Liverpool’s push for the Champions League moves forward on Saturday (5.30pm), as the Reds welcome Brentford to Merseyside. The visitors also have their sights on European football next year and may also have their eyes on an upset here. Can the visitors get a result? This match preview and its betting tips aims to answer that.
After their dramatic late win against Tottenham on Sunday afternoon, Jurgen Klopp’s would have been riding high, a feeling that they seemingly harnessed and took forward into Wednesday’s fixture against Fulham. They certainly did not have it all their own way against the Cottagers, but they stood strong and ground out a narrow victory, one that signalled five wins on the spin for the Reds, who now have an outside chance of squeezing into the top four. Of course, Manchester United would need to falter and help them out, but that is not entirely out of the question.
Liverpool are not the only team involved in this fixture searching for a place on the continent next season. After picking up another important win last time out, Saturday’s visitors find themselves in a lofty ninth position. They are just four points behind Aston Villa in seventh, so it is far from beyond the realms of possibility that they could sneak into the Europa Conference League.
The Bees will go to Anfield off the back of two encouraging wins, and they have certainly upset a few big teams this season, so we shouldn’t be surprised if Thomas Frank’s men cause the hosts some problems here.
Home form hard to pick holes in
We all know that it has been anything but a vintage season for Jurgen Klopp’s men. They crashed out of the Champions League in quite unfamiliar style given that they have been in several finals over the last few years, while their Premier League form has been far from what we have become used to.
However, despite their struggles, in 2023 at least, they have been very hard to beat at home. In fact, domestically, the Reds have not lost at Anfield since coming up short against Leeds back in late October. They come into this fixture having won three home games on the spin, beating two top-half teams in Spurs and Fulham in the last week. They have also won five of their last six home games in the Premier League, with second-place Arsenal being the only side to stop them winning in recent times.
Then again, they have had a few scares. Spurs came within about a minute of picking up a point at Anfield last weekend. Nottingham Forest also knocked somewhat loudly on the Liverpool door, scoring twice and only going down by a single goal thanks to a late strike from the in-form Mo Salah, who has really found his stride of late, scoring six goals in his last six games.
Bees’ buzz can annoy big teams
As Saturday’s hosts found out earlier in the season, this Brentford FC team won’t lie down and play nice against the big-name teams and the Reds aren’t the only ones who’ve found the Bees hard to contain. Frank’s men aren’t just effective on their own patch. On several occasions, they have gone away from home and disrupted teams that were somewhat sizable favourites. The Bees have either won or avoided defeat away against the likes of Chelsea, Brighton, Arsenal and Manchester City this season. Such form is not to be ignored.
Visitors looking to go back-to-back
If the Brentford squad can come out on top here, then they will have recorded two wins against Liverpool in a season. Earlier in the campaign, they stunned the Reds, winning by three goals to one at the Gtech Community Stadium. On that occasion, their counter-attacking style caused Liverpool’s rear-guard all manner of problems. Could we see a repeat here?
In the only previous renewal of this fixture at Anfield, Saturday’s hosts won by three goals to nil in January 2022.
Back the Bees to sting
Sure, the hosts do have a strong recent home record, one that is hard to criticise. However, they have not looked infallible of late and have even enjoyed a few slices of good fortune. Similarly, the visitors know how to get a result, even on the road, and to be quite honest, they look a touch big in the betting, even if you are backing them just to avoid defeat.
We know that Liverpool carry a huge offensive threat and they will fancy their chances with Salah in fine form. Cody Gakpo has come alive in recent weeks too, with two assists and two goals in his last four starts. However, we have seen them wobble a little of late. Even against a struggling Spurs team, they very nearly came unstuck last weekend, while they weren’t overly convincing against Fulham in the week. On that basis, it is far from difficult to see them not quite getting over the line against a very good Brentford team.
What makes Brentford so attractive here is the fact that they are not just a team to keep things tight and shut up shop, which they can do. More than that, though, they have creative players and in Ivan Toney, they have a genuine goal threat. Tricky customer Bryan Mbeumo has also hit form in recent weeks, scoring and producing an assist in his last three appearances, one of which came in the win at Stamford Bridge, so don’t be surprised if he has a say here.
All in all, after picking up some impressive results on the road in games not dissimilar to this, having hit form of late, and with the hosts not looking overly secure even if they have been winning games at home, the visitors cannot be discounted. At decent odds, ‘Brentford +1 Handicap’ is the way to go. So for the LFC vs Brentford FC betting tips for this EPL match preview, go with this one:
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.