Premier League: Old friends stand in the way of Liverpool revival
Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher saves the penalty of Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group F qualifying match Picture: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Liverpool travel to West London tonight in desperate need of getting their Premier League campaign back on track. The visit to Brentford offers a chance to get some crucial points on the board, however, a number of some very familiar faces will be stacked against them to prevent this. Not least, from a Cork point of view, Caoimhin Kelleher in the Brentford goal.
Three league defeats, on the trot, has left a major dent in the Merseyside club’s ambitions of retaining the title. And it comes with no small measure of irony that to get back on track they will have to get the better of the keeper that played an instrumental role in them winning the crown last season.
Kelleher is not the only ex-Liverpool ‘friend’ who will be out to add misery on the champions’ ambitions. Liverpool’s previous captain to lift the Premier League trophy, in the 2019-20 season, and still a firm Anfield fan-favourite, Jordan Henderson now patrols the midfield for the Bees after returning from a well-paid stint in the Saudi league. Another old mate that might play an impact in tonight’s game is Fabio Carvalho, who made a heralded move to Anfield in 2022 as a budding 20-year-old attacker but didn’t really click, making only 13 appearances and scoring just twice before moving to Brentford last year. In the Brentford central defence, alongside Ireland’s Nathan Collins, is another Liverpool alumnus in Sepp van der Berg, who while never making a league appearance for the Reds, still managed to pick up a Club World Cup medal by being in the squad for that successful 2019 title win. While only making Carabao and FA Cup appearances he was well liked by the fans, and like Carvalho, will have felt unlucky not to have made a bigger impact at Anfield.
The move of the four Liverpool players to the Gtech Community Stadium coincided with tumultuous period of change for the Bees with the departure of their talismanic and hugely successful manager Thomas Frank to the Spurs position. Fears of the side’s demise on his departure were expressed, as the relatively inexperienced Irish manager Keith Andrews took the helm. But credit to Andrews, and in no small part thanks to the Irish duo of Collins and Kelleher too, the Irish boss has steadied the ship after an initial wobble and has the side back at mid-table and offering stern opposition to anyone who takes them for granted. Along the way, taking some notable scalps, not least that of Man United, where again a Kelleher penalty save against Bruno Fernades stymied a United comeback. Leading Kelleher into a rich vein of form which also saw him save that spotter against Ronaldo in the Ireland Portugal game.
Liverpool boss Arne Slot is currently going through a rough run of form not seen at Anfield since before Brendan Rogers time at the helm. The consensus outside of the Anfield boot room, ahead of Wednesday's emphatic Champions League victory over Frankfurt, was that the Dutchman was finding it difficult to juggle the need to blood the incoming pricey talent with his loyalty to the misfiring players that amazingly brought him the title in his first season.
The result in Germany on Wednesday may have resolved that situation, as Slot finally benched a Mo Salah, who has yet to play anywhere near his best so far this season. Slot also opted for Andy Roberston to come back in for Slot’s first choice but not up to speed Milos Kerkez at left full. The injuries to Jeremie Frimpong and Alexander Isak on Wednesday may also see starting runs now for Conor Bradley at right full and the only on form attacker in Hugo Ekitike.
Against an admittedly poor Eintracht Frankfurt side, the new look Liverpool side seemed to spring back to life and play the type of football not seen since last season.
If this is Liverpool finally returning to form, then Kelleher will have his hands full this evening. But it may also provide a chance for the Corkman to show Slot what he is now missing out on.
This time last season, as in this season, first choice Alisson Becker was injured and Kelleher ably stepped in during probably the toughest run of games in the season and arguably was the difference in Liverpool’s run to the title.
This season, Giorgi Mamardashvili is filling in for Becker and while he’s clearly a good keeper, he has yet to show the type of quality and excellence of shot-stopping that Kelleher exhibited at Anfield. On Wednesday, Mamardashvili didn’t have a lot to do but failed to stop Frankfurt’s one and only shot on target.
Kelleher never got the credit he deserved from Slot last season for that run of games over those couple of months filling-in for Alisson. Tonight, he might remind the Dutch manager just what he is missing out on.
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