Brentford face a tricky test against Premier League leaders, Liverpool at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Victory will see Brentford go ninth if Fulham lose elsewhere, whilst a win would see Liverpool move seven points clear at the summit before Arsenal play in the late kick-off.
Team News
Brentford will be without Ryan Trevitt after he missed their last two games with an Achilles injury, but otherwise have no fresh injury concerns from their comeback 2-2 draw against Manchester City in midweek.
Josh Dasilva (knee), Gustavo Nunes (back), Igor Thiago (joint), Kristoffer Ajer (ankle), Ethan Pinnock and Aaron Hickey (both hamstring) remain sidelined.
Liverpool will welcome Darwin Nunez back into contention after he was suspended for their 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest.
Diogo Jota (fitness) is a doubt but Joe Gomez (hamstring) is still ruled out.
When is Kick-Off?
Brentford host Liverpool at Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday 18 January at 3pm GMT, untelevised live in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Brentford have won one of their last five league meetings against Liverpool (W1, L4).
- Liverpool have claimed four points from their three previous Premier League visits to Brentford (W1, D1, L1).
- Mohamed Salah has scored in two of his three starts for Liverpool away to Brentford in the top flight.
- No Brentford player has been substituted on more occasions this season in the top-flight than Mikkel Damsgaard.
- Liverpool are unbeaten in three league trips to London-based opposition this season (W3, D1).
Prediction
Resilience best describes Brentford’s comeback draw against Man City because for all of their wasteful end product, they never gave up even at 2-0 down so a draw was well deserved for their efforts and they will need a similar performance if want anything here.
Liverpool though weren’t exactly at their best until substitutions rescued them a point at Forest so improvement will be needed, but they particularly will need to be at their best defensively because Brentford will surely try to hit them on the counter like Forest did.
London however is a much happier hunting ground for Liverpool but with Brentford proving a difficult team to beat at home this season, I can see this ending in another draw.
Prediction: Brentford 1-1 Liverpool
Result: Brentford 0-2 Liverpool