Liverpool 2-0 Brentford: Arne Slot is making sound progress – with Luis Diaz and Mo Salah on target against Bees

With fifteen minutes to go, and Liverpool having scored the second goal needed to decide this game, Anfield began to sing Arne Slot’s name for the first time. It was just a flash and it died away pretty quickly. Almost like a passing whisper in a corridor. But it was there, and it felt meaningful.

After two games, a new Liverpool manager is making good progress in what could be a tough road ahead.

Much of what we saw here from Slot’s Liverpool was reminiscent of the Jurgen Klopp era. The hunger, work ethic and desire were instantly recognisable, as was the clinical and devastating way Liverpool imposed themselves on Brentford once the game was stretched out.

There was a period either side of Mo Salah’s decisive 76th-minute goal when Liverpool could have scored four times. Liverpool may have changed managers, but footballers don’t lose such instincts overnight.

Liverpool can still look vulnerable, especially in the air. Brentford had two big chances with their heads – one in each half – when they were only a goal down.

Thomas Frank’s team were completely in the game at that point. The 45 minutes that followed Luis Diaz’s goal in the 13th minute were evenly matched. Liverpool were not dominating their opponents during this period and that is likely to be something Slot will be concerned with between now and the first real test of his Liverpool career, a match at Manchester United next Sunday.

Yet he will not complain. His team have won their first two league games 2-0 and as such much of the analysis and judgement of his early days has already been overshadowed by the focus now on other clubs who may have started the season less well. Slot will be grateful for that.

Liverpool started and finished the game well, with Diaz’s early goal coming from a thrilling counterattack from a Brentford corner. Salah’s second of the new season came after Diaz played him through towards the Kop with 15 minutes remaining.

There have been long periods where Liverpool have not imposed themselves and it’s tempting to wonder what that looks and feels like against better teams. Liverpool are the only team in Europe’s top seven leagues not to have signed a new player this summer and it’s no secret that they want a player to hold down the position – or a number six. Only time will tell. The transfer window hasn’t closed yet and the next few dew days could be as important as anything we’ve seen from Liverpool on the pitch so far.

The opening goal of the Slot era at Anfield was straight out of Klopp’s playbook, albeit with less emphatic celebration.

A Brentford corner was cleared to the edge of the penalty area and when Salah won a tackle and cleared the ball, Liverpool were ahead.

It was Digo Jota who led the attack, but with only Diaz in front of him, he had to find the perfect pass. The Portuguese forward did just that, playing the ball between two defenders to set his team-mate free in the penalty area. With Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken closing in on him, Diaz had options, but he opted for power and fired the ball high into the net from 12 yards.

As Anfield celebrated his first goal of the season, Slot was reserved, discussing the intricacies of what he had just witnessed with members of his coaching team.

That goal came in the 13th minute and seemed to set Liverpool up for a comfortable passage through the first half. For a while it was. Brentford retreated into a deep 4-4-2 and tried to find a way through the difficulties that always arise when Liverpool score early at home.

There were a few tricky moments. A nice pass from Diaz gave Andrew Robertson a sight of goal in the 19th minute and the Scot’s low shot at the near post was saved by Flekken. Then Trent Alexander-Arnold pulled the ball back at the other end for Salah, whose drive required another intervention from the keeper. Anfield were hopeful at this stage, but their team failed to deliver for the rest of the half.

For all their attacking talent, Liverpool still lack a player who can form the starting line-up. With former captain Jordan Henderson and Brazilian great Fabinho gone, Liverpool are currently looking to Ryan Gravenberch to do the job. The Dutch midfielder performed well in the win over Ipswich eight days ago, but he doesn’t feel like the long-term solution. Gravenberch is, instinctively, a more attacking player.

Liverpool were rarely under real pressure here. They just lost their way a bit. Alexander-Arnold’s free kick went over the bar in the 24th minute, but Liverpool only really became dangerous again when the same player saw a shot go over just before half-time.

By this point, Brentford had really got a foothold in the game. Captain Christian Norgaard should have equalised when he was left unguarded for a free-kick after half an hour. His eight-yard header flew wide. Then, in the 43rd minute, the impressive Keane Lewis-Potter was found in space on the edge of the box and his low shot was well saved by Alisson Becker, with two Brentford players lurking in the hope of a goalkeeping error.

Frank had once again left Ivan Toney out of his squad for the game. With a move to Saudi Arabia still on the table, Brentford clearly don’t want Toney to get injured. Still, he would have added an extra dimension to their efforts here.

That said, Brentford did give Liverpool an aerial problem early in the second half. A short corner on the left was eventually fired high at the far post and when Nathan Collins rose to head the ball towards goal, Alisson saved with both hands in his face.

Liverpool themselves were threatening again at that point. Jota’s speculative bicycle kick just after the break hit Robertson’s head at the far post and Flekken stepped up to make a brave save from close range. Then Dominik Szoboszlai almost served Luiz at the near post but a defender managed to clear the ball.

With half an hour to go, the game was in the balance. Liverpool were always a threat when they got forward. Alexander-Arnold hit a falling ball with his feet towards Jota at the far post and the resulting shot was headed over. The England player then hit the corner of the post and the crossbar and when the ball was recycled and played back, Ibrahima Konate headed it powerfully and low and had to be saved by Flekken.

For the first time since their period on both sides of the goal, Liverpool began to press and the game felt different as a result. Jota calmly went to the byline in the 64th minute and pulled the ball back to Diaz. The Colombian’s shot looked destined for the bottom corner, but Flekken found it with his fingertips, saving the game so far.

Two minutes later it was Luiz’s turn to feed Jota on the overlap and this time Collins slid in to block. A Salah shot into Flekken’s midriff shortly afterwards only reinforced the feeling that a decisive second goal was not far away. With just over twenty minutes remaining, Brentford looked well and truly stretched and indeed, Salah’s goal came almost immediately.

Liverpool again won the battle for their remaining midfield players and when Diaz gained possession he pushed Salah clear, allowing the Egyptian to fire the ball past Flekken and into the far corner with his right foot.

That was pretty much the result and a handful of substitutions took the pattern out of the game. One of those players, Cody Gakpo, hit the top of the bar with a deflected shot and that was about it.

On a full-time basis, Slot folded his coat over his arm and walked across the field like a man strolling to the post office on a Saturday morning. A wave and a thumbs up to the Kop were appreciated and returned, and then he was gone. A man of understatement, it seems. It’s been a while since we’ve seen one of those here.