'I emphasised': Slot shares what he told his players about Liverpool target Bryan Mbeumo before facing Brentford

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Liverpool rode their luck at times against Brentford on Saturday but came away with a handsome 2-0 win regardless.

It felt like a big day for the Reds away in West London. They could not afford to drop points for a third Premier League fixture in a row.

They very nearly did, of course. But the late nature of Darwin Nunez’s winning double only serve to make the victory sweeter.

The win also feels especially good because of what a decent side Brentford are. The Bees had only lost one Premier League home game this season before Saturday and it shows.

Without question, Brentford’s most dangerous player on the day – as he usually is – was Bryan Mbeumo.

As Rousing The Kop revealed earlier on Saturday, Liverpool are considering a summer move for Mbeumo. And according to Arne Slot, he told his players all about the threat of the Cameroonian prior to the game.

Arne Slot reveals Bryan Mbeumo discussion

Mbeumo has had an excellent season for Brentford, firing in 13 league goals to date.

This has led to the 25-year-old being on Liverpool’s radar as a potential forward addition in the summer transfer window.

And judging by his post-match comments on Mbeumo, Slot is already well aware of the Brentford man’s qualities.

“I think if I would have been the manager of Brentford I would have told you there were moments for us to win the game, because there were moments for them to win the game,” said the Liverpool head coach.

READ MORE: Liverpool fans deliver verdict on Bryan Mbeumo's performance against them

“Most of those moments were defended really well by Ibou and Virgil, they went in a one-v-one against them in a counter-attack, but we pushed them wide really well, which helped Alisson [Becker] to save those shots.

“I emphasised on that in the pre-match meeting, [Bryan] Mbeumo likes it on his left and scores a lot by going inside,” Slot added. “Of course, one of the reasons we’re so high in the league table is because we have two and four very good centre-backs.”

How did Mbeumo do against Liverpool?

Slot was right to highlight the danger of letting Mbeumo cut inside ahead of the game.

It only took the wide man a few minutes to show what he can do, but his shooting never really troubled Alisson despite him being in some good positions.

There were, as ever, another handful of moments where Mbeumo looked likely to get a run on the Liverpool defence on the break.

But with the most dangerous of these attacks snuffed out by the diligent tracking back of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mbeumo could not get any joy.

All in all, it was a more difficult evening than the Brentford winger has often enjoyed against Liverpool. And who knows, perhaps next time the Reds visit the Gtech he’ll be playing on the away side.