Arne Slot will make his much-anticipated Anfield debut on Sunday, when Liverpool host Brentford to wrap up matchweek 2 in the Premier League and hope to join the ranks of 2-0 competitors Arsenal, Brighton, and Manchester City.
WATCH LIVERPOOL vs BRENTFORD LIVE
Slot replaced legendary manager Jurgen Klopp in the summer, ending a nine-year that saw the Reds lift five major trophies — two League Cups, an FA Cup, and the UEFA Champions League and Premier League trophies once each. The bar has been set incredibly high for Slot, who began his Liverpool tenure with a 2-0 victory away to newly promoted Ipswich Town last weekend.
Brentford were also victorious and rather impressive in their 2024-25 season opener, beating Crystal Palace 2-1 as they begin a new era of their own — post-Ivan Toney. Bees boss Thomas Frank revealed before kickoff that his star striker, whose contract expires at the end of this season, had been left out of the team to pursue a transfer to Saudi side Al-Ahli. Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa then spearheaded the attack with a goal apiece en route to three points.
How to watch Liverpool vs Brentford stream link and start time
Kick off: 11:30 am ET, Sunday (August 25)
Stadium: Anfield
Online: Watch live on Peacock
Liverpool team news, focus
- No injuries to report
Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota got on the scoresheet in the opener, but the Reds didn’t look right until the second half kicked off. They had just three shots (all from outside the box - 0.09 combined xG) in the first half, before firing 15 shots (2.56 xG) and scoring twice in the second 45. The slow start wasn’t all too surprising, with five of Liverpool’s 11 starters having each played just once in preseason following EURO 2024 and Copa America, nor was the explosion of quality and goal threat after they worked out the kinks.
Brentford team news, focus
- OUT: Igor Thiago (knee), Josh Dasilva (knee), Rico Henry (knee), Aaron Hickey (thigh)
The writing had been on the wall for quite some time when it came to Toney, as the PL’s top clubs frequently sniffed around the now 28-year-old, and Toney made no real attempts to conceal his desire to move to a bigger club where he would, of course, be paid more. Mbeumo and Wissa showed last season, with 21 goals and 9 assists between them, they could shoulder a large part of the load with Toney and Kevin Schade suspended and injured, respectively, for half of the campaign. Brazilian striker Igor Thiago subsequently signed for a club-record $39 million this summer and got off to a hot start in preseason before tearing his meniscus, now the 23-year-old is expected to be out until late 2024. Fabio Carvalho is next in line to break up the Mbeumo-Schade-Wissa trio after he left Liverpool for $35 million. At Brentford, it always seems to be “next man up.”
Liverpool vs Brentford prediction
Liverpool’s midfield and defense are going to be tested in a way that Ipswich couldn’t and wouldn’t, and it will be telling how they handle Brentford’s relentless pressing. This has all the makings of an instant classic. Liverpool 3-2 Brentford.