After Liverpool stars Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, as well as Naby Keita (who is not yet a star) left the club for AFCON, the Reds failed to score in their first match without them (Shrewsbury FA cup duel not included), even though they had a one-man advantage for over 60 minutes against Arsenal. And after they defeated Chelsea 1-0 on Saturday, current champions Manchester City are 14 points ahead of Liverpool. The Reds have two games in hand and could decrease the gap to 8 points, but they need to win, which primarily means to score goals. The Premier League match against Brentford is coming up, and other offensive players will be in the spotlight, Curtis Jones for instance.The key moments from our six-goal clash with tomorrow’s opponents earlier this season ⚽ pic.twitter.com/Yn4SFurDjn— Liverpool FC (@LFC) January 15, 2022 Desperately looking for somebody else to score goals, coach Jurgen Klopp admitted he is not happy with the form of the 20-year-old. To be fair, Jones was unlucky at the start of the season, as he missed games through concussion, then was absent for two months with an eye issue, before later contracting COVID. The 20-year-old has been restricted to just 12 appearances so far but played 90 minutes against third-tier Shrewsbury.„I had a long talk last week with Curtis. I love the boy and love the potential he has, but he has to now really make the next steps and fulfils the potential he has on the pitch very often. You have these type of conversations when you are not 100% happy with the moment. He is young, very young. But how I see it, his potential is incredible. I know he had a tricky time by being out for a long time with an eye problem and then after that with COVID. That’s not helpful. But now we try to make sure that he gets rhythm and show how good he can actually be” said Klopp.Klopp misses his African stars and snaps at the reporters after a draw with ArsenalBut, there is one more area where Liverpool is vulnerable, with or without Salah and Mane – defense. It sounds strange, since Liverpool has one of the best defensive records in the league, along with City, Chelsea, and Wolves, but the point is – when Liverpool concedes, the big chances are they will concede again. The Reds have conceded in nine of their 20 Premier League games so far this season. In six of those, they have leaked at least twice, included their first game with Brentford, which ended 3-3. City has led in 18 games and won them all. Liverpool by contrast has led in 17 but managed only 12 victories.”Brentford are a team who have a specific way to play, especially against us. I think the goalkeeper that day was the playmaker, there was many long balls and we struggled to defend these in the first place, too many second balls for Brentford. But the goals they scored were absolutely avoidable. Set-pieces, we were a bit sleepy and in the end they could bring the ball somehow into the back of the net, so that’s a way how it should not go. I hope we can play much better than we did in the first game and can use Anfield – that would be helpful” said Klopp ahead of the match with Brentford.PREMIER LEAGUE – Round 22FridayBrighton – Crystal Palace 1-1 (0-0)/Andersen 87 og – Gallagher 69/SaturdayMan.City- Chelsea 1-0 (0-0)/De Bruyne 70/Burnley – Leicester POSTPONEDWolverhampton – Southampton 3-1 (1-0)/Jimenez 37, Coady 59, Traore 90+1 – Ward-Prowse 84/Norwich – Everton 2-1 (2-0)/Keane 16 of, Idah 18 – Richarlison 60/Newcastle – Watford 1-1 (0-0)/Saint-Maximin 49 – Pedro 88/Aston Villa – Man.Utd 2-2 (0-1)/Ramsey 77, Coutinho 81 – Fernandes 6, 67/Sunday17.00: (1.70) West Ham (3.90) Leeds (5.50)17.00: (1.33) Liverpool (5.40) Brentford (11.0)19.30: (2.60) Tottenham (3.25) Arsenal (2.95)***odds are subject to change