Brentford v Liverpool player ratings: Wissa 8, Mbeumo 9; Oxlade-Chamberlain 8; Nunez 5

Bees secure 3-1 win against Klopp's side in Premier League

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  BRENTFORD RATINGS: David Raya 8: Rounded by Nunez in opening 10 minutes but rescued by Mee’s goal-line clearance. Excellent stop down at his near-post to keep out Tsimikas’ low strike. Commanding show from Spaniard. Getty

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  Mathias Jorgensen 8: Booked in opening minute for foul on Nunez after being put into trouble by teammate Pinnock but was excellent for rest of game despite threat of red card hanging over him. AP

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  Ben Mee 8: Brilliant block on line to deny Nunez after eight minutes, although Uruguayan should really have scored. Cost Wissa a goal when striker’s shot deflected off Mee who was in offside position. AFP

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  Ethan Pinnock 6: Weak header led to Jorgensen having to concede early foul and take booking for the team. Badly sliced a clearance out for corner in shaky first-half from defender. Important block on Robertson cross just after break with Liverpool lining up in box and stuck to task under second-half pressure. AFP

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  Mads Roerslev 6: On right of back five and coasted through first half but introduction of Robertson down Liverpool left at half-time made life more problematic for Dane. PA

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  Rico Henry 7: Saw surging run down left early on ended by crude Elliott challenge that earned Liverpool man booking. Helped give Bees plenty of width down left in excellent first half for Brentford. Like rest of team, found second half more of a challenge. EPA

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  Christian Norgaard 8: Tidy work from captain to nip in and take ball off Oxlade-Chamberlain’s toes as he was poised to shoot in opening 15 minutes. Lovely long-ball forward resulted in Mbuemo scoring Brentford’s third. Getty

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  Mathias Jensen 7: Had right-footed strike deflected over bar by Fabinho as Brentford hunted for second first-half goal, which did arrive when the Danish midfielder’s perfect cross picked out Wissa who headed home just before break. PA

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  Vitaly Janelt 6: Had Brentford’s first shot on target after 15 minutes but could only curl low effort straight at Alisson from edge of box. Showed real determination to win back possession in middle of park 10 minutes from time followed by pass that almost put Lewis-Potter through on goal. AFP

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  Yoane Wissa 8: Congo international sent one lovely through-ball for Mbeumo but his strike partner couldn’t finish. Twice thought he had scored only to be denied by offside flag but did make it 2-0 in opening half with a header that Alisson could not keep out. Getty

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  Bryan Mbeumo 9: Should have opened scoring when put through in first-half but was denied by Alisson. The Bees scored from his resulting corner, though, and Mbeumo’s set-pieces were constant problem for Liverpool. Out-muscled Konate before finishing calmly to make it 3-1. Reuters

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  SUBS: Josh Dasilva (On for Jenson 74’) 6: Unlucky to be on bench after scoring against West Ham last time out and came on with Brentford creaking under Liverpool pressure, but helped get team over line in end. EPA

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  Keane Lewis-Potter (On for Wissa 74’) 6: Young attacker was almost through on goal at one point but brushed off ball by Liverpool defenders. Almost picked out fellow sub Ghoddos in box with injury-time cross that was intercepted by Alisson. AFP

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  Saman Ghoddos (On for Mbeumo 88’) N/A. Reuters Sergi Canos (On for Janelt 88’) N/A. Mads Sorensen (On for Henry 90+6’) N/A.

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  LIVERPOOL RATINGS: Allison Becker 6: Looking for a fifth straight win, but a Konate ball squeezed past him in a wretched first half when Brentford put the ball in his net four times – even without Ivan Toney. Troubled by Brentford’s first-half corners and left isolated for third. PA

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  Trent Alexander-Arnold 6: Switched off as Yoane Wissa headed home Brentford’s second goal. Stunning left footed delivery for Liverpool’s first. Getty

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  Ibrahima Konate 5: Unfortunate own goal put side behind. He’s fast, but was guulty of poor defending on set pieces as Liverpool’s lack of concentration saw them go two down. Headed across goal ten minutes from time, then stumbled over before Brentford’s third. AFP

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  Virgil van Dijk 5: Early effort showed Liverpool’s intent, but he was offside. Defence cut open and was second to Mbuemo chasing a stunning Norgaard ball which led to the corner and Brentford going ahead. Off at half time. EPA

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  Kostas Tsimikas 4: Poorly marked and found himself in lots of space in first half but hit shot too close to Raya. Struggled to defend crosses. Reuters

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  Fabinho 6: Usually a calming influence in front of the back four but his poor ball to Thiago led to his teammate getting booked. Liverpool had 75 per cent possession and he was central to that dominance. Reuters

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  Thiago Alcantara 6: Lovely ball forward after the break as Liverpool pushed to get back into the game. Booked taking emergency action to prevent a Brentford counter-attack just before hour mark. Reuters

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  Harvey Elliott 6: Booked as his side fell apart in the first half in front of the 17,163 bank holiday crowd. Liverpool missed Jordan Henderson in middle of park. EPA

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  Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 8: Won midfield battles in his 100th league appearance for Liverpool. Lovely flick to Tsimikas and decent shot from distance in first-half. Sharp and timed his run perfectly to glance in Liverpool’s goal – his first since last January. Liverpool’s best player. Reuters

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  Mohamed Salah 6: Combined well with Nunez after controlling a ball and playing him in beautifully early on. Probed and linked up with Alexander-Arnold. Found dangerous positions too, but didn’t track Rico Henry down flank at times. AFP

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  Darwin Nunez 5: Rounded Raya early on and shot on target, but Mee blocked superbly. Often the only Liverpool player in the box against three central defenders. Fine finish just after break, but was offside. Snatched at a shot which dragged well wide on 70, then booked two minutes later. Getty

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  SUBS: Andrew Robertson (On for Tsimikas 46’) 6: Outswinging corners were an improvement, but Brentford deserved their win amid a raucous atmosphere in West London. AP

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  Joel Matip (On for Van Dijk 46’) 5: The three half time subs worked as Liverpool scored and then dominated, while Brentford tried to scrap and stall to maintain their lead. AFP

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  Naby Keita (On for Elliott 46’) 6: Gave Liverpool some midfield bite but couldn’t stop Brentford from registering their first win against Liverpool since 1938. Reuters

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  Curtis Jones (On for Oxlade-Chamberlain 84’) N/A. Getty

Liverpool crashed to a 3-1 defeat against Brentford as a series of defensive blunders damaged their bid for a top four finish in the Premier League on Monday.

Jurgen Klopp's side endured a nightmare start to 2023 and they had only themselves to blame for the horror show in West London.

Ibrahima Konate's first half own goal set the tone in a woeful defensive performance by Liverpool as they went in at half-time two down after Yoane Wissa doubled Brentford's lead.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain did pull a goal back just after the break as Liverpool dominated the second half but Bryan Mbeumo wrapped up Brentford's first victory against the Merseysiders since 1938. And it was three points achieved without top-scorer Ivan Toney.

“Ivan is such a key player for us and he is fantastic in many ways and if you ask me if I want to play him, of course I want to, but we need more than 11 players,” said Bees manager Thomas Frank

“I’m so pleased Wissa came in and he scored, he played fantastic. We knew he was good to run in behind and also that position he found in the box for the second goal was really good.”

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp rued the missed chances his team had before Brentford’s first goal went in.

“We conceded the first goal in the moment where we should already be 2-0 up, I think, super chances from Darwin [Nunez] and Kostas [Tsimikas], pretty much alone in front of the goal.,” said the German coach.

“Darwin doesn’t expect Ben Mee to be shooting there and, of course, the shooting technique can be better but we didn’t use that.

“It was more the game they wanted than we wanted which dictated, because of the game, the way it got whistled and how the situations were with set-pieces.

“We have to accept that but, of course, we have to be much more clear in the situations where we are in control of the game.”

You can see the player ratings from Monday's game in the gallery above. To move on to the next photo, click on the arrows or swipe if using a mobile device.