Liverpool 3-0 Brentford: Player ratings as Salah & Jota fire Reds into second place

In stark contrast to the «chaotic» Europa League display against Toulouse which Jurgen Klopp lambasted just three days earlier, Liverpool were patient and precise in a 3-0 victory over Brentford.

Mohamed Salah found the net in his sixth consecutive Premier League appearance at Anfield to open the scoring before adding a second after the interval. Brentford, arriving on the back of three straight wins, caused their hosts some headaches but mainly after Diogo Jota had nabbed Liverpool's third.

Victory took Klopp's side above Arsenal into second place in the Premier League.

Thomas Frank has sharpened Brentford into a pesky thorn in the side of the Premier League's elite over the last two years. Yet Klopp's team guarded against the visitors' abundant obdurance.

Up against one of the most feared counter-attacking teams in the division, Liverpool pressed feverishly after each turnover. When Brentford were able to evade the first wave of resistance, Bryan Mbeumo invariably foraged a chance for himself, but Liverpool created openings for themselves during these moments of transition.

Darwin Nunez was twice denied by the assistant's flag in the opening half-hour. VAR backed up the on-pitch official's sharp spot of Nunez's stray toe before a more routine call. The Uruguayan came back from an offside position to hook in a rebound after Virgil van Dijk had been brilliantly denied by Mark Flekken.

Nunez didn't have time to drift behind Brentford's backline when Trent Alexander-Arnold fizzed the ball into his feet. Liverpool's master of mayhem kept his cool to slide Mohamed Salah into the box. Taking one touch to set himself, Salah slotted the opener into the bottom corner on 39 minutes.

A nervy silence hung over Anfield as VAR checked for