For all the doom and gloom surrounding the Anfield in late 2022, Liverpool rang in the new year with high hopes. The Premier League behemoth traveled to Brentford knowing that a triumph on Monday night would take them to within touching distance of the top four. Unfortunately, old habits die hard.

The Liverpool defensive line that has been a shambles all season was exposed ruthlessly in their embarrassing 3-1 defeat as Jurgen Klopp's side were outplayed, outclassed and outmaneuvered by Brentford, who deservedly sealed their first victory over the Reds since 1938.

With just four wins from their first 12 games and looking more like pedestrian minnows than formidable giants, Liverpool improved their performance lately and conjured up four straight victories to move up the league table. But the latest setback at the Brentford Community Stadium brought them back to earth. 

Roared on by a sold-out home crowd, an own goal from Ibrahima Konate, who made his first appearance since the World Cup final, and a brilliant header through Yoane Wissa gave Brentford a shock lead as Liverpool made a dismal start. Though Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's first goal in a year helped the visitors halve the deficit, Bryan Mbeumo put the game beyond doubt with a smart finish.

The result means Liverpool are now four points behind fourth-placed Manchester United having played a game more. Klopp's woeful side, who would have gone within a point of fourth with a win, have now dropped 23 points this season, which is one more than in the entire campaign last season.

To their credit, Brentford are extremely aggressive and athletically impressive as evidenced by the fact that they have scored nine goals from set pieces this season. But Liverpool were architects of their own downfall and made it far too easy for their opponents. Every time the hosts had a corner, they looked like finding the back of the net. 

Liverpool's ever-dependable center-back Virgil van Dijk, who has been consistently marvelous over the years since making the lucrative move from Southampton, was supposed to steady the ship when their defense was in complete disarray. But the usually assertive Dutchman repeatedly lost his composure in one-on-one situations, and Klopp was forced to made the bold move to withdraw his talismanic captain at half-time.

According to stats provider Opta, it was the first time that Van Dijk had been taken off after 45 minutes since a pre-planned substitution in a League Cup tie against Lincoln City in September 2020. Though Klopp later insisted it was a precautionary change due to risk of injury, there is no doubt that Van Dijk suffered an alarming dip in form after returning from the World Cup. He simply could not cope with Brentford's ferocity and their canniness in set-pieces.

"It's not good enough," observed Liverpool defender Andrew Robertson afterwards. "We've spoken about consistency and things like that but we're not getting it... It feels like we're one step forward and one step back at the moment which makes it hard to climb the league table unfortunately."

Klopp, meanwhile, struck a defiant tone after the loss and even suggested Brentford got away with utilizing dark arts during set pieces.

"When I say they stretch the rules in offensive set pieces – and they do, don't get me wrong, they are smart but they do – if you singled out every situation you would find five fouls," the Liverpool manager told a press briefing. "But because it's so chaotic, nobody sees it. That's what they do, and it's really good, they react to different things. They play like this against us, but against other teams they play football and it's fantastic."

"You cannot defend long balls all the time, they were super-direct. That limits them in some aspects, but in this kind of game they are able to create chaos and they organized that extremely well," he added.

In sharp contrast, Brentford boss Thomas Frank was in celebratory mood as his team remain unbeaten in six games, which is their best run in the top flight for more than 80 years. "This is a very demanding league and if you get a couple of injuries then it can be very tough," said Frank. "But I hope the fans dream big, I hope the players dream big."

For Liverpool, however, as long as their uncharacteristically conspicuous deficiencies in defense are not addressed, they will continue to lose ground in the fiercely competitive top-four race. At the end of the season, this upset might come back to haunt them once again.