Luca Bergvall tries to find Dominic Solanke in the box but as the England international turns to shoot, his effort is blocked.

It's all Spurs in the opening stages.

Wow. Fast start by Chelsea who are presented with a great chance to take an early lead but Christopher Nkunku cannot steer his header on target after a free-kick is whipped into the Brentford box.

James Maddison's whipped ball into the box is headed clear by Saints captain Jan Bednarek.

Dominic Solanke tries to control a long ball in the box but slips over at the vital moment.

Spurs have started on the front foot.

Liverpool's travelling fans are making all the noise at Craven Cotage.

And so they should. Their team is on the cusp of something very, very special.

And away we go in our three games in London.

Julien Laurens
European football expert on BBC Radio 5 Live

Sixteen defeats is not acceptable. It doesn't matter if you had injuries because they were bad when they had no injuries, and they're bad now when everyone's back.

They're bad. Ange Postecoglou's style of football can work before and he said he's been a coach for 30 years, and no offence to Celtic and Scotland, Greece, Japan and Australia, this is the Premier League and it's not working.

He doesn't want to change. He thinks he's Jose Mourinho but he's Martin Jol. You don't cup your ear to your fans unless you're someone who has earned that possibility.

What has he earned? Nothing. What has he done? Nothing at the game at this level.

Clinton Morrison
Former Republic of Ireland striker on BBC Radio 5 Live

I think Diogo Jota is the best finisher Liverpool have. I know everyone will say Mohamed Salah because of his numbers but Jota is the most natural when you see him in front of goal and his movement is fantastic.

When I see Darwin Nunez going one on one I'm not so confident, but when I see Jota with his movement in the box, he's good in the air.

The problem is we don't see him on the pitch enough. He could play three or four games then he's out for a couple of months. He's not had much luck. I want to see him for the whole season because his numbers would go through the roof.

By the way, Craven Cottage looks resplendent in the sunshine by the banks of the River Thames. One of English's football's more picturesque grounds.

Right, are we ready?

They're lining up in the tunnels at Craven Cottage, the Gtech and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Fingers crossed for goals, goals and even more goals!

Peter Schmeichel
Former Manchester United goalkeeper on BBC Radio 5 Live

In all fairness in the last couple of games I don't think Liverpool have covered themselves in glory. However what they are doing well is winning games when they are not playing particularly well. You can't play champagne football every game when you are going for a championship.

The art of winning the Premier League is winning those tough games, that is when you win the trophy. It is done and dusted.

Liverpool

Image source, Getty Images

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk, speaking to Sky Sports: "To come here off the back of a good result and performance in the second half [v Everton] is good but today is a different test. It is a very tough place to come, so we have to be ready."

On Arsenal dropping points: "The only thing we can do and should do is focus on ourselves. That is what we have always said from day one. Expectations change every day of the week almost, so we have to focus on ourselves and be ready for a big fight today."

On Fulham: "They have individual quality to punish you. The speed, discipline, way of defending, very compact at times so we have to be good. We know what's at stake and there is not many games left this season to show it."

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter at Gtech Stadium

The decision to leave Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson and Marc Cucurella are a huge surprise for Chelsea.

Of course, Palmer and Jackson have both recently returned from injury but this match at Brentford will be difficult and a lot is riding on it with qualification for the Champions League in the balance over the final matches of the season.

Manager Enzo Maresca will be under pressure if there’s a misstep today.

Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou, speaking to Sky Sports: "The one thing about our season so far is that it has been really disrupted for one reason or another so we need to get some sort of cohesion and understanding in the group. So the less changes the better.

"We need to play well. I'm sure if we perform well then the atmosphere will be brilliant. They feed into one another."

Adam Kitchiner: Spurs have been one of the top five spenders for the last 4/5 seasons. Levy has put money into the squad. Don't the protesters know that? Successive scouts, managers and unambitious players are more at fault.

Brentford

Brentford are looking to create history today. A victory over Chelsea would be their first league victory at home over the Blues since October 1938.

The Bees' home form in recent months has been poor and requires urgent attention.

In Brentford's first eight home Premier League matches of the campaign, they recorded 22 points out of a possible 24.

Since then, Brentford have not won any of their last seven home Premier League games and have picked up just two points from a possible 21.

Liverpool

Liverpool boss Arne Slot: "We are very motivated because we had a 12 point gap and it has been brought back to 11. We understand that we have a difficult away game to play, like Arsenal had yesterday. The difficult thing in football is consistency, delivering every three days and that is what we have to show today."

On Fulham: "Every Premier League game is tough, let alone an away game. Playing a team that is trying to get into the European positions shows that they have a lot of quality. It is one of the toughest away games that you can have. We're looking forward to the game but we know it is going to be challenge.

On Alisson: "It's concussion and as we all know you have to tick all the boxes. Next week hopefully he can play but the protocol means not yet."

On Bradley back in the squad: "It depends. I'm really happy he is back in the squad because he is a really important asset for the team. Curtis Jones did well there last week against a completely different playing style than we can expect today, so let's see how he does."

Liverpool

With their only league defeat this season coming at Anfield against Nottingham Forest, Liverpool remain unbeaten on the road in 2024-25 in the Premier League. Their away record so far stands at 10 wins and five draws from 15 matches.

If they avoid defeat in their final four trips - today at Fulham, Leicester City, Chelsea and Brighton & Hove Albion - they will become only the fifth team in English top-flight history to go an entire season unbeaten away from home.

Southampton

Image source, Reuters

Southampton defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis says that talk of trying to not be the worst Premier League side ever is "embarrassing."

Derby County hold the record for the lowest tally in Premier League history, finishing bottom on 11 points in 2007-08. The Saints have 10 from 30 games.

"It's not somewhere we expected to be and it's embarrassing - we're not going to shy away from that," added Harwood-Bellis.

"We will look to rack up the points and try to put an uplift going into next season, that has to be the main focus. That's down to our mentality and we'll see who the real characters are going into the final games of the season."