The State of Play
Speculation continues to surround the future of Ivan Toney in the summer and that grew in midweek with Brentford confirming the arrival of Igor Thiago from Club Brugge for around £30 million. On the pitch, The Bees have been much-improved since Toney’s return and they enjoyed an impressive and comfortable 2-0 defeat of Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux last weekend.
Liverpool, perhaps still reeling and recovering from the announcement that Jurgen Klopp would depart the club in the summer, have enjoyed three victories at Anfield but a defeat in London since then. The Reds reacted from their 3-1 defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium by defeating Burnley by three goals to one with three goals from their forward line, Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez.
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Team News
As mentioned, Brentford welcomed Ivan Toney back into the fold last month and that has coincided with the regained fitness of the likes of Ben Mee and Christian Norgaard. They remain without the likes of key men such as Rico Henry and Bryan Mbeumo.
Liverpool suffered the dramatic news that Trent Alexander-Arnold had suffered a fresh injury in midweek and the England international is expected to miss next week’s EFL Cup final against Chelsea. Alisson and Ibrahima Konate should return for this one, though, while Mo Salah comes back into contention.
Expected Line-ups
Brentford: Flekken; Collins, Pinnock, Mee; Roerslev, Jensen, Norgaard, Janelt, Reguilon; Toney, Maupay
Liverpool: Alisson; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Jones; Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz
What they Said
Thomas Frank has been linked with replacing Jurgen Klopp in the summer and he did say he was ‘very happy’ at Brentford but also suggested that “I think we all have a kind of an ego. And the ego likes that little sugar. ‘Oh, you’re linked with that, nice.’”
In the aftermath of their defeat of Burnley last weekend, Jurgen Klopp was pleased and relieved to get the victory, describing Liverpool’s ‘opponents’ as making things ‘complicated’ at Anfield.
When and How to Watch
This match will be played at the Gtech Community Stadium at 15:00 on Saturday February 17th but will not be televised live on the UK. It will also, therefore not be able to be streamed live in the UK.
Prediction
Ever since their promotion to the top-flight in 2021, Brentford have been impressive at bloodying the nose of higher ranking opposition. The Bees, with their mixed but generally direct style of football will be confident of again hurting one of the so-called ‘big six’, especially with the return of Ivan Toney. Liverpool remain the favourites and should still come out on top but an entertaining encounter in which both teams score does seem likely.