Salah is back: Liverpool beat Brentford and Mo shone on his return

For Liverpool it was key to get a win this Saturday, at the start of the 25th Premier League matchday, to avoid losing their place at the top of the table. They were two points ahead of Manchester City and Arsenal, but with an important detail: The Citizens still have a game pending, so they are virtual leaders of the tournament. With this scenario, there was no other option but to win in order to transfer the pressure to the other teams, who will play their respective matches this Saturday.

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On Salah's return, Liverpool's hero against Brentford is Darwin Nunez

During the first half things were difficult for The Reds. Brentford's defensive strategy was effective for a long time and that prevented the attackers from finding the necessary spaces to create opportunities to score. Added to that, injuries to Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota forced Jurgen Klopp to make unexpected changes.

But on 35 minutes Darwin Nunez scored the opener with a brilliant finish, shooting smoothly over goalkeeper Mark Flekken, and that changed the game. After the break Liverpool took advantage of their opponents' need to come out looking for the leveller and found more space to attack. And there Mohamed Salah showed all his talent.

The Egyptian winger had come on before halftime in place of Jota and 10 minutes into the second half assisted Alexis MacAllister for the second goal. Then he scored the third, with a great individual play and a left foot shot inside the box. The hosts tried to react and netted through Ivan Toney, but finally Cody Gakpo sealed the result after an assist from Luis Diaz.

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They are worried

While Liverpool got the win and remain at the top of the standings, they have reason to be concerned. During the last minutes of the first half, Diogo Jota had to be replaced after sustaining a heavy knock to his knee. It is still early to know what happened to him, but his gestures of pain and the concern of his teammates suggest an injury that could be serious and leave him off the field for a long time.