Newly promoted Brentford will continue their bid to impress Premier League crowds on Saturday as they host 2020 champions Liverpool at the Brentford Community Stadium (5.30pm; TV: Live on Sky Sports). Both teams will be looking for further success having won both last weekend and in the EFL Cup mid-week.
Can Brentford make any impact in this game? Read on for our EPL match preview and betting tips.
Brentford’s arrival at the top level of English football had been coming for some time, and now that the Bees are here, there’s already a feeling of here to stay about them. We are five games in and Thomas Frank’s well-oiled machine has picked up eight points, beating well-established Premier League sides such as Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers in the process. They are organised, tough to dispossess, while there’s a calmness to their approach that lends itself to survival in the top tier.
Saturday’s visitors have also impressed over the opening weeks of the campaign, picking up four wins and a draw from their five matches. Nobody has done it better than the Reds, who are currently level on points with Chelsea at the top of the table and only 7/2 with the bookies to win the EPL title. It already looks like those two sides are going to be hard to stop this term. There has never been any doubt about the offensive ability of Jurgen Klopp’s team, plus this time around, they have their captain and defensive giant Virgil Van Dijk fit and ready to go, so expect big things from the Merseyside boys this term.
Nullifying the opposition
Over the first five games, we haven’t exactly seen Brentford batter teams offensively. Although they did deliver a commanding and dominant performance against Wolves last time out, scoring twice en route to a convincing win. They have notched just five in five and are averaging a respectable yet modest 1.3 expected goals for per 90 minutes.
What the Bees have excelled at is keeping the opposition quiet. They kept a clean sheet on the opening day against Arsenal, while they’ve since shut out both Crystal Palace and Wolves. Just two goals conceded in five matches is an excellent return, but it’s not just that they’ve stopped their own net from bulging numerous times, no. What’s really been impressive is how Frank’s men have stopped their opponents from getting seriously dangerous.
In only one of their five matches have Saturday’s hosts conceded more than 0.6 expected goals, which is impressive, as is a total of 3.6 xG against. Stopping Liverpool’s attack is an altogether different task, but nobody can say that the Bees haven’t been getting in plenty of practice when it comes to nullifying the opposition.
Vibrant visitors
It’s all smiles on the red half of Merseyside at present. Klopp’s men are once again stopping teams in their tracks, giving little away and seemingly scoring for fun. They’ve notched 12 times in five matches, scoring more than once in four out of five, plus they’ve kept four clean sheets and have conceded just a single goal, and that was against the team that many people are already tipping for the title.
Like Brentford, Saturday’s visitors have done a pleasing job of keeping teams relatively quiet, keeping multiple clean sheets. They have not given a tremendous amount away.
BrentfordFC vs LFC: What’s the best bet?
Brentford have started well but facing a side of Liverpool’s pedigree is an altogether different task, one that the hosts have not yet faced. Realistically, the visitors are worthy favourites, though they’re not easy to back at a general price of 4/7. Brave punters may like the look of the hosts at odds of 6/1, while the home team to avoid anything more than a single-goal defeat makes some appeal at 17/10. After all, Frank’s men have shown themselves to be an astute side when it comes to frustrating and taking the sting out of the game. And it because of their ability to keep things tight that the preference is ‘Under 2.5 Goals’ at 23/20.
Beating Liverpool will be tough, but on their own patch, the well-drilled Bees will fancy themselves to make life hard for Jurgen Klopp’s trophy hunters. Less than three goals have bee scored in each of Brentford’s five Premier League matches, and while that will change sooner or later, there’s reason to feel that there’s less chance of their run of low-scoring game coming to an end on Saturday than the current prices suggest.
Between them, Brentford and Liverpool have kept seven clean sheets, while they’ve conceded a combined total of just three goals in ten matches. Such facts are hard to ignore, as is the fact that Liverpool are giving up little in the way of chances, much like the hosts. Just as they’ve conceded few combined goals, a combined average of 1.74 expected goals conceded points towards no shortage of defensive security. What’s more, only two teams in the Premier League sit above Brentford and Liverpool when it comes to both shots conceded and shots on target conceded.
If you’re looking to get involved, there are several worse options than a bet on less than three goals being scored. So, coming to the betting tips for this EPL game preview, we rely on this one recommendation:
- Go under 2.5 goals @ best odds of 23/20 with BetVictor.
Compare Brentford FC vs LFC Outright Match Winner Betting Odds from Top Bookies
 |  |  |  |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liverpool | 9/20 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 4/9 | 40/85 | 9/20 |
| Draw | 7/2 | 10/3 | 16/5 | 10/3 | 7/2 | 16/5 |
| Brentford | 6/1 | 6/1 | 6/1 | 6/1 | 13/2 | 6/1 |
Bradley Gibbs is an experienced football writer. He is an expert analyst on Premier League, and all global football leagues & tournaments, for Just Bookies. Bradley has been published by many respected outlets, including USA Betting and the Racing & Football Outlook. He has also written betting strategy guides.