‘Stable’ Brentford coping well without Ivan Toney, says Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp

LONDON – Brentford are holding their own in the English Premier League despite the

absence of striker Ivan Toney

and their well-organised team will present Liverpool a stiff test on Sunday, manager Jurgen Klopp has said.

Toney, the Bees’ top scorer in each of the last three seasons, is serving an eight-month ban for breaching betting rules and cannot return to action until Jan 16.

But manager Thomas Frank has guided Brentford to ninth in the standings and they travel to Anfield on Sunday on the back of a three-match winning run.

“Super challenging to play Thomas Frank and Brentford, for different reasons. They do really well,” Klopp said. “I’m not sure whether they are 100 per cent happy with the season, but losing Ivan Toney – the player he was for them – really is brutal. But they are stable in the table, that’s probably what Brentford want – getting through this situation and then, when he is coming back, using him again.”

The Liverpool boss added: “It’s well organised, they had a few problems in the season, I would say, to get used to the game without Ivan. But when you look at the table, they are in the middle with a tendency (of) going up.”

Midfielder Alexis Mac Allister will miss the game as he serves a one-match suspension but Klopp said there was a possibility of Trent Alexander-Arnold playing in the middle of the park.

Alexander-Arnold, primarily a right-back, played there in the League Cup win over Bournemouth in November when he provided the game-winning assist.

“Yeah, (it is) a possibility, it depends on the situation, the opponent, on a lot of things. We know that he can play there,” Klopp said. “For us, if we just put him there, then we lose one of the best right-backs in the world, so we should not forget that completely. Of course, he is an option for that position.”

Wataru Endo is also an option and Klopp said the Japanese midfielder would start more league games when he finds his rhythm.

“Wataru makes steps every day and that’s important. We had stories like this in the past.... Andy Robertson didn’t play for half a year, nobody can remember it any more but it was like that,” he added.

“Other players as well had their struggles in the beginning, that’s all fine. He didn’t even struggle, we played pretty good and he is super important for us.”

His counterpart Frank is mindful of the challenges Brentford face at Anfield but will not bow to the pressure.

The Dane said: “It is an unbelievable team at Anfield – one of the most difficult away grounds to go to, if not the most difficult.

“It will be a tough test but, as always, we trust ourselves. We will try to take the game to Liverpool.” REUTERS