Brentford Vs. Liverpool Prediction: The Reds Hunt For First Victory In 2025

Diogo Jota, middle on-fire with Liverpool (photo; x @DiogoJota18)

JAKARTA - Liverpool, leaders of the Premier League, will travel to the Gtech Community Stadium to face Brentford on Saturday 18 January. This match is an opportunity for Arne Slot's men to win their first Premier League win in 2025, after the previous two matches ended only in a draw.

Brentford has just held Manchester City to a 2-2 draw in a game that shows their toughness, while Liverpool also have to settle for sharing points after a 1-1 draw against Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night.

Liverpool face a tough challenge when they visit Brentford's headquarters. In the last match against Nottingham Forest, Liverpool had to thank Diogo Jota and Kostas Tsimikas, who were the saviors with direct contributions from the bench. Tsimikas provided a pass from a corner, and Jota scored the equalizer with an accurate header that became his first touch in the game.

However, despite the success of avoiding defeat, the draw still felt disappointing. Nottingham goalkeeper Matz Sels and their tough defender, Murillo, performed outstandingly to stop Liverpool from scoring additional goals.

Arsenal, who won over Tottenham Hotspur, have now cut the gap with Liverpool at the top of the table to four points. Despite still having one match in hand, Liverpool showed signs of inconsistency in early 2025. From the last four matches in all competitions, they were only able to win one win, namely when they beat Accrington Stanley 4-0 in the FA Cup.

If they fail to win at home to Brentford, Liverpool can record three Premier League games without a win for the first time since the May-August 2023 period. However, Arne Slot still has a perfect record in away matches, where Liverpool are unbeaten in 16 consecutive league games.

Meanwhile, Brentford showed high fighting spirit when they drew against Manchester City. Yoane Wissa scored a quick reply after Phil Foden put City two goals ahead, before Christian Norgaard equalized with a header in extra time.

The result gives a little hope for Thomas Frank's squad, who are struggling to maintain a position in the upper half of the standings. However, their overall performance shows a downward trend. Of the last eight matches in all competitions, Brentford has only won one win.

Brentford is also facing problems on the defense. Despite being one of the teams with the highest home goals productivity (29 goals), they also had a poor conceding record. Only Southampton, West Ham United, and Wolverhampton Wanderers have conceded more often at home this season.

Against Liverpool, Brentford had a big challenge. They lost their last four Premier League meetings against this Merseyside team. In fact, Liverpool have always scored in 21 of their 22 meetings, except for the 0-0 draw in the First Division in 1936.

Liverpool will be strengthened again by Darwin Nunez, who finished his suspension. However, Diogo Jota is expected to be the first choice after appearing impressively as a substitute in the previous match. Kostas Tsimikas also has the opportunity to replace Andy Robertson, whose performance has recently been criticized.

On the injured side, Liverpool is still missing Joe Gomez, who is expected to be back in the coming weeks due to a hamstring injury.

Brentford faces a more severe injury crisis. Josh Dasilva, Ethan Pinnock, Kristoffer Ajer, Aaron Hickey, Igor Thiago, Gustavo Nunes, and Ryan Trevitt are certain to be absent. However, they got a breath of fresh air with Rico Henry's return, who played as a substitute in the match against Manchester City.

Henry has the opportunity to appear as a starter for the first time since September 2023. However, coach Thomas Frank may prefer Keane Lewis-Potter to guard Mohamed Salah, given his better fitness.

Liverpool are favored to win based on the quality of the squad and their meeting record against Brentford. However, The Bees are known to be difficult to beat at home despite their inconsistent performance.

If Liverpool's front line is able to take advantage of chances well, they have a great chance to take home the three points. On the other hand, if Brentford's defense performs solidly like against Manchester City, a draw is not impossible.

Brentford (4-3-3): Fleken; Roerslev, Van den Berg, Collins, Lewis-Potter; Norgaard, Janelt, Jensen; Mbeumo, Wissa, Damsgaard

Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; Mac Allister, Gravenberch; Salah, Jones, Gakpo; Jota

Score prediction: Brentford 1-2 Liverpool