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Brentford claimed a deserved 3-2 win over Liverpool at the Gtech Stadium to deal another blow to the Premier League champions’ title defence.
The Reds only lost four league games as they romped to glory last season; they have now lost each of their past four in England’s top flight.
Hoping to ride some of the momentum from Wednesday’s 5-1 blowout against Eintracht Frankfurt in the UEFA Champions League, Liverpool fell behind in the fifth minute when Kristoffer Ajer flicked on Michael Kayode’s long throw and Dango Ouattara volleyed home.
It was an instant reminder of Liverpool’s vulnerabilities against direct play, something Arne Slot spoke with almost alarming frankness about after the win in Frankfurt. Brentford’s second came with the ball shifted quickly from back to front, albeit courtesy of a sumptuous through ball from the excellent Mikkel Damsgaard.
The visitors’ flimsy defence was scattered and Kevin Schade kept his cool. Left-back Milos Kerkez has arguably been the most embattled of Liverpool’s defensive unit, and he escaped from that torment to reduce the arrears deep into first-half stoppage time.
Referee Simon Hooper made way due to injury at halftime and his replacement Tim Robinson was told by the VAR that a foul made by Virgil van Dijk on Ouattara before the hour was actually on the line of the area, meaning a penalty. Igor Thiago made no mistake.
Ouattara missed a glorious chance to pile further misery onto Liverpool before the abject Mohamed Salah found a moment of magic to set up a grandstand finish. Brentford had to endure a mammoth period of stoppage time, but endure they did.
If Arsenal and Manchester City win tricky fixtures against Crystal Palace and Aston Villa tomorrow, Liverpool will be seven and four points behind their presumed title rivals. They lie sixth after Saturday’s fixtures.
Brentford vs. Liverpool score
| Fulltime | Goalscorers | |
| Brentford | 3 | Outtara 5′, Schade 45′, Thiago (pen) 60′ |
| Liverpool | 2 | Kerkez 45+5′, Salah 89′ |
Venue: Gtech Community Stadium, London
Referee: Simon Hooper (replaced by fourth official Tim Robinson at halftime)
Keep track of every game and every goal via SN’s live Premier League scoreboard
Starting lineups:
Brentford (4-2-3-1, right to left): 1. Caoimhin Kelleher (GK) – 33. Michael Kayode, 22. Nathan Collins, 4. Sepp van den Berg, 20. Kristoffer Ajer – 6. Jordan Henderson, 18. Yehor Yarmolyuk (27. Vitaly Janelt) – 19. Dango Ouattara, 24. Mikkel Damsgaard (8. Mathias Jensen), 7. Kevin Schade 23. Keane Lewis-Potter) – 9. Igor Thiago
Liverpool (4-2-3-1, right to left): 25. Giorgi Mamardashvili (GK) – 12. Conor Bradley (10. Alexis Mac Allister), 5. Ibrahima Konate, 4. Virgil van Dijk, 6. Milos Kerkez (26. Andy Robertson) – 8. Dominik Szoboszlai, 17. Curtis Jones (73. Rio Ngumoha) – 11. Mohamed Salah, 7. Florian Wirtz (2. Joe Gomez), 18. Cody Gakpo (14. Federico Chiesa) – 22. Hugo Ekitike
MORE: Liverpool boss Arne Slot unfazed about Mo Salah’s slump in form
Brentford vs Liverpool stats
| Brentford | Stat | Liverpool |
| 17 | Shots | 15 |
| 8 | Shots on target | 5 |
| 2.21 | Expected goals | 2.21 |
| 34% | Possession | 66% |
| 236 | Passes | 487 |
| 5 | Corners | 4 |
| 7 | Fouls | 9 |
| 3 | Yellow cards | 2 |
| 2 | Offsides | 0 |
Brentford vs. Liverpool live updates, highlights, and commentary
Fulltime
The ball gets flung all over the Brentford area, Salah keeps it alive, Chiesa tries to jink through. Surely Gomez won’t shoot? Szoboszlai does and Kelleher holds on. That’s it, all over. What a win for Brentford, what a thoroughly absorbing game. Liverpool only lost four Premier League games last season; they’ve now lost each of their last four. Thanks for joining us.
90+11 mins: Wonderful play from Salah, who finds Robertson to drill into the goalmouth. Van den Berg clears brilliantly.
90+10 mins: The corner is cleared. Liverpool throw-in, which Thiago is booked for delaying. Gomez hurls it into the box. So vogue. Brentford clear.
90+9 mins; Van Dijk now tearing around upfield. Kelleher dashes out to claim the ball. But he takes too long with the ball and a corner is given! Rules are rules! Mamardashvili comes up.
90+2 mins: Thiago down after a a coming together with Van Dijk in the box. It’s been checked and there’s no penalty. But this also means there will be a lot more than the seven minutes signalled for stoppage time. Remember that Kerkez goal deep into first-half stoppage time…
90 mins: Thiago should make it 4-2! Another excellent delivery from the substitute Lewis-Potter and Brentford’s centre-forward can’t convert.
89 mins: GOOOOAAAALLLLL!!!!!!! Mohamed Salah!!!!!!!
Oh, hello. Salah’s been somewhere close to rancid all night but that touch and finish, blazed into the top corner, is absolutely majestic. Grandstand finish ahoy.
84 mins: Lovely, teasing cross from Lewis-Potter on the left and Ouattara heads wide at the back post.
83 mins: Salah cuts inside and slams a forlorn shot way off target. Gomez coming on for Wirtz, meaning Szoboszlai is shunted back into midfield.
80 mins: Fresh legs for Brentford for the final push of the night. Schade and Damsgaard, both excellent, make way and Lewis-Potter and Jensen come on.
78 mins: Van Dijk gets up highest to meet the right-wing delivery but can’t direct it goalwards.
77 mins: Ekitike tries his luck from outside the box. It gets a nick on the way through and that’s a corner.
74 mins: Concerningly for Liverpool, this is just petering out at the moment. Of course, a goal would entirely change the complexion.
66 mins: Oh, that’s a free header for Ouattara and he should do much better.
64 mins: Big scramble in the Brentford box ends with Van den Berg hurling himself into a last-ditch challenge on Salah.
61 mins: Liverpool respond with a triple change. Robertson, Mac Allister and Chiesa on for Bradley, Kerkez and Gapko. That means Szoboszlai will revert to right-back.
60 mins: GOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!! Igor Thiago!!!!
Thiago kisses the ball, spots it and slides home a low kick and Mamardashvili tumbles in the other direction.
59 mins: PENALTY TO BRENTFORD! Van Dijk and Slot not happy at all, but that’s a factual call.
58 mins: Or was it on the edge of the box. The VAR having a look and this might be on the line, which would mean a penalty.
56 mins: Brentford kept their attack rumbling on after that Damsgaard effort. Van Dijk brings down Ouattara right on the edge of the box. This free-kick is in a nice position, outside the area to the right.
55 mins: Damsgaard lets fly after some lovely interplay and Mamardashvili makes a fine save.
54 mins: Schade darts away from Bradley and spears a cross into the box. Thiago has room but his first touch is poor and Mamardashvili is able to close the angle.
50 mins: Long throw on the other side for Brentford now. Schade to take. Safe to say he doesn’t have the pop Kayode does.
Kickoff: 2nd Half
A delayed start to the second half because referee Simon Hooper has gone off injured. Fourth official Tim Robinson went through a brisk warm-up and is booed on.
Halftime
There’s a hail of boos at the end of a largely celebratory first half for Brentford. That’s because Kerkez scored in the fifth minute of stoppage time after three were signalled. In fairness, Schade scored almost bang on 45 minutes, so one we’d restarted after the celebrations, playing until 50 minutes was probably about right.
45+5 mins: GOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLL!!!! Milos Kerkez!!!!
Liverpool back in it as a low cross scoots along the six-yard box and Kerkez finishes at the far post.
Milos Kerkez arrives at the back post to pull one back for Liverpool 👀
📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/zok1POy1au
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) October 25, 2025
45+4 mins: Kayode loops his latest long throw and it goes through everyone. A let-off for Liverpool.
45 mins: GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!! Kevin Schade!!!!!
They don’t make it to halftime! A Liverpool attack breaks down and Damsgaard picks a lovely pass. But it’s just one straight ball and the whole Liverpool team is out of the game. Schade keeps his cool and slots home.
Brentford double their lead 😳
Kevin Schade keeps his cool to slot home after a brilliant ball from Mikkel Damsgaard. @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/Eb917HccKU
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) October 25, 2025
44 mins: Liverpool are the team who look like they need halftime, despite that penalty shout. Kerkez loses his footing but regains it to clear Kayode’s cross away from Damsgaard.
43 mins: Gakpo takes a tumble under pressure from Collins. No penalty. VAR will have a look but it shouldn’t take too long.
41 mins: Kerkez’s cross is cleared to Jones on the edge of the box. He curls a shot straight into Kelleher’s gloves.
39 mins: Van Dijk shovels a clearance into a dicey spot, Damsgaard charges onto it and lets rip. Mamardashvili pushes over. Solid save. Liverpool deal with the corner.
36 mins: Kayode chucks another one into the mixer. Mamardashvili take matters into his own hands and gets a decent punch on this one.
32 mins: Oooooffff, Henderson fizzes a wonderful drive just wide from 25 yards. That would have been quite something.
30 mins: Lots of jostling ahead of a Kayode long throw from about the position he launched the one for Brentford’s goal. Ekitike gets up to this one with a good defensive header. The ball comes back in and Collins nods into Mamardashvili’s gloves.
28 mins: Brentford forced into an early change. Yarmolyuk can’t continue. The experienced and versatile Janelt is about to join us.
24 mins: Gakpo glides inside nicely, leaving Henderson in his wake, only to thump his eventual shot from outside the box way off target.
22 mins: A floated cross from Gakpo is glanced wide by Ekitike. It was always arcing away from him but it’s been better from Liverpool in the past couple of minutes.
21 mins: Wirtz looking for Ekitike now but Collins anticipates the danger and boots clear.
20 mins: Oh, Wirtz has to score! It’s lovely play initially from the Germany star, who finds Ekitike and continues his run. However, he should do better than lashing the return pass wide, left-footed from 12 yards.
18 mins: Brentford pretty settled in their defensive shape and Liverpool lacking ideas. Ekitike seeing very little of the ball.
10 mins: Gakpo pops a pass to Salah into the box. The Egyptian superstar takes a heavy touch and then blunders into Kelleher. He’s very apologetic to his former teammate.
9 mins: Salah looks to find a response, whipping one into the box but Kelleher is behind it all the way.
5 mins: GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!! Dango Ouattara!!!!!
Kayode sends in an absolute. missile, Ayer flicks on and Ouattara volleys home. Simple as that!
Dango Ouattara finishes off a signature Brentford long throw to put them ahead against Liverpool ⚡️
Keith Andrews enjoyed that one!@tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/f5YTo61dlf
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) October 25, 2025
4 mins: Liverpool deal with a punt downfield but Kayode gets to hurl in a long throw.
Kickoff: 1st Half
The players take a knee before kickoff as part of the Premier League’s anti-racism campaign during Black History Month, then we’re underway.
5 mins before kickoff: The team are in the tunnel, tunes and a light show blaring around the Gtech. Here they come…
30 mins before kickoff: It’s likely to be an emotional evening for Henderson, who probably didn’t foresee facing Liverpool when he left for the Saudi Pro League in 2023.
Jordan Henderson in the pre-match programme: “That was one of the best things about Liverpool: I know I wore the armband but there were four or five other captains in the dressing room alongside me. That was a big part of the success we had.” #LFC pic.twitter.com/gdrCwAwkiu
— Michael Plant (@MichaelPlant82) October 25, 2025
1 hour before kickoff: Here’s the Brentford XI. Including Jordan Henderson, back in the Premier League to face the team he captained to the title, via Al Ittihad and Ajax.
Your Bees to take on Liverpool#BRELIV pic.twitter.com/lpL9NTbRqk
— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) October 25, 2025
1 hr 15 mins before kickoff: The teams are in. Salah and Wirtz both start for Liverpool.
Team news is IN 🔐 #BRELIV pic.twitter.com/YeYbdtb7r8
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) October 25, 2025
1 hr 30 mins before kickoff: Victory over a porous Eintracht Frankfurt snapped Liverpool’s four-game losing slump across all competitions. They must now build on that against Brentford, who will no doubt have noticed Arne Slot’s candid post-match comments in Germany that Liverpool’s task was made more straightforward by having opponents to press who did not go long at will. Virgil van Dijk and whoever else starting in the Liverpool backline today might want to prepare themselves for a bombardment.
2 hours before kickoff. Hello and welcome to The Sporting News’ live coverage of Brentford vs. Liverpool in the Premier League. Can the champions get back to winning ways domestically, even amid the probable threat of long balls from their hosts?
Brentford vs. Liverpool kick off time
The Brentford vs. Liverpool match kicks off in London at 8 p.m. local time.
Here’s how that time translates across some of the major territories:
| Date | Kickoff time | |
| USA | Sat, Oct 25 | 3:00 p.m. ET |
| Canada | Sat, Oct 25 | 3:00 p.m. ET |
| UK | Sat, Oct 25 | 8:00 p.m. BST |
| Australia | Sun, Oct 26 | 6:00 a.m. AEDT |
| India | Sun, Oct 26 | 1:30 a.m. IST |
Brentford vs. Liverpool lineups, team news
Brentford have one fresh issue as Aaron Hickey remains out due to a knock sustained on international duty with Scotland.
Gustavo Nunes has been racing to get back fully fit and he is now close to being available, but like Paris Maghoma will need a bit more time.
The Bees remain without big-money summer signing Antoni Milambo, who is unavailable for the rest of this season due to a serious knee injury.
Brentford starting XI (4-2-3-1, right to left): Kelleher (GK) – Kayode, Collins, Van den Berg, Ajer – Henderson, Yarmolyuk – Schade, Damsgaard, Ouattara – Thiago
Brentford subs: Valdimarsson (GK), Henry, Pinnock, Jensen, Nelson, Carvalho, Onyeka, Lewis-Potter, Janelt
Both Jeremie Frimpong and Alexander Isak have had tough starts to their time at Anfield and they are both expected to be sidelined for a while after injuries against Frankfurt.
Fellow summer signings Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike have been left out by Slot of late, but both start here alongside Mohamed Salah.
Liverpool starting XI (4-2-3-1, right to left): Mamardashvili (GK) – Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson – Szoboszlai, Jones – Salah, Wirtz, Gakpo – Ekitike
Liverpool subs: Woodman, Gomez, Endo, Mac Allister, Chiesa, Robertson, Nyoni, Morrison, Ngumoha.
Brentford vs. Liverpool live stream, TV channel
Here is how to watch the match in some of the world’s major regions:
| Region | TV | Streaming |
| USA | USA Network | Fubo, nbcsports.com, NBC Sports App |
| Canada | — | Fubo |
| UK | TNT Sports | discovery+ |
| Australia | — | Stan Sport |
| India | — | JioHotstar |
