Liverpool predicted XI vs. Brentford: four major changes made as £146m trio return

Liverpool will be aiming to maintain their position at the summit of the Premier League table when they come up against Brentford in Saturday's lunchtime kick-off. The Reds currently lead the division by two points, but have played one game more than second-placed Manchester City, who face Chelsea this weekend.

Last time out, Jurgen Klopp's men had to survive a minor scare against Burnley at Anfield, with the relegation-threatened Clarets scoring on the stroke of half-time to head in all square at the interval. Second half strikes from Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez were enough to secure all three points for the home team, however.

As for Brentford, they picked up a vital victory in their bid to avoid being dragged into a relegation battle, with Christian Norgaard and Ivan Toney on target in a 2-0 win over Wolves. The Bees now sit 14th in the table, six points clear of danger.

But how will both sides line up in West London this weekend? We've taken a look at the latest team news and respective predicted starting XIs below...

Liverpool Team News

Liverpool are set to be without a number of key players on Saturday. The most notable guaranteed absence is Trent Alexander-Arnold, who was withdrawn against Burnley, and who is expected to be out for a while with a recurring knee complaint. The full-back is set to be sidelined until after the Carabao Cup final on February 25th.

Elsewhere, Dominik Szoboszlai could also be facing a similar period of absence, while there are no concrete return dates set for fellow midfielders Thiago Alcantara and Stefan Bajcetic, who are both on the treatment table. Joel Matip will miss the rest of the season after rupturing his ACL.

There is, however, better news on other fronts. Klopp spoke last week about Mo Salah's improvement following an injury picked during the African Cup of Nations, stating that the Egyptian forward was moving in the 'right direction'. He added: 'We hope, but we don't know, we hope that he can be [in] parts of training next week. But we have to see, he is going through all the phases now and it's positive. It's either next week or the week after.'

If that time frame is adhered to, Salah could feature this weekend, as could Alisson Becker and Joe Gomez, who have both returned to training following illness. Ibrahima Konate should also make his comeback having served a one-match suspension.

Conor Bradley, who was recently granted a leave of absence following the tragic passing of his father, could be in line to return to the side too. Speaking to the club's official website, the 20-year-old said: 'I just want to pick up where I left off. I just want to keep trying to play as well as I can for the team and help the team as much as I can, so hopefully I can pick up with that on Saturday and see what happens.'

Liverpool Predicted XI

Alisson Becker; Conor Bradley, Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Andy Roberston; Wataru Endo, Curtis Jones, Alexis Mac Allister; Mo Salah, Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz.

Brentford Team News

Brentford have a series of injury concerns of their own to deal with at the present moment in time. Influential attacker Bryan Mbuemo is expected to be out until March with an ankle problem, while impressive full-back Rico Henry could be ruled out until the summer with a knee issue.

Elsewhere, Aaron Hickey and Kevin Schade 'are not in the picture for the next month', according to manager Thomas Frank, while midfielder Josh Dasilva recently sustained 'significant' damage to his knee ligaments, and is facing an unspecified period of absence. There is better news regarding Yoane Wissa and Frank Onyeka, however, with both players back from the African Cup of Nations and presumably cleared to play.

Brentford Predicted XI

`Mark Flekken; Nathan Collins, Ben Mee, Ethan Pinnock; Mads Roerslev, Mathias Jensen, Christian Norgaard, Vitaly Janelt, Sergio Reguillon; Ivan Toney, Yoane Wissa.