Liverpool vs Brentford Picks and Predictions: Salah Strikes Again

Saturday’s Premier League slate starts later than usual because of the King’s Coronation, but the final, crowning game of the day is Liverpool vs Brentford. 

Liverpool had a terrible start to the season, but they’ve looked stronger across these past few weeks and now they look dangerous. Meanwhile, Brentford sit comfortably in mid-table.

Can Brentford put an end to Liverpool’s hopes of hitting the Champions League slots? Don’t miss our Liverpool vs Brentford picks and predictions.

Liverpool vs Brentford best odds

Liverpool vs Brentford picks and predictions

It’s a big day in the United Kingdom on Saturday with the coronation of King Charles the big talking point, but once that is over, the Premier League gets back to business. The final of five games sees Liverpool vs Brentford. 

Brentford are playing well, having won their last two games. They’re now in the top half of the Premier League, a fantastic achievement for a club of their size, and a position which would help their chances of recruiting top players during the summer. 

Heading into this weekend, Liverpool were sitting fifth in the Premier League with Brentford in ninth. The Merseysiders are just four points behind Man United, who sit in the final Champions League spot, although they admittedly have two games in hand. That hasn’t stopped Liverpool supporters dreaming about playing in Europe’s biggest competition next season, but to do that they’ll need to keep winning and hope Manchester United stumble on the way. 

It’s been a while since Jurgen Klopp’s team lost, with their last defeat on the first of April. Since then they’ve played seven games, winning five. 

Seeing as it’s the weekend of the coronation, it’s only right that our best bet for Liverpool vs Brentford is based on the king. This isn’t anything to do with King Charles, but rather Mohamed Salah, the man dubbed the Egyptian King by supporters at Anfield.

Salah has had a season of two halves. In 34 Premier League games, 33 of which were starts, he’s bagged 18 goals. An impressive return even if it isn’t as big as some of the goal tallies of previous seasons, and in the age of Erling Haaland it perhaps looks even smaller. 

Of those 18 Premier League goals, just six were scored before the midseason break for the World Cup. Six in 14 isn’t a bad return, but for Salah, it’s below expectations. The Egyptian was heavily criticized for it, with some suggesting that the 30-year old wasn’t motivated. That wasn’t true, and it’s been proved incorrect since. 

In the 20 Premier League games since the World Cup he’s scored 12 times. Not only that, but 10 of those goals have come in his past 11 Premier League matches. This is a player who has really hit form, and it’s no surprise that there’s been an upturn in Liverpool’s fortunes now that their talisman has rediscovered his form.

Given how incredible Salah has been in recent months, scoring in five of his past six games, it’s crazy that he’s available at +110 to score anytime for Liverpool against Brentford. He’s the club’s best player and their most dangerous talent, and he takes the team’s penalties. 

He’s scored just once in two games against Thomas Frank’s team since they were promoted to the Premier League, but I really fancy him to bag a goal here.

My best bet: Salah to score (+110 at bet365)

Liverpool vs Brentford side analysis

Liverpool are in great form and have won their last five Premier League games, but I simply can’t recommend backing them at -210 to win this game. It’s a match that they should win, but they’ve been inconsistent all season and I’m not yet confident enough to back them at those odds.

We do know that Klopp has a fairly fit team, with the exception being his midfield, where we’ll probably see Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott alongside Fabinho. The back four writes itself with Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk flanked by Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson. 

The front three is trickier to predict. Liverpool played Salah, Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz in their win over Fulham ,and in recent weeks we’ve seen Diogo Jota perform well, as well as Cody Gakpo. I suspect given how brilliantly Luis Diaz looked against Fulham that we’ll see him with Salah and then potentially Gakpo back in the team.

Brentford will match Liverpool’s 4-3-3 with a similar setup. There are five players who are key to their team, and they form the core of the squad. 

David Raya is a great goalkeeper and is surely a candidate to move to another club in the summer. In front of him, Ben Mee and Ethan Pinnock have been impressive. And in midfield, the Dane, Mathias Jensen, has been a great creator, something that England striker Ivan Toney has taken advantage of. Toney has been exceptional, bagging 20 Premier League goals in just 32 games, and he’s the biggest danger for Liverpool’s defense, especially given how they’ve struggled with direct strikers this season.

Liverpool vs Brentford Over/Under analysis

The sportsbooks are expecting goals at Anfield, with Over 2.5 goals coming in at a best price of -170. That’s a very short price even with the talent on display, and grabbing +170 on the Under is probably the way that I’d choose to go, although I don’t have a strong lean either way.

The Under has landed in 58.8% of Brentford’s road games in the Premier League this season, and has occurred in eight of their past nine. The Over has also only landed in 58.8% of Liverpool’s home games, with their away matches generally seeing more goals. 

Given that the records make it sound like a 50-50 I’m not totally sure why the bookies are so confident in it being Over 2.5 goals. After all, this a team who only beat Fulham 1-0 at Anfield on Wednesday. 

As mentioned above, I’m not incredibly bullish on either Over or Under here, but given the odds and the records of both teams, I’d suggest that +170 on Under 2.5 goals is the smarter way to back the total goals market.

Liverpool vs Brentford game info

Liverpool vs Brentford key injuries

Liverpool: Stefan Bajcetic CM (Out), Naby Keita CM (Out), Roberto Firmino STR (Out), Thiago CM (Out)
Brentford: Pontus Jansson CB (Out), Christian Norgaard CM (Out), Thomas Strakosha CM (Out), Kristoffer Ajer CB (Questionable)

Liverpool vs Brentford recent form

Teams	Last five matches
Liverpool	W-W-W-W-L
Brentford	W-W-D-L-L

Liverpool vs Brentford weather

It looks like it’ll be wet on Saturday, with rain during the match and temperatures in the high 50s.

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