Yehor Yarmoliuk and Vitaly Janelt were both sent off for Brentford as Liverpool came from behind to win 2-1 at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday.

Yarmoliuk saw red for thrusting his head into Jeremy Jacquet eight minutes into first-half stoppage time, shortly after Keane Lewis-Potter's thumping header had given the Bees the lead.

And that moment proved costly as Brentford suffered their first defeat of the Premier League season, with Victor Munoz and Alexander Isak – the latter on his return from injury – scoring to flip the game on its head. 

The hosts caused Liverpool a few nervy moments even with 10 men, but Vitaly Janelt's second yellow card killed their hopes of an equaliser as the Reds leapfrogged them to go fifth in the table. 

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— Liverpool FC (@LFC) October 17, 2026

Jacquet made a strong block to thwart Michael Kayode from Brentford's first chance, but Liverpool should have scored on the counter from the resulting corner, with Bradley Barcola's lob drifting wide after Janelt's poor header gifted him possession.

Another excellent recovery challenge from Jacquet put Igor Thiago off after Dango Ouattara unselfishly attempted to square the ball for his team-mate, before Liverpool had a penalty overturned following a VAR review. 

John Brooks pointed to the spot when Ouattara slid in on Alexis Mac Allister, but replays showed the Brentford man flicked the ball away with his heel and the spot-kick was overturned.

Brentford then hit the front in the 44th minute, with Liverpool's defence standing off Thiago and allowing him to cross completely unopposed for Lewis-Potter, whose header sailed into the top-right corner.

But the Bees would have to play the entire second half with 10 men due to a petulant act from Yarmoliuk, who headbutted Jacquet while the players were jostling in preparation for a Liverpool corner. 

Liverpool did not truly threaten Caoimhin Kelleher's goal until Mac Allister had a long-range attempt beaten away just before the hour mark, but their next attack resulted in the equaliser as Munoz raced onto Florian Wirtz's pass, cut back onto his left foot, then steered his finish into the bottom-left corner.

It was 2-1 soon afterwards, with Isak drilling home from the left side of the area after Barcola nodded Mac Allister's deep delivery down to him.

Barcola almost put the game beyond Brentford when his curling attempt bounced off the crossbar, but when an enterprising run from substitute Rio Ngumoha ended with a cynical foul from Janelt, who received his marching orders, Liverpool could finally breathe easily.  

Isak back with a bang against favourite opponents

Having suffered a minor thigh injury while representing Sweden during the international break, Isak was forced to sit out Liverpool's 3-0 Premier League loss to Manchester City, in addition to their thrilling 6-3 Champions League victory over LASK.

But the striker will have been relishing his return to action this weekend, as Brentford are among his favourite teams to face in the Premier League. 

He has now scored in all five of his appearances against the Bees in the competition (four for Newcastle United), only netting in as many matches against Nottingham Forest and Tottenham.

Andoni Iraola, meanwhile, had never beaten Brentford in six attempts in charge of Bournemouth (D2 L4), so Saturday's win should be a cathartic one for the Liverpool boss.

And another assist for Wirtz – who has been fiercely criticised in the early weeks of the campaign – will give Iraola another reason to smile. This is the first time he has assisted in back-to-back games for Liverpool across all competitions. 

9 - Florian Wirtz's nine chances created from open play against Brentford is the most by a player in a Premier League game since Sadio Mané v Burnley in January 2021 (9) and the most by a player in an away game since Samir Nasri v Spurs in August 2011 (10). Progress. https://t.co/xyMIQP9y5p

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 17, 2026

The major negatives for the Reds were injuries to Dominik Szoboszlai and Jeremie Frimpong, the latter of whom only lasted seven minutes as a half-time substitute. 

Brentford, meanwhile, will have a pair of suspensions to deal with when they visit Hull City next week, having received two red cards in the same league game for the first time since April 2013, against Sheffield United in League One.