Dubai: Brentford play host to Liverpool on Monday night and we could be in for an eye-catching Premier League clash at the Community Stadium.
Thomas Frank’s side will come into the clash fresh from their 2-0 London derby victory over West Ham United in their final game of 2022, while the Reds beat Leicester City 2-1.
However, the Bees look set to be without their talisman Ivan Toney who was stretchered off following a knee injury at the London Stadium after scoring his 12th Premier League goal of the season.
He will be replaced by Yoane Wissa but also missing will be Kristoffer Ajer, Shandon Baptiste and Aaron Hickey. They could find goals harder to come by but will go into the match against Jurgen Klopp’s side with confidence. They currently sit 10th in the table after stringing together a four-game unbeaten league run on their own patch.
Two own goals
Liverpool will hope they start the game much better than they did against the Foxes. They conceded after just four minutes and then had to rely on two own goals from Wout Faes to give them the win.
Klopp’s men find themselves in sixth spot and need to keep their winning run going if they are to breach the top four. Ahead of them are Tottenham in fifth and with Manchester United hitting form now it could be a massive task to qualify for the Champions League next season.
They enter the New Year on the back of four successive wins in the league but only have two wins from their last eight opening fixtures of the calendar year. They also have fitness concerns over Harvey Elliott and Andrew Robertson. Long-term absentees Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz and Curtis Jones will all miss out again but new signing Cody Gakpo will be eligible to make his debut on Monday if the relevant paperwork is completed in time.
