Needing just a single point to guarantee themselves a Champions League spot, Liverpool will wrap up the Premier League season on Sunday against Brentford at Anfield.

The Reds sit fifth in the table after a 4-2 defeat at Aston Villa, while the Bees are ninth, drawing 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace last weekend.

Match Preview

A difficult and underwhelming overall campaign will mercifully come to an end for Liverpool on Sunday in Merseyside. Even so, a spot in the UCL next season is more than likely, as they are three points above Bournemouth in the standings with a vastly superior goal difference.

The season has been a rough one for the Reds, but this team have often fared well at the end of a Premier League campaign, unbeaten in those previous 10 top-flight finales.

A defeat for them on Sunday would mark the first time they lose at least 20 times across all competitions in a single campaign since 1992-93 (20). Arne Slot’s side are unbeaten in their previous five matches in this competition at Anfield, conceding a goal or fewer in each of those instances.

Meanwhile, they have won their last eight matches against Brentford at Anfield across all competitions and have not conceded a single goal to them at home in the Premier League.

Credits: The Score

On the brink of a place in Europe for the first time in club history, Brentford will seek to end their losing spell away from home on Sunday and sneak into a Conference League position.

To do that, they will likely have to better Chelsea’s result, as they are currently tied with them on points, but the Blues have a +7-goal differential, while they are at +3. Keith Andrews has seen his team drop points in their last four Premier League affairs, scoring just one goal over that stretch. 

Although Liverpool have fared well in their final top-flight outings lately, that has not been the case for the Bees, who have won just one of their final Premier League outings over the past four seasons (1-0 versus Manchester City in 2022-23).

While they have not won a match at Anfield since 1937 (4-3), this club have points in their last two domestic encounters played in Merseyside, defeating Everton at Goodison Park 4-2 in January.

A win for them on Sunday would mark the first time that Brentford will have claimed consecutive triumphs versus Liverpool, winning the first meeting against them this season 3-2 last October.

Team News

Expect Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni to miss this game for Liverpool due to knee injuries, while Jayden Danns and Stefan Bajcetic are doubtful because of hamstring strains.

Also unlikely to feature will be Waturo Endo, who has a sore foot, Alisson could also sit with muscle tightness, while Hugo Ekitiké is still recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon.

Sunday will mark the final match for Mohamed Salah in a Liverpool shirt, and the Egyptian could become just the second Premier League Golden Boot winner to score 20+ fewer goals than the previous campaign (29) since the league’s record goalscorer Alan Shearer, who netted twice in 1997-98 after scoring 25 in the campaign before that.

It'll be the last dance for Andrew Robertson as well. So, expect a sobby post-game farewell for two of the club's modern day legends. 

Virgil van Dijk could become the oldest outfield player to feature in 100% of possible minutes in a single Premier League campaign this weekend at 34 years and 320 days, surpassing John Terry’s record with Chelsea in 2014-15 (34 years and 168 days).

On the Brentford side, Fábio Carvalho and Antoni Milambo are dealing with knee injuries and are doubtful to feature in this game. Meanwhile, a hamstring strain is likely to prevent Rico Henry from featuring for the Bees in this season finale as well.

The bulk of Brentford’s goals this season have come courtesy of Igor Thiago, with the Brazilian netting 41% of their tallies in the Premier League, the highest share by a single player since Harry Kane scored 43% of Tottenham Hotspur’s goals in the 2022-23 campaign.

Caoimhín Kelleher will pay his first visit to Anfield as a Brentford player, while former captain Jordan Henderson will seek his first start in this competition since March 21 against Leeds United.

Team Prediction

Liverpool: Mamardashvili; Gomez, Konaté, van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Szoboszlai, Salah, Ngumoha; Gakpo

Brentford: Kelleher; Kayode, Ajer, Collins, Lewis-Potter; Yarmolyuk, Henderson; Ouattara, Jensen, Damsgaard; Thiago

Score Prediction