Liverpool's devastating new partnership sends Man City warning after Paul Tierney assist
After a week where they encountered their first minor wobble of the season, Liverpool made sure they are instead skipping into the international break thanks to an emphatic response here against Brentford.
For a squad who can probably now be prefixed as 'injury-hit', the Reds would have done well just to have squeezed by the direct, counter-attacking threat of Thomas Frank's men at Anfield. But instead, the Bees were clinically dismantled 3-0 to shake off the draw with Luton and defeat at Toulouse in convincing fashion.
Having headed into the game without Curtis Jones and Ryan Gravenberch, who are the most recent on absent list alongside Thiago Alcantatra, Stefan Bajcetic and Andy Robertson, Jurgen Klopp was also unable to call upon Joe Gomez or Ibrahima Konate ahead of the final fixture before the international break.
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As a result the manager made as many as seven changes from the defeat in Toulouse on Thursday as Joel Matip, Wataru Endo, Kostas Tsimikas and Cody Gakpo kept their places.
It was a strong 11 on paper but the paucity of the options beneath it was laid bare by a remarkably inexperienced bench that contained the likes of 16-year-old Trey Nyoni and Ben Doak, who turned 18 earlier this week, alongside James McConnell, Luke Chambers and Calum Scanlon. Luis Diaz was the only outfield player on the nine-man bench that was aged over 20.
So while not usually the case, Liverpool's string of issues mean they could very well be welcoming this international break with open arms. The next week or two will be about resting up and rehabbing in what is now a
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