Preview: Brentford vs. Liverpool – team news, lineups, prediction, live stream

The joy of Ivan Toney’s 12th Premier League goal of the season soon turned to concern for the Brentford talisman, who was taken off on a stretcher in the dying embers at the London Stadium after contributing to his side’s second successive top-flight away win.

Scoring six goals in recent meetings with Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham should see Brentford’s forward line strike fear into the hearts of any backline, and only runaway leaders Arsenal have come away from the Gtech Community Stadium with all three points this season.

While Jurgen Klopp’s men could not find their shooting boots, they were grateful that Faes had brought his, although their sixth-placed position in the table will not change between now and Monday, and the gap to the top four stands at four points at the time of writing following Manchester United’s win over Wolverhampton Wanderers

Entering 2023 on the back of four successive wins in the Premier League, the Reds now set out to improve a paltry tally of just two wins from their last eight opening fixtures of the calendar year, but Klopp’s men have remarkably found the back of the net in each of their last 26 top-flight away games in London.

In any case, Toney can expect to watch this one from the treatment room alongside Kristoffer Ajer, Shandon Baptiste and Aaron Hickey, all of whom should not spend any longer than another couple of weeks on the sidelines.

Frank Onyeka and Thomas Strakosha are both thought to be in with chances of coming back into the fold, but only the one enforced change could be made by Frank, who should call upon Yoane Wissa to replace Toney.

Whether the pair are rushed back less than 72 hours later is another question, while Arthur, Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz and Curtis Jones should all miss out again, but James Milner (hamstring) and Roberto Firmino (calf) could both recover in time.

Fabinho missed Friday’s game for the birth of his child but could now return to provide a much-needed presence in the engine room, and new signing Cody Gakpo will be eligible to make his debut on Monday.

However, Klopp is pessimistic about the club’s chances of completing the relevant paperwork in time, and as a result the Dutch attacker is unlikely to earn his first Premier League minutes just yet.