Liverpool’s Bittersweet Victory: Triumph and Tribulations
The early kick-off against a team we hadn’t beaten at their ground, and injuries going into this made this a banana skin of the highest order. However, despite Liverpool coming away with a more than convincing victory over Brentford, with a variety of players on the scoresheet, this was marred by injuries galore to key players and half of the first eleven are now out injured. It was a dominant performance and the opposition were hopeless, but the overall cost of this one is still to be seen. We look at the lessons learned from this victory.
Núñez and Jota Magic: Key Performers
They’ve been the two we’ve looked to so far in 2024, with eight-goal involvements each, and it was that Jota and Núñez magic that again worked for Liverpool. Brentford put everyone up from the corner and a clever flick by the Portuguese forward meant Núñez had the run of the G-Tech to go at Flekken. Very few predicted what would happen next as the deftest of flicks by the Uruguayan gave Liverpool a lead in this one. To be honest, I’d rather not talk about them anymore as we know what’s going to have to be mentioned in the next bit.

Injury Concerns: A Growing List
Whatever the result was going to be, you were never going to be ecstatic when two more came off with injuries. It was important players too, as not only were Diogo Jota, Darwin Núñez, and Curtis Jones vying for man of the match contenders at that point, but all three are in the strongest XI and now look likely to miss the Carabao Cup final in a week’s time. Having lost Alisson the day before, it looks to be a fair bit worse as a stretcher was called for Jota, and Jones looked in agony before limping off. Impossible for anyone to blame the medical team on anyone of these, but Liverpool’s season feels like it could be derailed if this keeps up.
Salah’s Return: A Glimmer of Hope
It wasn’t the return we were hoping for by any means when he replaced Diogo Jota who went off on the stretcher, but it didn’t take long for Mohamed Salah to remind everyone who might have forgotten. The Egyptian king played a superb assist for Alexis Mac Allister to give us a two-goal lead and probably should have scored from a one-on-one. However, that was quickly rectified as he latched onto a Cody Gakpo flick on and buried a left-foot finish into the bottom right corner. They’re going to need him now more than ever with the injuries, and this was a perfect return.