Liverpool

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Former Premier League midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker says Liverpool are not operating as a team this season and that is why they are struggling to find form.

Saturday's defeat to Brentford, which has left them seventh in the league, highlighted the Reds' defensive weaknesses and lack of togetherness.

"They are a great team on paper but not a team in terms of the product on the football pitch," said Reo-Coker on BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast. "There are too many individual moments.

"When they made these signings it was clear that Liverpool wanted to be spoken about in the same breath as Real Madrid, who create an empire and dominate.

"They went very Hollywood which goes against the culture of the club and the lights have become too bright for some of the players.

"Milos Kerkez is not the same as what we saw at Bournemouth. Trent Alexander-Arnold got criticised for his defensive abilities so I think Kerkez deserves the same because he is not defending.

"I don't see a team. Virgil van Dijk is not the same leader and that is probably because he has no confidence in the back four. He looks very annoyed with Kerkez.

"The only two players who cannot get any criticism are Dominik Szoboszlai because he has been fantastic and goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili.

"Slot hasn't helped with putting comments out there about what Liverpool are vulnerable with and some of the decisions he is making with players.

"They need some team bonding. They need to get to know one another on a better level because they don't look like a team."

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Phil McNulty
Chief football writer

Liverpool had concerns everywhere against Brentford, from established performers of the past to expensive new acquisitions who were simply not up to scratch.

Virgil van Dijk cannot escape the scrutiny, his partnership on the left side of Liverpool's defence with the struggling £40m Milos Kerkez an uneasy alliance, and the captain exchanging quizzical glances with the Hungarian in the first half.

It was Van Dijk who brought down Dango Outarra on the line of the penalty area to concede the spot-kick from which Igor Thiago effectively sealed the success for Brentford.

The Dutchman has been a central figure of a defence that has creaked all season.

Since the start of May, Liverpool have conceded 2+ goals in more Premier League games than any other side with nine, while they have conceded 14 goals in their nine league games this season. In the previous campaign they did not concede their 14th goal until their 16th game.

Liverpool's midfield was non-existent, while hope that £116m Florian Wirtz had sparked into life with an improved performance in the 5-1 Champions League win at Eintracht Frankfurt was extinguished here.

Liverpool have a team with quality, but no shape. The near-£450m spend in the summer has not yet offered anything in the way of improvement or progress.

Arne Slot will have to find the answers and quickly.

Phil McNulty
Chief football writer

Image source, Getty Images

Liverpool were desperately trying to snatch an undeserved point as the game against Brentford went past the 100-minute mark - but there was to be no late smash and grab for the champions, and they did not deserve one either.

There was talk they were back on track after thrashing Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1 in Germany on Wednesday, but this was a grim reality check from a Brentford side that ran them ragged from the first whistle.

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk was just as unsettled as everyone else by the speed and invention of the home side's play, while Slot's decision to recall the struggling Milos Kerkez for Andrew Robertson may have brought a goal, but yet another disappointing defensive performance from the summer signing.

Mohamed Salah's late goal - his seventh in eight games against the Bees - disguised another poor display, while £116m Florian Wirtz was so ineffective he was replaced by defender Joe Gomez with seven minutes left and Liverpool 3-1 down.

There was nothing good to recommend about this display as the Reds returned to losing ways on the domestic front.

• Listen to Arne Slot's post-match interview with BBC Radio Merseyside on BBC Sounds

Pundits Michael Carrick and Ashley Williams join host Gabby Logan to bring you the action and talking points from Friday and Saturday's Premier League fixtures.

Watch on BBC iPlayer here

And listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Chelsea 1-2 Sunderland

• Newcastle 2-1 Fulham

• Man Utd 4-2 Brighton

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot speaking to BBC Match of the Day after the defeat to Brentford: "Disappointing result and a disappointing performance as well.

"Conceding three goals is far too much if you want to win a game of football. First one was a set-piece. Second is a counter-attack which is one of the things [Brentford] are really good at. We didn't defend that at all."

On Brentford's penalty: "Difficult. Had the referee not given the free-kick, I am not sure if he would have given the penalty for that. But he gives the free-kick and if VAR says its inside, then you have to accept it's inside.

"I don't think he was planning to give a penalty for it but because it was inside, it was overturned to a penalty."

On Mohamed Salah scoring: "Always positive he is scoring a goal. It was a great finish from Mo."

On four defeats in a row: "What I have to do is look at what we do wrong and what we do right. I have a clear idea of where we have to improve, but that hasn't been the case in other games. We didn't do the basics right."

Reds captain Virgil van Dijk speaking to TNT Sports: "Disappointed about losing here. We know what their strengths were and what they were going to try to do. We needed to be spot on with the quality they had.

"It was a disappointing night overall for us. Tough to take but it's the reality and we need to keep going."

"We have the next game on Wednesday against an opponent [Crystal Palace] who already made our life difficult this season. We have to turn our mindset pretty quickly to be ready for that.

"They will come to Anfield to hurt us even more, but this is a tough one to take. We can't deny that. It's not an easy moment. We were trying to build on that performance iagainst Frankfurt and this was not a nice evening to have."

Did you know?

• Liverpool have now lost four Premier League games this season which is as many as they did in the entirety of last season. They've lost four consecutive league games for the first time since February 2021, while their previous four defeats came across a run of 47 matches.

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Brentford's performance

What did you make of Liverpool's display?

Come back on Monday for a selection of your replies

Brentford make no changes from Monday and the team that beat West Ham.

Brentford XI: Kelleher; Ajer, Van den Berg, Collins, Kayode; Henderson, Yarmoliuk, Damsgaard; Schade, Thiago, Ouattara.

Subs: Valdimarsson, Henry, Pinnock, Jensen, Nelson, Carvalho, Onyeka, Lewis-Potter, Janelt

Liverpool make three changes to the side that saw off Frankfurt in the Champions League on Wednesday as Mohamed Salah returns to the starting line-up.

Ryan Gravenberch and Alexander Isak haven't made the bench as youngster Kieran Morrison gets a seat.

Liverpool XI: Mamardashvili; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Szoboszlai, Jones, Wirtz; Gakpo, Ekitike, Salah

Subs: Woodman, Gomez, Endo, Mac Allister, Chiesa, Robertson, Ngumoha, Nyoni, Morrison

There are four games in the Premier League on Saturday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Chelsea v Sunderland (15:00) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Newcastle v Fulham (15:00) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

• Man Utd v Brighton (17:30) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Brentford v Liverpool (20:00)

Kick-offs 15:00 BST unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

You can also listen to today's 5 Live Premier League commentaries on most smart speakers. Just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Chelsea v Sunderland" or "ask BBC Sounds to play Newcastle v Fulham", for instance.

Find out more about how to listen to Premier League football on BBC Sounds

Liverpool will probably be without Alexander Isak after he was injured against Eintracht Frankfurt on Wednesday.

It feels like what has happened to him is a case of you reap what you sow. Isak has been short of full fitness and especially sharpness all season anyway, and he did not help himself there by missing training with Newcastle in order to try to force his move to Anfield through.

He got what he wanted, but now he is trying to play catch-up instead of hitting the ground running because of the time he had off, and that is when you can pick up injuries.

Isak is too good a player not to eventually start scoring goals but this whole situation has affected Liverpool as a team too, because his lack of fitness is one of the reasons they have not clicked in the final third yet.

They scored a few goals against Frankfurt on Wednesday but this is going to be much harder for them.

Brentford were more dominant on the ball when they beat West Ham on Monday but you know how Bees boss Keith Andrews will set up his team for this game - they will sit and then counter, and they are good at it.

Liverpool's attack will click at some point, but I don't think it will happen here, and their vulnerability to direct balls in behind their defence means I don't see them keeping a clean sheet either.

Sutton's prediction: 1-1

Read the full predictions and have your say here

Inconsistent Brentford host Liverpool on Saturday, with the visitors vying to get their Premier League campaign back on track.

Liverpool's comfortable win in Frankfurt on Wednesday ended a run of four straight defeats in all competitions.

The Reds put five past the Bundesliga outfit and did so without Mohamed Salah, who was relegated to the bench in Germany.

Head coach Arne Slot instead opted to start with Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak as a front two for the first time. The gamble certainly paid off. However, the Swede failed to emerge for the second half and Slot later confirmed that the £125m striker had suffered a groin problem.

Isak's injury, coupled with another for right-sided player Jeremie Frimpong, all but confirms a return for Salah this weekend - but his numbers across all competitions in 2025-26 show a stark drop-off from the previous campaign.

Salah is enduring arguably the toughest period of his career in England to date, excluding his unsuccessful and brief spell at Chelsea more than 10 years ago.

However, this weekend's opposition have proven favourable for the 33-year old - he has registered six goals and one assist in seven previous Premier League meetings against the Bees. His manager is also backing him to return to scoring ways.

"We're not used to him missing chances, let alone in a few games in a row, but these things happen," said Arne Slot in his pre-match press conference. "The last thing I worry about is Mo starting to score goals again because that's what he done his whole life and that's what I expect him to do again."

Brentford have no obvious selection issues and after a dominant display at West Ham on Monday their starting XI, barring injuries, will likely pick itself.

Igor Thiago has emerged as one of the Premier League's form strikers and his goal against the Hammers took his total to five in the top flight this season, only behind runaway leader Erling Haaland, who has 11, and Antoine Semenyo, with six.

Marauding full-back Michael Kayode created seven chances at London Stadium - the joint-most of any Premier League player this season - while ex-Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson again proved to be a key cog in the machine.

The 35-year-old contributed an assist against both Chelsea and Manchester United and was recently labelled a Liverpool "legend" by his friend and former colleague Andy Robertson.

Henderson is one of four ex-Liverpool players in the Brentford squad and he is set to make his 440th Premier League appearance on Saturday, moving him one behind the league's all-time top scorer Alan Shearer. Of current top-flight players, only another of his former team-mates James Milner has featured more in the division.

Image source, Getty Images

According to Opta,, external Liverpool's opponents have played 507 long passes against them in the Premier League this season, accounting for 20.3% of their passes.

This is both the highest total and ratio faced by any side in the division in 2025-26.

Karan Vinod
BBC Sport journalist

Liverpool boss Arne Slot has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Brentford at Gtech Community Stadium (kick-off 20:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• On team news: "Jeremie (Frimpong) is not in a good place, and what I mean by that is he is definitely not going to play today or tomorrow or next week - hamstring injury, so that's going to take a while. Alex (Isak), not too bad, but a question mark for the weekend. And that's the same to be said about Ryan (Gravenberch). Let's see where he is today, and Alisson is also not in the squad. That is going to take a little bit longer."

• Slot said that he and Liverpool fans like the "general game" of Florian Wirtz so far this season, and he rates his involvement in the goal against Manchester United higher than his assist against Frankfurt. The Dutchman also reiterated that his side "created the same amount of chances" in both games, but the difference was set-pieces.

• On integrating new signings: "It's not only about new signings, but it is about having very good players and what is your best line-up. It is about the form of the players, the connection between the players, and the teams you face. If you look at all the big clubs in the world, they all have more than 11 players that can play."

• Slot expected turbulence in moments this season, especially "after many changes in the summer", and believes that the "team needed to grow and adapt to each other." He noted that the fixture list didn't help, as amongst the four consecutive losses, "three of them were away".

• Slot says his words on how other managers have approached Liverpool have been taken out of context, stating they were "a compliment for the other manager that they found the right answer to our playing style".

• On countering long-ball tactics from opponents: "We have to adjust, and we have tried to do so. That's also what I have told the players - last two times we faced 5-4-1 against Crystal Palace and Manchester United, we have created more chances than we did every single time we faced 5-4-1 last season, low block. The reason for that we have tried to adjust a few things in our playing style, and against Eintracht Frankfurt, we again faced 5-4-1, where I adjusted maybe even more, but that's not to say that was the reason we created so much, because we already created so much against United and Palace as well."

• Slot didn't divulge why Milos Kerkez is starting over Andrew Robertson but said that Kerkez "brings a lot of energy and keeps going up and down". He said the Hungarian is "defensively solid."

• Slot revealed that he has had conversations with Cody Gakpo on instances where passing to Kerkez on the overlap would have been a better option rather than cutting in.

• On Mohamed Salah's form: "It's so difficult for me to say why this is, I could come up with a few reasons, but in general and in football, players miss chances and Mo is a human being as well so we are not used to him missing chances, let alone a few games in a row, but these things can happen. I could come up with reasons - that it is easier to finish chances when you're 3-1 up and not 0-1 down. But the most important thing is that Mo has always scored goals for our club, and the last thing I worry about is Mo starting to score goals again because that's what he has done his whole life, and that's what I expect him to do."

Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

Gary Rose
BBC Sport journalist

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Mohamed Salah has scored 52 goals in the Champions League, all the more impressive when you consider the rest of the Liverpool squad put together have 31 in the competition.

Therefore to not start him when needing a win was certainly a brave move by Arne Slot, even if he had also named him on the bench for Liverpool's previous outing in Europe against Galatasaray.

But for a player who hit 29 Premier League goals last season Salah has been far from at his best level this term, with just two league goals in eight games so far.

His downturn in form is clearly getting to him as the Egypt international looked desperate to score when he came on in Frankfurt for the final 16 minutes, going for goal from a tricky angle when a square pass to Florian Wirtz would have been a better option, and also shooting well over.

"The season he had last season was one of the best I'd seen," said former England midfielder and BBC Sport pundit Owen Hargreaves.

"Making him a little angrier to push him is not a bad thing. They also have options now."

Ex-Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock added: "Salah has not been firing on all cylinders, but then they showed against Eintracht Frankfurt they can do it without him.

"Obviously, we have got Afcon coming up in December so this was a glimpse of how they are going to do without him.

"If the system works, it is going to be difficult to put Salah back in before then too, but Alexander Isak's injury could be a get out of jail card for him there."

With Isak potentially sidelined, Salah may get the chance to prove he remains the Reds' main man as Liverpool look to build on their European win when they take on Brentford on Saturday.

We have had a Liverpool team selector running all day on Thursday for you to pick your best XI if everybody was fit for Arne Slot.

It is a small sample size, but here are the results.

The most popular formation has been the usual 4-3-3, taking more than 50% of the vote.

The back four is pretty set - Conor Bradley, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson.

In midfield, Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch are the most popular picks, with a tight battle between Florian Wirtz and Alexis Mac Allister for the other spot.

Finally, for the forward positions, Mohamed Salah's poor recent form has actually nudged him out of the first choice XI, albeit only just replaced by Wirtz as most popular pick on the right-hand side.

Hugo Ekitike has been chosen for almost all teams, in either the central striking role or on the left, with Alexander Isak down the middle.

In fact as of 17:00 BST on Thursday, Salah had been selected in just 45.5% of teams, 12th among all players.

Our Liverpool fan contributor Chloe Bloxam reflects on the side's impressive 5-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League on Tuesday and discusses why Hugo Ekitike should be the first name on Arne Slot's teamsheet.

Find more from Chloe Bloxam at The Redmen TV, external

Image source, Getty Images

Former Scotland winger Pat Nevin says it was a "big call" to leave Mohamed Salah on the bench for Wednesday's win over Eintracht Frankfurt.

Salah has not scored in his past six appearances and has now started only one of Liverpool's three Champions League matches so far this season.

On Thursday, the Egyptian has replaced his header image and profile picture on X, formerly known as Twitter, removing his Liverpool-themed branding and switching his profile image for one featuring his two children.

In his absence, Arne Slot's side scored five times in a dominant display before the Egypt international was introduced with about 15 minutes to play and the score at 5-1.

"It was a grown-up, very mature performance," Nevin told BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast.

"It didn't seem to be panicked - even when they went 1-0 down it didn't look that way.

"There was an energy as well about the team, which helped quite a bit. But, they were playing against a side that gave away chance after chance.

"Frankfurt had clear limitations with their defending and Liverpool made good use of it.

"It was a big call to leave Salah on the bench. It is big to say dropped - but it kind of is that because he hadn't done well enough recently.

"A Premier League starting XI without Salah would be very unusual. I'm someone who is all for honesty . If you are the best player for that moment you play - it doesn't matter what your name is.

"For a little while, that hasn't been Salah in this team. We all know how fabulous he is, how much we love him, his capabilities of suddenly scoring a phenomenal amount of goals.

"But, if you're the players behind him you're thinking: 'Give me a chance, we need to do something else.'

"If you've lost those four games in a row previously and then won against Frankfurt, is it so much of a shock if he doesn't start the next game? I'm afraid not."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Arne Slot has some decisions to make for his best Liverpool XI. If everybody is fit, who makes your starting line-up for the Reds?

Does it look like the above, with Mohamed Salah left out? Do the Reds go 4-4-2 like we've produced below?

Pick your team here and please assume all players are fit

Image source, Getty Images

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has insisted a players meeting this week was not a "crisis meeting", despite recent struggles.

The Reds snapped a four-match losing streak with an emphatic 5-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League on Wednesday night.

After a difficult weekend that saw them lose at home to rivals Manchester United for the first time in nine years, Arne Slot's side looked like they could be set to equal a 72-year record for losses when they fell a goal behind to the German side.

But, Monday's meeting appeared to help, with the team soon turning it around to get themselves back to winning ways.

"On Monday everyone was sad because we lost to United at home," said Van Dijk.

"It was tough under the circumstances so on Monday we came together but it wasn't a crisis meeting.

"Nobody wants to lose four games in a row but it was the situation we faced.

"Obviously we also had a proper debrief with the manager but we also had a separate one as players.

"I wanted to say some things. It's not something I do after every game.

"After my meeting everyone was happy!"

The recent run of form brought unwanted attention to a number of players, including Van Dijk and his fellow defenders, as well as £100m summer signing Florian Wirtz.

But, both centre-backs scored in Frankfurt while Wirtz also contributed two assists.

"We had to stay calm and block out all the noise from the outside because that's something you can't control," added Van Dijk.

"The only way to get out of a situation like that is to stay together, keep your mind on the task ahead, try to improve, keep the confidence, embrace the moment.

"They are all things that are easier to say than actually do but if you want to get out of it, you have to do it.

"We live in a world now where there is always noise - always something to be said, always someone who knows better.

"We have to stay focused on ourselves. We all know how things can change. We're only in October."