Premier League games.
Ekitike has started his side’s three Premier League defeats against Crystal Palace, Chelsea, and United despite his impressive start, which includes five goals in 11 of his team’s 11 appearances with Liverpool.
The 23-year-old should have the opportunity to pursue his desired side despite Isak’s absence.
Should Salah be dropped from the EPL at Liverpool?
After the Liverpool forward’s barren run for the club stretched to six games, Slot said on Friday that Salah’s return is the “last thing” he is concerned about.
The Egyptian international was dropped from the starting lineup for Liverpool’s midweek victory in Frankfurt, where he has not scored a Premier League goal from open play since the season’s opening weekend.
He missed two important chances as the home team fought fervently for an equalizer in Liverpool’s defeat by Manchester United late in the match.
Slot claimed he had no idea why Salah, who won the Premier League’s Golden Boot last year, was struggling.
At his pregame press conference, he said, “Players miss chances, and Mo is a human being as well.”
“We’re used to him missing chances, let alone a few games in a row, but these things can happen,” he said.
The manager, however, expressed confidence that Salah, who has only scored two Premier League goals this season, would rediscover his prowess.
Mo starting to score goals once more, he said, is the last thing I worry about.
Because he has done that his entire life, and I anticipate that he will do that as well for our club in the coming weeks and months.
In the summer transfer window, Liverpool splashed out about 450 million pounds ($600m) on new players after winning the Premier League last year.
Dominik Szoboszlai, a midfielder, and Trent Alexander-Arnold’s departure from Real Madrid combined with other injuries have caused a number of different players to play right back.
Slot acknowledged that Salah, 33, who plays to the right of Liverpool’s attack, was taking time to adjust.
He has frequently been in promising positions, and he may have even scored more goals with Trent. He continued, “I don’t know.”
“But I believe that everyone in your squad needs to find new connections again in general, which is typical for every player, especially if you have a lot of changes in your squad over the summer.
Mo is not a case in point.
Head-to-head
The teams have only won once in their 24th meeting, with Brentford winning once and Liverpool winning 15 of the matches.
The Reds have won each of their previous four games.
news from the Brentford team
Antoni Milambo is still sidelined because of an ACL issue, while Aaron Hickey is out with a knee injury. Josh Dasilva recently left the team, but he will also have a knee problem.
news from the Liverpool team
Due to hamstring issues, Jeremie Frimpong and Alisson Becker are both out of Brentford, and slot is keeping an eye on Isak and Midfielder Ryan Gravenberch.
Starting lineup for Brentford was anticipated
Kelleher, Collins, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg
Starting line-up for Liverpool is anticipated
Source: Aljazeera
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