TACTICAL ANALYSIS: Liverpool recovered from a wobbly first half to come away with all three points against nine-man Brentford

Well, there's a strong chance that could go down as the least convincing win against nine men you'll ever see. But after Alexander Isak's instinctive second-half strike secured a third Premier League victory of the season, Andoni Iraola's Liverpool became the first team to escape the Gtech Community Stadium with three points since Brighton in February.

This was a game that bucked trends for both sides. Brentford's unbeaten run in the league, and their unbeaten run at home - both the longest-standing in the division - came to an end. While it was the first time they have lost since scoring the first goal since November last year, and the first time at home since May last year.

Indeed, this was the first game Liverpool had won in the league after conceding the first goal since coming from behind to beat Newcastle United 4-1 at Anfield in January while - astonishingly - you have to go back to September 2023 for the last time they won after trailing at half-time away from home in the league, when Jurgen Klopp's side recovered to beat Wolves 3-1.

Closing the book on these records bodes well for the Reds, with the mentality and capacity to win ugly slowly returning under Iraola after things took a turn for the worse in Arne Slot's sophomore season. But how much can we learn when Liverpool had a man advantage for more than half of the game?

Reds let off after slow start

For starters, it's useful to establish what needed to change. Liverpool started this game slowly, seeing plenty of the ball but lacking penetration against a well-organised Brentford team. To an extent, this was in the script.

Keith Andrews' side are expert disruptors. The Bees only rank 16th for average possession, but are top of the Premier League for interceptions per 90 (10.6), with Iraola's former club Bournemouth a close second alongside promoted Ipswich Town.

But to paint Brentford as spoilers would do a disservice to their efficiency. Only Manchester City and Brighton have accumulated more expected goals (xG), the Bees sitting third for big chances created and fourth in the league for possessions won in the final third per 90.

The Reds, then, were up against a brilliantly-organised team with quality on and off the ball and the capacity to prevent them from playing the game their way. So it is little wonder Liverpool struggled to carve out clear-cut opportunities in the first half.

With the giant Kristoffer Ajer and their former player Sepp van den Berg comfortable with dealing with aerial balls, the Reds kept their passes shorter than their usual repertoire, playing just 10.6% of their passes long and keeping 59.7% possession.

Unfortunately, composure was lacking. Liverpool managed just 65.6% passing accuracy in the final third, struggling to break down Brentford's defence, and resorted to taking five of their seven first-half shots from outside the box.

The clearest opportunity was the result of smart anticipation from Bradley Barcola in seizing on a loose ball and punishing the Bees' defenders with his pace, but a questionable choice of finish let him down. Beyond that, the Reds failed to create a single other big chance over the course of the game.

Wastefulness in attack led to plenty of turnovers high up the pitch - from which Brentford counter-attacked with glee. The Bees are effective pressers, but also showed their composure in playing out through Liverpool's own press.

One such contribution from Michael Kayode caught the eye, the Italian international skipping away from Barcola and Alexis Mac Allister in his own defensive third before carrying the ball to the edge of Liverpool's penalty area.

In situations like these where the front line of the Reds' press broke down, the visiting defenders were too slow to get touch-tight to their opponents, leaving space in the midfield for Brentford to break - space that Mac Allister, the more defence-focused midfielder before Dominik Szoboszlai left the pitch after half an hour, struggled to cover.

The Argentinian's lack of recovery pace after Kayode got past him was alarming, and his rushed clearance when the move subsequently broke down led to another Bees attacking wave that Liverpool would not withstand.

Both he and Trey Nyoni, on in place of the injured Szoboszlai, failed to close down Igor Thiago on the edge of the box, who lofted a perfectly-weighted pass into the area for Keane Lewis-Potter to thump home with his head.

It was a poor goal for the Reds to concede. And if anything, it showed too much respect to Brentford as Liverpool thought twice about fully committing to Iraola's man-for-man press.

A penalty correctly overturned by VAR heralded a Reds push before the break, though, and Yehor Yarmoliuk's brainless red card proved to be the lifeline they needed to turn things around in the second half.

Changes pick the lock

After the game, Iraola described Florian Wirtz and second-half substitute Rio Ngumoha as "players that are lovely to have when you play against 10 men". Both would play a significant role in changing the course of the game.

The starting point for Liverpool's different approach in the second half, though, was Szoboszlai's injury-enforced substitution. While the Hungarian is the more attacking partner when paired in midfield with Mac Allister, Nyoni's introduction brought about a more explicit switch to a single deep-lying midfielder, with Mac Allister then freed up to push on as the Reds looked to break down the hosts.

This was a familiar setup for Liverpool supporters, who saw it in midweek when their side scored six against LASK, Ryan Gravenberch occupying Mac Allister's shuttling role to the left of Nyoni.

The idea here was the same. In possession, the Reds effectively played with a base of three at the back - Jeremy Jacquet, Virgil van Dijk and Milos Kerkez - with a staggered midfield of Nyoni, Mac Allister and Wirtz in a free role ahead of them, and the right-back pushing on to create a front four on the ball.

Jeremie Frimpong played that role effectively against LASK, chipping in with a goal and two assists, but lasted just six minutes against Brentford after replacing Ronald Araujo at half time as Iraola looked to press the advantage.

Instead, Iraola was forced to turn to Victor Munoz - the starting right winger - as a makeshift right-back. Effectively an auxiliary winger in possession in this system, Munoz was still able to impact the game going forward - and shared the defensive burden on the right side of the pitch with Ngumoha.

As Liverpool controlled the ball with an extra man in the second half, more space and time was created for Wirtz in front of Brentford's back line. After an influential display and an assist in midweek, the German was involved in everything here, too - his nine open-play chances created the most by any Premier League player in one game in the last six seasons.

Those account for nearly half of his 20 chances created in the Premier League this season, now more than any other player in the division. Though he was physically bested in this contest - winning just one of his nine duels - the No.7 was instrumental in the win, his through ball setting Munoz on the way to slot home the equaliser past Caoimhin Kelleher.

With Brentford sat back as they attempted to hold onto a result, Wirtz was able to showcase his ability to pick the lock. Only Mac Allister (12) produced more line-breaking passes than the German international (11) according to Fotmob, and Wirtz finished the game with the third-most touches (77) of any Liverpool player behind the No.10 and the captain Van Dijk.

At Bayer Leverkusen, Wirtz frequently posted touch counts that reflected his centrality to his team's progression, and in a freer role over the last two games he has started to inch back towards similar levels of influence with the Reds.

Ngumoha, meanwhile, was more of a crowbar than a lockpick. The 18-year-old, who played on the inside of Munoz as he did Frimpong in midweek, attempted three dribbles - completing all three - and won five of his seven duels, showing his increasingly robust side as he drove directly at Brentford's defence.

In flooding the pitch with one-v-one threats, Iraola was able to disrupt the home team's block and pull defenders out of position. Barcola on the opposite flank attempted seven dribbles, the same number as Munoz, who completed a team-high five of his take-ons.

The result should have been decided long before the final whistle, Barcola in particular guilty of wastefulness on more than one occasion. A late chance to kill the game was passed up when he laid the ball off to Lewis Koumas rather than taking on the keeper himself, perhaps still adjusting to the responsibility of being the main man in such situations.

Isak, though, needed no such adjustment when he returned to full fitness for the start of this season. Isolated for much of the game, making just 16 touches, his instinctive finish from an intelligent Barcola header after Liverpool had forced an overload in the box was the mark of a lethal striker.

It proved to be the decisive blow in a game that was always set to be tense - and only became more so after Yarmoliuk's red card. With more time on the ball, the Reds' passing accuracy in the final third shot up to 88.6% after the break, with just six of their 14 second-half shots coming from outside the box as they showed more composure with the final ball.

Even so, Brentford continued to threaten. 5.3% more of the action was in Liverpool's defensive third after the break than it was in the first half, and the Bees actually managed more final third entries after going down to 10 men than they had beforehand.

Against a Reds team set up for all-out attack, the home side managed to stay in the game until the end and consistently pose a threat, even after being reduced to nine men when Vitaly Janelt received a second yellow - a huge credit to Andrews' coaching.

They all count

While it was far from a vintage performance, the points are what count - and Liverpool ran out deserved winners after applying the pressure required to break down a stubborn Brentford defence.

Had Yarmoliuk not seen red in his altercation with Jacquet that led to his dismissal, this could have been a very different story - but the Reds should nevertheless be commended for adapting to a somewhat novel game state and system, with two injury withdrawals (including one for a substitute) tying one of Iraola's hands behind his back.

There were also encouraging signs of progress in several areas. Wirtz showed that he is capable of influencing a scrappy Premier League game even when faced with a physical mismatch as he was up against Mamadou Sangare, while Kerkez was an unsung hero despite a busy afternoon.

Quietly, the Hungarian left-back has begun to be more involved in games from an attacking sense, even when playing a deeper possession role as he was here. After seven games in the Premier League, only Adrien Truffert and Leif Davis have made more sprints than Kerkez, whose overlapping runs in this game became increasingly useful in the second half as Liverpool looked to use the extra man to their advantage.

Nyoni, too, grew into the game after a shaky start, misplacing a couple of passes and winning one of three duels in his 15 minutes up until half time. Only three players have made more interceptions per 90 than Nyoni in the league this season, and only Jacquet made more defensive contributions in this game than the 19-year-old, despite him only featuring for an hour.

Barcola's wastefulness was frustrating, but once again the Frenchman showed why Liverpool felt he had the tools to be the new dangerman from out wide after the departure of Mohamed Salah.

His pace in behind is frightening, and he made almost double the number of touches in the opposition box (13) as Isak - again showing his ability to time his runs and his excellent positioning in the final third.

The Reds aren't quite purring, but with another win on the board against a well-coached, overachieving side, the momentum definitely feels as if it's been regained after what could have been a damaging home defeat to Manchester City.

They have it all to do again against high-flying Brighton next week, in what promises to be a gripping Sunday afternoon.