We round up the key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points from Brentford v Liverpool in our Scout Notes summary.
The numbers and graphics below are taken from LiveFPL and our own Premium Members Area, where you can access Opta player and team data for every single Premier League fixture.
A hapless Liverpool side were beaten 3-1 by Brentford in the opening match of Double Gameweek 19.
Ibrahima Konate (£4.8m) scored an own goal, before Yoane Wissa (£5.3m) and Bryan Mbeumo (£5.8m) netted either side of the break to earn a remarkable win for the hosts.
As a result, the Bees have now taken 10 points from their last four games against Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United and Liverpool, with their home form across the 2022/23 season particularly impressive.
BRENTFORD AT HOME 2022/23:
| Gameweek | Opponent | Score |
| 2 | Man Utd | 4-0 |
| 4 | Everton | 1-1 |
| 6 | Leeds | 5-2 |
| 8 | Arsenal | 0-3 |
| 11 | Brighton | 2-0 |
| 12 | Chelsea | 0-0 |
| 14 | Wolves | 1-1 |
| 17 | Tottenham | 2-2 |
| L19 | Liverpool | 3-1 |
With Bournemouth and Southampton up next at the Brentford Community Stadium, that good form could well continue, yet without Ivan Toney (£7.5m) available, their attacking options are sparse.
The England forward has already scored 12 league goals this season, equalling his final tally for 2021/22, but was absent against Liverpool after being stretchered off on Friday. With a potential betting ban also looming, there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding his availability right now.
On the night, Wissa and Mbeumo started up front in Thomas Frank’s 3-5-2 system, with the pair’s ability to make dangerous runs in behind perfectly suited to exploiting their opponents’ high line.
“[Ivan Toney] was close-ish to being on the bench and available. Ivan is a monster, he is capable of dealing with a lot of pain and niggles. But today was too close, one or two days more could have done it. So we expect him to be close to being available against West Ham.
Of course, taking the key man offensively out of the team is a miss. That said, I know we have a very good replacement in Yoane Wissa. Last time he started here he scored and got a penalty. No doubt he adds something different and I don’t think it’s any secret that Liverpool have a high line. Wissa likes to run in behind so hopefully he can do that.” – Thomas Frank speaking prior to kick-off
Goalkeeper transfers won’t be a priority for most in Gameweek 20, yet David Raya (£4.6m) – owned by just 6.9% – is a man in form. The Spaniard made another four saves against Liverpool, taking his tally to 79 for the season, at least 15 more than any other Premier League shot-stopper.
As for Liverpool, their defensive frailties were exposed again. In a desperate first half they found themselves 2-0 down but it could have been much worse, as Brentford had a further two goals ruled out for offside.
They looked vulnerable from almost every ball into the box, especially from set-pieces, with Jurgen Klopp responding with a triple change at the break. That involved Andrew Robertson (£6.9m) coming on, with the Scot instantly adding energy down the left flank, and an injured Virgil van Dijk (£6.5m) departing.
“Virgil [van Dijk] felt a little bit the muscle but said he is fine, and he’s a very good judge of these kind of things. But I didn’t want to take any risk – the physios looked quite happy when I said we don’t take risks. But I think it is not an injury, he just felt the intensity.
Yeah, the other two things were tactical. We had obviously had the opportunities. We could bring Naby [Keita], who I think played a really good game, and Robbo [Robertson] – and Robbo with the first action after half-time was exactly what we needed. We needed that speed in behind and so that was the reason for these two changes.” – Jurgen Klopp
Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.2m), meanwhile, registered his first Opta assist of the season, with his FPL points tally now up to 15 following the restart. However, it’s hard to get too excited about his return to form, given that only Leeds United and Fulham have conceded more big chances than Liverpool so far this season, diminishing the likelihood of clean sheets.
Elsewhere, it’s just not happening for Darwin Nunez (£9.0m) right now. Against Brentford, he almost scored a wonderful goal in the first half but his effort was cleared off the line, before netting just after the break only to be found offside. Things then went from bad to worse for his owners as he shanked a shot horribly wide and was booked for dissent after a foul was given against him.
The Uruguayan has registered 16 shots in his three league matches since the restart but failed to score, with his combined xG tally for those games 2.62. In fact, from Gameweek 17 onwards, he’s had seven big chances and missed them all.
Above: Darwin Nunez’s xG shot map Gameweeks 17-19
As the above graphic shows, he is consistently getting into good positions and racking up xG, which suggests owners should persist with him, yet it’s getting harder and harder to keep the faith, especially with cheaper forwards like Eddie Nketiah (£6.5m) delivering.
It’s also worth noting Mohamed Salah (£12.8m) struggled to make much of an impact, with just one shot registered and a wider role that limited his runs into the opponent’s penalty box.
Cody Gakpo (£8.0m) was not involved in Liverpool’s squad to face Brentford, with the necessary paperwork in order for him to feature yet to be finalised. As a result, his debut is likely to come in Saturday’s FA Cup tie with Wolves.
“I have no news [on Cody Gakpo]. We hope he gets permission tomorrow to train fully with us, that would be great but that’s all I know.” – Jurgen Klopp
Brentford XI: Raya, Zanka, Pinnock, Mee, Roerslev, Jensen (Dasilva 74), Norgaard, Janelt (Ghoddos 87), Henry (Sorensen 90+6), Mbeumo (Canos 88), Wissa (Lewis-Potter 74)
Liverpool XI: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, van Dijk (Matip 45), Tsimikas (Robertson 45), Fabinho, Elliott (Keita 45), Thiago, Salah, Oxlade-Chamberlain (Jones 83), Darwin
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1 year, 5 months agoSalah not seen in article with his picture on?