Liverpool stunned by Brentford

Jurgen Klopp said Liverpool were unable to cope with Brentford’s “chaos” theory in a shock 3-1 defeat on Monday that damaged their bid for a top four finish in the Premier League.

Klopp’s side endured a nightmare start to 2023 and they had only themselves to blame for the horror show in west London. Ibrahima Konate’s first half own goal set the tone for an evening scarred by mistakes at the back from Liverpool.

Yoane Wissa doubled Brentford’s lead and although Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain got one back, Bryan Mbeumo wrapped up Brentford’s first victory against Liverpool since 1938.

In his first appearance since playing in France’s World Cup final defeat against Argentina in December, Konate took a large share of the blame for Liverpool’s woeful defensive performance.

But the centre-back was far from alone in deserving criticism for a Liverpool display that left them in sixth place, four points behind fourth placed Manchester United who play their game in hand against Bournemouth on Tuesday.

Rocked by Liverpool’s first defeat in five league games, Reds boss Klopp conceded Brentford’s clever set-piece tactics were too much for his players to handle.

“Brentford create chaos with set-pieces. When I say they stretch the rules, they do, in offensive set-pieces,” Klopp said. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s smart, but they do. If you could single out all the situations you would find five fouls but because it’s so chaotic no one sees it in the end.”

Although seventh placed Brentford are on a six-game unbeaten run in the league, it was still surprising to see Liverpool torn apart so easily.

“You know before the game how strong they are from corners. The game got decided by the second goal which was our fault,” Klopp said. “We are not awake, they cross the ball and score the second that decided the game. The third goal should not have been allowed but we should have played better.”