Lewis Koumas has no doubts Bradley Barcola will be a success at Liverpool after the former Paris Saint-Germain forward starred in their Champions League win on Wednesday.

Barcola scored a hat-trick in Liverpool's 6-3 win over LASK, becoming the first Reds player since Mohamed Salah in 2022 to net three in an away Champions League match.

Ronald Araujo and Jeremie Frimpong were also on target in Austria, with Koumas eventually getting himself on the scoresheet after seeing two goals disallowed for offside.

Koumas's impressive display saw him become the youngest player to score and assist in a Champions League match for Liverpool (21y 25d), breaking Steven Gerrard's record.

However, the Wales international was full of praise for Barcola, with Koumas saying the Frenchman still has plenty more to give in a Liverpool shirt this season.

"I think it's been really hard for him," Koumas said. "Not in terms of on the pitch, because we all know how good he is, but, moving country and trying to settle in fast is tough.

"I found it tough on loan, so changing countries must be something else, so I'm just really happy that he showed how good he is, and I just hope he carries on doing it now.

"He's unbelievable. He's an unbelievable talent, and I'm sure he'll be unbelievable for Liverpool."

Good morning, Reds! https://t.co/mYJTZWAbJ5

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) October 15, 2026

Barcola will be hoping to impress in the Premier League this Saturday when Liverpool travel to face a Brentford side that have made yet another strong start to the campaign.

The Bees are fourth in the table after playing out a 2-2 draw against Aston Villa last time out, with Kristoffer Ajer proving to be the unlikely hero with a 79th-minute equaliser.

Since their promotion to the top-flight in 2021, Brentford have dropped more points from winning positions than any other side in the Premier League (102). They have already lost eight points from ahead this season, with only Bournemouth dropping more (nine).

Nevertheless, Keith Andrews said his team have taken confidence from their encouraging start to the season, with eight points separating them and leaders Manchester City.

"We do. We've started well, and we're content with a lot of aspects of what we're doing and how," Andrews said after Brentford's stalemate at Villa Park.

"We want to keep pushing hard, and we are disappointed we could've played a bit better and maybe the result was there for us if we'd tidied up a few aspects of our game. Then it would have been a really good start to the season."

Brentford could be without Kevin Schade to face Liverpool, with the German sustaining an issue before being replaced by Mamadou Sangare in the 52nd minute against Villa.

"He probably wasn't right at half-time, he wanted to give it a go," Andrews said of Schade. "He's picked up a shoulder injury so we'll see how he is in the next few days."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Brentford – Igor Thiago

It's been a difficult start to the season for Thiago, who is underperforming his expected goals more than any other player in the Premier League, scoring once from an xG of 3.2.

The Brazilian did, however, score a penalty in Brentford's win over Liverpool at the Gtech Community Stadium last term, and how he would love another goal against them here.

Liverpool – Bradley Barcola

After failing to score in his first six Liverpool games in all competitions, Barcola announced himself in a Reds shirt with a hat-trick in the Champions League in midweek.

On what was the 238th game of his senior career (for club and country combined), Barcola netted his first treble, which he will hope can kickstart his Premier League career.

Hat-trick for Bradley Barcola #UCL https://t.co/Op0H4VLmVW

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) October 14, 2026

MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW

Brentford were unbeaten in their two Premier League games against Liverpool last season (W1 D1), last going more without defeat against the Reds in the league between April 1936 and November 1937 (four).

Andrews' side are also unbeaten in their six Premier League games this season (W2 D4), their best run from the start of a league campaign since 2006-07 in League One (first seven). Overall, the Bees are unbeaten in eight top-flight games, the longest current run of any side (W2 D6).

The Bees (fourth) are facing Liverpool (ninth) while above them in the league table for the first time since March 1938, with the 20th-placed Reds beating the Bees in 6th 3-1 at Griffin Park.

Liverpool have, however, won their last two away Premier League games, keeping a clean sheet in both. The Reds last had a longer away winning run between August and October 2024 (four), while they haven't kept three away clean sheets in a row since March 2022.

But they suffered their first Premier League defeat of the season last time out against Manchester City, while the 3-0 loss also ended manager Andoni Iraola's 23-game unbeaten run in the competition.

And you can expect plenty of action between the two teams. The five Premier League meetings between Brentford and Liverpool at the Gtech have seen 22 goals scored at an average of 4.4 per game, with both sides scoring in four of those five games.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Brentford – 37.9%

Draw – 26.4%

Liverpool – 35.7%