Liverpool welcome Brentford to Anfield as Jurgen Klopp’s side look to keep pace with Man City at the top of the Premier League.
The Reds were held at Anfield for the first time this season when they laboured to a goalless draw against ten-man Arsenal in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final in midweek.
Brentford, meanwhile, tasted a heavy 4-1 defeat at Southampton in midweek with boss Thomas Frank forced to apologise to travelling Bees supporters for his side’s display.
Here’s everything you need to know about this weekend’s game.
When is kick off? Sunday 16 January, 14:00 (GMT)
Where is the match being played? Anfield
TV channel/live stream? fuboTV (US), DAZN (Canada)
Highlights? Sky Sports Football YouTube channel, BBC Match of the Day 2
Referee? Jonathan Moss
VAR? Lee Mason
Thiago will not be available for Liverpool / Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/GettyImages
Liverpool welcomed back Trent Alexander-Arnold and Alisson in midweek after both tested positive for Covid-19 recently.
The Reds’ trio of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita will continue to be absent due to their involvement in the African Cup of Nations, while Klopp recently confirmed Thiago and Nathaniel Philips will miss out.
Read Liverpool’s predicted lineup here
Onyeka will be absent for Brentford / Marc Atkins/GettyImages
The Bees will be without Frank Onyeka with the midfielder currently on African Cup of Nations duty with Nigeria.
Goalkeeper David Raya and Josh Dasilva are long-term absentees for Frank, although full back Rico Henry has an outside chance of being available.
These two sides played out one of the games of the season in September’s 3-3 draw in west London.
Liverpool thought they had grabbed all three points when Curtis Jones struck deep into the second half in a blow-for-blow encounter, but Yoane Wissa equalised for the Bees with eight minutes remaining.
Read Brentford’s predicted lineup here
Firmino celebrates / James Baylis – AMA/GettyImages
The loss of goalkeeper David Raya has been a considerable blow for Brentford, with his replacement Alvaro Fernandez enduring a horrible evening in the 4-1 defeat at St. Mary’s in midweek.
Even in the absence of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane Liverpool will smell blood, and they boast a formidable record in front of fans at Anfield.
Expect nothing less than three points for Klopp’s men.
Prediction: Liverpool 3-0 Brentford
