By the time Liverpool had kicked off, they had already claimed top spot thanks to results elsewhere, with Chelsea’s loss to Manchester City seeing them drop behind the Reds on goal difference and Manchester United failing to take the opportunity to leapfrog them.
Jürgen Klopp made four changes from the side that beat Crystal Palace – Curtis Jones was given a start in midfield after a good performance in the League Cup against Norwich on Tuesday, while Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andy Robertson and Joël Matip all returned in defence. They set up in their usual 4-3-3 formation.
Thomas Frank made just one change to the side that beat Wolves, seeing Frank Onyenka come into the midfield in place of Shandon Baptiste. Brentford stuck with their 3-5-2 shape.
For the most part Brentford would sit back in a 5-3-2 shape, tilting from side to side as Liverpool played forward, with Ivan Toney and Bryan Mbeumo staying close to Fabinho. When they did step up to pressure, Toney and Mbeumo would move up to get closer to Virgil van Dijk and Matip, and Onyeka would step up behind them to get tight to Fabinho, cutting off the short options.
When Liverpool passed wide, Sergi Canos and Rico Henry would move forward to close down Robertson and Alexander-Arnold respectively, with the one on the other side tucking inside and shifting across with the rest of the defence to deny Liverpool space behind when the other stepped up. Brentford appeared particularly wary of allowing Alexander-Arnold to have time on the ball however, and so Henry would frequently move out early to get closer to him, often forming a 4-4-2 shape.
Brentford took the lead from a free-kick. Played short, Christian Norgaard played Canos in behind to cross from the byline. Liverpool’s line failed to move as a unit – spotting Canos’ run, Robertson dropped off, but only Matip joined him, leaving Brentford’s attackers goalside and onside. Toney flicked the ball on at the near post ahead of Matip, just out of the reach of Pontus Jansson, but Ethan Pinnock was able to finish at the far post, getting to the ball before Fabinho could scramble it away.
It took just a couple of minutes for Liverpool to equalise though. Canos and Henry were caught up field as Alexander-Arnold played a long ball forward, leaving their back three alone against Liverpool’s attacking trio. Jordan Henderson also made a run forward to join the attack, running behind Pinnock as the Jamaican was occupied by Mohamed Salah. Seeing that Vitaly Janelt wasn’t going to be able to catch up with Henderson, Jansson initially moved across to cover the run of Liverpool’s captain, with Janelt passing him on and running inside to cover the Swede. When Salah cut back inside though, Jansson turned and ran back inside, meaning both he and Janelt were central, with Henderson left completely free on the right. Salah took the opportunity to simply roll it down the line to Henderson, who had time to pick out a cross for Diogo Jota to finish.
This wasn’t the first time that Brentford had left their back three alone against Liverpool’s attackers, but Liverpool had already been scared a few times by direct passes forward, with the two sides’ shapes matching up awkwardly against each other. Brentford’s wing-backs were dragged forward towards Liverpool’s full-backs, exposing their back three, but Liverpool’s full-backs were also wary of Brentford’s wing-backs, leaving space between them and their centre-backs. Twice Brentford played direct passes up to Toney, who found Mbeumu making a run down the blind-side of first Van Dijk, then Matip.
Liverpool’s attackers running in behind also meant they weren’t in position to defend against Brentford’s centre-backs when they cut out a pass, requiring Liverpool’s midfielders to step up to confront them. This in turn meant that Liverpool were outnumbered in midfield, making it easier than it should have been for Brentford to play through Liverpool on the counter-attack.
Shortly into the second half, Liverpool took the lead through Salah’s hundredth Premier League goal. There wasn’t a great deal to it: Brentford were dropping off, giving Fabinho time on the ball to drop a pass into the box, and they failed to maintain their defensive line properly, playing Salah onside as he ran in behind Henry onto Fabinho’s pass.
Ten minutes later Brentford equalised though. They pushed men forward for a throw-in deep in Liverpool’s half but the away side cleared it easily, however David Raya sent it straight back the other way. Having pushed men forward at the throw-in, Brentford had six men in the attacking band against Liverpool’s back four. Outnumbered, Robertson was understandably reluctant to close down Canos out wide, but this allowed the former Liverpool man to poke the ball through to Kristoffer Ajer. The Norwegian crossed towards the back post, where three Brentford players were surrounding Alexander-Arnold, seeing the ball fall to Jansson, his shot cannon off the cross bar, and Janelt scramble it across the line.
Liverpool responded straight away. Robertson offloaded the ball to Jones down the left then continued his run, dragging both Canos and Onyeka with him. As both Brentford men went with Robertson, Jones had space to cut inside and rifle home a shot from outside the box, taking a helpful deflection off of Ajer. The young Scouser had quietly been having a great game – dropping deep to help work the ball out and willing to put his foot on the ball, slowing down the game in order to break down Brentford – so his more eye-catching highlight put a nice finishing touch to his display before he was taken off immediately after for the return of Roberto Firmino.
The Brazilian’s introduction saw Liverpool switch to a 4-2-3-1, with Jota switching over to the right as Salah played ahead of Firmino. This kept numbers in attack, while also adding defensive width to the midfield and shoring up the centre, with Henderson now holding back next to Fabinho and Firmino willing to drop in and help out ahead of them.
With the addition of Yoane Wissa for Norgaard, Brentford switched to a 3-4-3, and it was the Congolese that got their equaliser. Liverpool were again outnumbered at the far post for a cross from the right but it was more their fault this time than for the second. Matip was facing forward as Baptiste shaped to cross rather than standing on the half-turn, meaning Toney was able to get a run on him, so Alexander-Arnold was forced across. In a rush, Alexander-Arnold made a mess of his aerial challenge and fell to the ground, leaving Wissa to scramble the ball home.
What is most frustrating for Liverpool is that this match didn’t really play out as you imagine a 3-3: it wasn’t an end-to-end affair, but periods of Liverpool trying to break down Brentford with odd goals scattered throughout. They didn’t even struggle to create chances, they were simply profligate in front of goal and soft when it counted at the other end. With a bit more focus, this could have easily been a thrashing, yet instead it was two lost points.
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