Liverpool fell to their fourth consecutive Premier League defeat and their third in the capital capping a remarkable turnaround from winning the opening five games.
With more changes enforced upon Slot (injuries to Isak and Frimpong being notable) the reds once again succumbed to giving away an early goal - continually starting games 1-0 down is a nightmare for this confidence fragile side.
With 21 year old Kerkez, and slighly older Florian Wirtz still struggling to settle they are not being helped by dismal performances from the likes of Jones, Gakpo, Salah and van Dijk - all players who collected a Premier League winners medal just months ago.
So after being warned from an early long throw in from Brentford (one of their main methods of goalscoring this season) - just seconds later the reds conceded another throw in from a mis-control - cue the long throw - cue the laughable attempts at dealing with it and cue a Brentford opener.
The Bees went 2-0 up in the 45th minute when Kevin Schade was given some degree of freedom to sweep the ball past Mamardashvili. Fortunately Liverpool grabbed one back with the final kick of the half. Kerkez with the final touch upping his first half performance from an abject 3/10 to a slightly less grim 4.
On the hour mark it got worse. The substitute ref awarded a soft free kick at the edge of the box - but then VAR got involved deciding it was on the line and the ref had no option but to point to the spot. Would he have given a penalty? Who knows.
Igor Thiago stepped up and restored the two goal advantage.
Substitutes were made - a bit late mind but the largely absent Mo Salah did drill in a fine effort after Szoboszlai snapped the ball back high up the pitch. Nice goal but once again - didn't make up for a distinct lack of quality across the 90 minutes.
The final minutes were mad as Brentford hung un, Liverpool showing an urgency that perhaps would have been more fruitful across the rest of the game. It would have been unfair had Liverpool snatched the equaliser and as it proved, they didn't.
Liverpool are in a serious rut, the three midfielders of Jones, Szoboszlai and Wirtz lacks any bite and it's easy pickings for opposition teams. With Jones now appearing to have collected a knock then thankfully this might be the last time we see this powderpuff midfield. If Gravenberch or Mac Allister are not available then Endo surely has to be involved to provide some stronger protection, and Liverpool's array of attacking talent have to see more of the ball. Ultimately, and shockingly, Liverpool were out-thought and out-fought.
With a now seven point gap to the title, the reds can remove any immediate thoughts of a title defence and concentrate on improving their defence. Three goals were conceded at this stage last season - this time around it is a miserable 14.
Slot said after the game that of the recent defeats 'This was the worst'. We're not going to disagree.
Grim.
MOTM: Don't be daft.
VIDEO LOWLIGHTS of Brentford 3-2 Liverpool
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