The joy of Ivan Toney’s 12th Premier League goal of the season soon turned to concern for the Brentford talisman, who was taken off on a stretcher in the dying embers at the London Stadium after contributing to his side’s second successive top-flight away win.
Toney reacted quickest to prod home in the 18th minute and also played Josh Dasilva through to double the Bees’ tally just before the break, as West Ham were left to rue some wasteful finishing and the efforts of David Raya in front of their disgruntled supporters.
Ending a year of phenomenal progress in perfect fashion, Thomas Frank’s outfit are currently set to enter the New Year 10th in the table following Saturday’s fixtures, having been knocked down a place by Fulham after their success versus Southampton.
Scoring six goals in recent meetings with Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham should see Brentford’s forward line strike fear into the hearts of any backline, and only runaway leaders Arsenal have come away from the Gtech Community Stadium with all three points this season.
Since going down 3-0 to the Gunners, Brentford have strung together a four-game Premier League unbeaten run on their own patch, beating Brighton & Hove Albion but sharing the spoils in their last three with Spurs, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Chelsea.
With Jamie Carragher watching on in the gantry, Leicester centre-back Wout Faes – who had been a driving force in their spate of improved defensive performances before the World Cup – paid tribute to one of a handful of men to score two own goals in one Premier League game.
Leicester raced out of the blocks at Anfield on Friday – which is more than can be said for Liverpool – and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall put the Foxes ahead after just four minutes before Faes turned into his own net twice before the half-time whistle.
While Jurgen Klopp’s men could not find their shooting boots, they were grateful that Faes had brought his, although their sixth-placed position in the table will not change between now and Monday, and the gap to the top four stands at four points at the time of writing following Manchester United’s win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Entering 2023 on the back of four successive wins in the Premier League, the Reds now set out to improve a paltry tally of just two wins from their last eight opening fixtures of the calendar year, but Klopp’s men have remarkably found the back of the net in each of their last 26 top-flight away games in London.
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That streak includes an entertaining 3-3 thriller with Brentford in the 2021-22 season, but the Bees also conceded a trio of goals without reply at Anfield in a 3-0 defeat in January 2022 – extending their wait for a first win over Liverpool since November 1938.
Very few had any hope of Toney avoiding a serious injury after landing awkwardly on his knee against West Ham, but Frank has received the good news that his star striker has only suffered a minor muscular problem and could be available on Monday.
Toney may only be considered for a place among the substitutes anyway, while Kristoffer Ajer, Shandon Baptiste and Aaron Hickey, all of whom should not spend any longer than another couple of weeks on the sidelines, remain out.
