5 talking points as dismal Liverpool suffer crushing top four blow at Brentford

Brentford ended Liverpool's four-game Premier League winning run with a ruthless 3-1 victory at the Brentford Community Stadium on Monday.

Jurgen Klopp's side started the brighter of the two sides and almost opened the scoring through Darwin Nunez, but the Uruguayan was denied on the line by Ben Mee after going round David Raya. Brentford grew into the game and began to cause Liverpool issues at every possible chance, especially from set pieces.

And the Bees capitalised on some slack defending when they took the lead as Ibrahima Konate put through his own net. Thomas Frank's men dominated the remainder of the first-half and doubled their advantage just before the break through Yoane Wissa, who calmly finished beyond a hapless Alisson.

Liverpool made three substitutions at the interval and it seemed to change the complexion of the contest as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain pulled one back for the Reds. But Brentford sealed the three points in the 85th minute through Bryan Mbeumo's impressive finish.

Here are five talking points from the game.

1. Liverpool dealt top four blow

Liverpool's Champions League hopes took a massive dent after what was a shambolic performance from Klopp's side as they try and chase a top-four spot. The Reds were four points behind Manchester United before the start of play in west London and it remains that way after the Reds suffered their first defeat in five Premier League matches.

The Reds made a mixed start to the season but seemed to claw their way back into the race for a place in the Champions League, having beaten Tottenham, Southampton, Aston Villa and Leicester in their previous four fixtures. But Klopp's side were awful in west London and look way behind Arsenal, Manchester City, Newcastle and United who currently occupy the top four places at the moment.

2. Defensive horror show

Every time Brentford had a corner, they looked like scoring. The Bees are strong from set pieces but Jurgen Klopp's men made it far too easy for them. Ben Mee, Ethan Pinnock and Mathias Jorgensen are Brentford's biggest threats and bullied the Reds in the air when they were handed the chance to do so.

Liverpool were warned on a number of occasions about the threat Brentford have, and were punished in the 19th minute as the Bees took the lead through Konate's own-goal. It came from an outswinging corner and Mee, who comfortably got there first, diverted the ball towards goal and it flew off Konate before rolling into the corner.

It was too easy from Liverpool's point of view and they were let off the hook on the half hour mark as Yoane Wissa saw his strike chalked off for offside from another set piece. But Wissa would score his fourth of the season in the 42nd minute. Although it wasn't directly from a corner, Liverpool showed their vulnerabilities from crosses as Wissa headed the ball beyond Alisson.

Brentford added a third as Liverpool were caught on the counter-attack late on through Mbeumo. Konate was caught sleeping and the winger nipped ahead of him before slotting the ball into the corner. Sloppy from the Reds.

3. Van Djik subbed at half-time

Liverpool were simply shocking in the first-half and Klopp needed to do something about it. The Reds boss in fact decided to make three changes and one of them including taking off talismanic defender Virgil van Djik.

The Netherlands international has been terrific over the years since making the big-money move from Southampton and has virtually been an ever-present when he's fit. However, Van Djik was taken off at half-time after it was reported that the centre-back was carrying an injury as he had his right leg strapped. It's unclear whether that was the reason for his substitution, and didn't change the fact Van Djik had a difficult 45 minutes, before being replaced by Joel Matip at the break.

Andy Robertson and Naby Keita also entered the fray in place of Kostas Tsimikas and Harvey Elliott but they were unable to stop the Reds from slipping to defeat.

4. Nunez struggles again

It proved to be another frustrating day at the office for Nunez, who squandered a couple of excellent opportunities to get his name on the scoresheet. The Uruguayan has been slammed in recent weeks after missing a hatful of chances against Manchester City, Aston Villa and Leicester in Liverpool's first three games after the World Cup.

Although Nunez did have a goal ruled out for offside, the 22-year-old was wasteful in the two other big chances he had. His first chance came inside the opening five minutes as Nunez did superbly to take the ball around Raya but the forward's effort was blocked on the line by Mee. It was an excellent clearance but Nunez should have scored.

Then, the former Benfica man had a superb chance to equalise in the second-half as he was played through inside the right-hand channel, but Nunez slashed at the ball and pulled it well wide of target.

5. No Toney, no problem

Brentford were without top scorer Ivan Toney for the clash against Liverpool after he was taken off on a stretcher in the 2-0 win over West Ham last time out. But the Bees didn't need the striker as they ran Liverpool ragged as Wissa and Mbeumo caused Liverpool problems on the counter-attack, while Brentford were also dangerous from corners.

Frank's men scored three on the night with Mbeumo and Wissa finding the net and didn't need Toney, who has scored 11 Premier League goals this season for the Bees. Brentford were terrific at exposing Liverpool in a number of areas and Toney wasn't needed despite his impressive record and pre-match fears from pundits and fans alike.

It is a win that puts Brentford into the top seven in Chelsea's expensive as they leapfrogged London rivals Fulham in the process.