Premier LeagueBrentford v Liverpool: Team news

Arne Slot reported in his pre-match press conference on Friday morning that Jota missed training on Thursday after feeling discomfort during his goalscoring appearance as a substitute in Tuesday’s 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest.

Diaz was also unable to train on Thursday but Slot expected the No.7 to rejoin his teammates in Friday’s session.

The head coach said: “There is no doubt about the fact Jota is an important player for us, but he wasn’t on the training ground yesterday so that means we have to see today where he is.

“So, it is not sure he will be available for tomorrow. We have to wait and see today.

“He felt a little bit when he came in [at the City Ground], a little niggle during the half-hour he came in. He could finish the game, but afterwards he complained a bit about it and that’s why he didn't train yesterday.

“We have to wait and see if he is available today and then, of course, tomorrow.”

On Diaz, Slot stated: “I assume he is [fine]. Yesterday he was not allowed [to train] because he had a bit of a sore throat, but I assume he will be training with us today. I still have to hear this, but we are expecting him to train with us today.”

Darwin Nunez is available after serving a one-match suspension for the midweek game at Forest, while Slot was also asked if Jota’s fitness is a consideration when deciding whether Jayden Danns may be loaned out this month.

He replied: “I think you take a lot of things into account if you want to loan out a player – and this could be one of them – but there are also other factors you take into account.

“Is it good for a player to get some playing time, yes or no? Do we think we still need him [because] we do have already three options for the No.9 position and it is not like we expect now Jota to be out for a long period of time?

“It will be a struggle to have him on the pitch maybe on Saturday, but we are hoping to see him on the pitch in the near future again.

“We have three options, but Jayden did really well when he came in so we have actually four options, and then it’s up to us as a club to make the best possible decision for the near future and also the long-term future of this club.”

Joe Gomez remains out with a hamstring injury.

Brentford, meanwhile, are set to have the same squad available as for their 2-2 draw with Manchester City in midweek.

“It's the same squad as Tuesday,” head coach Thomas Frank told reporters on Thursday.

“Everyone is available that was available for the Manchester City game. There are no new injuries.”

The Bees will be without Kristoffer Ajer, Josh Dasilva, Aaron Hickey, Gustavo Nunes, Ethan Pinnock and Igor Thiago, all of whom are sidelined through injury.

On how he has managed a busy week with his players, Frank said: “We train hard with high intensity every session... but then we need to manage the workload with how long we train with that high intensity, what kind of extensive drills we build in.

“We had a very high-output game on Tuesday night, which means we have been in the whole week, no days off.

“The whole group were in on Wednesday to recover; on Thursday it was a light session with some tactical bits, preparing for Liverpool; Friday will be light as well, with the squad hopefully feeling fresh and ready to go for Saturday.”

Liverpool won the reverse fixture at Anfield 2-0 back in August and Frank added: "The [Manchester City] game turned out quite open and end to end at times, especially with the amount of shots we created.

“For us, the performance was so good, in that we were brave when playing out and brave with the high pressure.

“Of course, we’d like to do the same against Liverpool but it will be difficult. We need to be brave again on Saturday, but we also need to be clever to avoid too many defensive transitions.

“I expect an entertaining game. I expect a game that, at times, will be end to end.

“It’s about how we can play to our strengths but also acknowledge and be aware of what Liverpool are very good at: they’re probably the best transition team in the world.”

Last match

Brentford 2-2 Manchester City (January 14): Flekken, Roerslev, Collins, Van den Berg, Lewis-Potter, Janelt, Norgaard, Jensen, Damsgaard, Mbeumo, Wissa.

Nottingham Forest 1-1 Liverpool (January 14): Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson, Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai, Salah, Gakpo, Diaz.