LONDON - Champions Liverpool suffered a fourth successive Premier League defeat as they lost 3-2 at Brentford on Saturday to continue their miserable run of form in the capital.

Arne Slot's stumbling side fell behind after five minutes when Dango Ouattara volleyed in following a long throw and Kevin Schade went through to make it 2-0 in the 45th.

Milos Kerkez replied for the visitors in first-half stoppage time with his first Liverpool goal from Conor Bradley's cross.

Liverpool's expected second-half siege never really materialised, however, and Igor Thiago restored Brentford's two-goal advantage from the penalty spot on the hour mark.

Mohamed Salah gave Liverpool hope with a clinical finish in the 89th minute but they had left it too late.

It is the first time since 2021 that Liverpool have lost four successive league games, with three of those matches in London after defeats at Crystal Palace and Chelsea.

They have gone nine games in all competitions without keeping a clean sheet and sit sixth in the table on 15 points, four behind leaders Arsenal who could extend that margin on Sunday when they host Crystal Palace.

Brentford's second win in a row moved them up to 10th place, two points behind Liverpool.

"Everyone has to look in the mirror including myself. I am sure we will get out of this," captain Virgil van Dijk said.

"But we won't do it just by talking about it. We need each other, we need the support. We need the people who were celebrating with us last year to be with us now even more. We will get out of this because we have the quality."

Brentford Fans Taunt Slot

The home fans took delight in taunting Liverpool manager Arne Slot with chants of "you're getting sacked in the morning" and while the Dutchman need not worry about that, the sense of his side's title defence wilting was palpable.

They looked fragile at the back, were often out-muscled by Brentford and doubts about Salah's lack of impact will continue despite him slamming home a fine late goal to end a more than month-long scoreless run in the Premier League.

Liverpool got back to winning ways with a 5-1 Champions League victory at Eintracht Frankfurt in midweek but their domestic woes continued with a fourth league defeat of the campaign, as many as they lost in winning the title last season.

Slot said they spent most of Friday's training focusing on Brentford's long throw-ins but his side were caught cold by the tactic after five minutes on a chilly night by the Thames.

Michael Kayode wound up a long delivery into the box and when Kristoffer Ajer flicked it on Ouattara reacted superbly to hook his volley past Giorgi Mamardashvili.

Liverpool responded with chances for Florian Wirtz and Cody Gakpo but they were not convincing and were undone again as halftime loomed. Mikkel Damsgaard's superb long pass sent Schade away and he kept his composure to beat Mamardashvili.

Kerkez fired home from close range in the fifth minute of stoppage time despite fierce Brentford protests about the amount of time the referee had added on.

Brentford continued to unsettle Liverpool after the break and earned a penalty when Virgil Van Dijk clipped Ouattara's foot and after a long VAR check, replacement referee Tim Robinson awarded a spot-kick which Thiago coolly converted.

Salah's rifled finish set up a chaotic period of stoppage time that took the game into its 100th minute but Brentford held on for a thoroughly-deserved three points.

"I was expecting a better performance, the performance was far from what we are used to," Slot said.