Premier League reaction, analysis and your views
Arsenal beat Crystal Palace to extend lead to four points
Manchester City down to fifth after losing at Aston Villa
Chelsea and Liverpool also lose over the weekend
Bournemouth beat Forest to rise to second, Tottenham up to third after winning at Everton
Struggling Wolves still without a win at losing to Burnley
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Craig Nelson
BBC Sport reporter
Quite the contrary Jason, I actually had a very enjoyable stag do in Bournemouth/Poole.
I can't speak highly enough about the place...from what I can remember of it!
So let's talk Bournemouth [sticking to the football, of course]...
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The idea of Bournemouth challenging for the title is no joke now…think of early doubters in Leicester's title-winning season...
Tim
Interesting. Bournemouth second in the league and still BBC refuse to acknowledge the club exists. Not one story over 2 pages of feed referring to the club with the longest unbeaten record. Did someone at the BBC have a bad childhood holiday there once?
Jason
Brentford 3-2 Liverpool
Karan Vinod
BBC Sport Journalist
Image source, Getty ImagesSigned from Club Brugge last year for a club record fee of £30m, Igor Thiago was tipped to be the long-term successor to Ivan Toney, but a serious injury meant his debut season was wiped out.
Fast forward to now, and the 24-year-old Brazilian is making up for lost time.
His physical presence, composure and finishing have made him a fans' favourite and with Yoane Wissa departing for Newcastle United after a turbulent summer, Brentford haven’t seemed to miss him one bit.
Thiago already looks the part - scoring in wins over Liverpool, West Ham and Manchester United this month - and has six goals in nine Premier League starts this season for the Bees.
After months of recovery and patience, Brentford’s faith in their 2024 summer signing is finally paying off.
Craig Nelson
BBC Sport reporter
This seems to be an argument trotted out whenever unfashionable sides find a way to compete with the Premier League elite.
Sam Allardyce's Bolton fell into the same category as Tony Pulis' Stoke in this regard.
Isn't that the art of good management? Finding a way to win even though the odds are against you?
So far today we have been concentrating on the main title challengers - as determined by Opta's latest predictions - but the table would suggest that Liverpool and Manchester City are not the only teams in with a shout.
More on Bournemouth, Tottenham and Sunderland coming up...
But before we move on from Brentford, let's have a quick look at the latest Bees' striker to turn heads in the Premier League
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While it's great to see "smaller" clubs doing fantastic in the league. Is football becoming a bit boring? The ball is only in play for about a third of the match. Everyone playing the same boring football. Stoke 2.0 everywhere. The game has gone.
Matt
Brentford 3-2 Liverpool
Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer
Image source, Getty ImagesBrentford's decision to appoint coach Keith Andrews in succession to Thomas Frank in June raised eyebrows in some quarters, but he deserves full credit and respect as he moves his side into a new era.
The 2-0 win at West Ham on Monday was no reflection of their total domination and this success against the fading champions falls into the same category.
It may have looked close by the scoreline, but in every other way this was a dominant display in which Andrews' side made struggling Liverpool look strictly second best.
And while much will be made of Michael Kayode's long throw that produced the first goal, this was a complete team performance of which that strategy was simply one part of the success.
Brentford lost key trio Bryan Mbeumo, Yoane Wissa and Christian Norgaard in the summer, but the signings of former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, as well Dango Outarra and goalkeeper Caoimhim Kelleher have proved inspired.
Brazil striker Igor Thiago is a powerful spearhead, netting his sixth league goal this term, while the pass from Mikkel Damsgaard that created Kevin Schade's strike was of the highest class.
No-one will ever forget how former boss Frank transformed Brentford - but Andrews has shown his qualities in a highly impressive start to his first managerial post.
Brentford 3-2 Liverpool
Brentford hold onto win as Liverpool face fourth consecutive league loss
As bad as it was for Liverpool, Saturday's performance by Brentford at the Gtech was huge!
Keith Andrews' Bees climbed to 11th in the Premier League table and now sit just four points behind fourth-placed Sunderland.
On a night when long throws dominated the conversation leading up to the game, it was indeed a long throw that proved to be the undoing for Liverpool.
Michael Kayode's lethal delivery pierced the defending champions' defence with Dango Ouatarra scoring from Kristoffer Ajer's flick-on.
Brentford went on to seal a deserved 3-2 win with further goals from Kevin Schade and Igor Thiago.
It’s a brutal run for Arne Slot and Liverpool across three competitions with three home fixtures in quick succession before a trip to the Etihad.
Perhaps the Reds can take a little solace from the fact that five of the six fixtures are at home, as they have lost only once at Anfield all season long.
Brentford 3-2 Liverpool
Nigel Reo-Coker
Former Aston Villa midfielder on Football Daily
Why would you put that out as a manager. I think he made a big mistake publicly as a manager to say something like that because you are letting every other club that you are going to come up against know your weaknesses, know what you don't like, and they will now play that way.
Image source, Getty ImagesBrentford 3-2 Liverpool
Craig Nelson
BBC Sport reporter
Arne Slot's comments after Liverpool's previous defeat - to Manchester United - also triggered criticism from former West Ham midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker on BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast.
After the Reds' 2-1 loss to United at Anfield, Slot said "it is always difficult to play against a team that defends in a low block and mainly plays the long ball".
Reo-Coker believes that message will not have been missed by rival managers...
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Every year, people are so reactive to early fluctuations in points. Are Arsenal favourites? Absolutely. But lose your six-pointer, draw two games, and that's the lead gone.
Ian
Brentford 3-2 Liverpool
The Wayne Rooney podcast
No-one has seen this coming, it's hit them quick, it's hit them hard and I think they're struggling to find a way out of it.
This is a time where the manager and the leaders in the team need to figure it out very quickly.
Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah, they've signed new deals but I don't think they've really led that team this season.
I think body language tells you a lot, and I think we're seeing slightly different body language from the two of them. They are the top two players in that team and if their body language is not right, that affects everyone else.
I might be wrong on this, but if I was a Liverpool fan or the manager, that would be a big concern for me.
Salah and Van Dijk have not led Liverpool - Rooney
Brentford 3-2 Liverpool
Analysing Liverpool's defeat on Match of the Day, former Premier League defender Ashley Williams said Liverpool's defending against Brentford was simply "not good enough" and resulted in an "unacceptable" goal for Kevin Schade.
Why Liverpool defence against Brentford was 'unacceptable'
The pundits did not hold back after Liverpool's latest defeat...
Brentford 3-2 Liverpool
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot was in reflective mood as he spoke with BBC Match of the Day after Saturday's defeat to Brentford, describing it as a "disappointing" result and performance:
"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 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."
Liverpool couldn't get the basics right - Slot
Brentford 3-2 Liverpool
So what is going on with the champions?
Saturday's 3-2 defeat at Brentford leaves the Reds in seventh place, seven points behind leaders Arsenal.
Meanwhile, Brentford's impressive victory means Keith Andrews' side are just two points behind, in 11th, after collecting their fourth win of the campaign - and third in their past four games.
Image source, Getty ImagesWith their defeat to Brentford on Saturday, Liverpool became the fourth defending Premier League champions to lose four matches in a row.
The bad news is that none of the previous three sides recovered to retain their title.
The only team in Europe’s top five leagues that is on a worse losing run than the Reds is Germany’s St Pauli, who have lost five on the spin in the Bundesliga.
Brentford 3-2 Liverpool
Liverpool are the first team in English top-flight history to win their opening five matches of a season and then lose their next four.
The Reds have already lost as many Premier League games this season as they did in the entirety of last season (four).
It is the first time since February 2021 that they have lost four consecutive league games.
Their previous four defeats in the competition before this current run came across a run of 47 matches (W32 D11).
Image source, Getty ImagesBrentford 3-2 Liverpool
Comparing Aston Villa's season so far with their next opponents, Liverpool, is interesting.
It's like they have experienced a reversal of fortunes.
Villa could not buy a win in their opening matches but have now won four Premier League games in a row, while Liverpool won their opening five league matches but results have since nosedived - losing their next four.
The defending champions' latest defeat - at Brentford - was potentially their most troubling, with serious flaws exposed in their defence and questions starting to be asked about manager Arne Slot's tactics.
Liverpool's losing run:
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The beauty of football is the human element where a mistake or a piece of luck can alter the course of any match, so I wouldn't place any reliance on the predictions of an Opta 'super computer'. It is the unpredictability that makes the Premier League so compelling.
Clive
