This season we've teamed up with the popular xG Philosophy account to bring Brentford fans a regular feature on 'expected goals' (or xG as it is better known) and we're back with fresh insights after the Bees' 2-0 reverse at Anfield last Sunday.
Although Thomas Frank's side were unable to create the type of high-quality chances they fashioned against Crystal Palace in their Premier League opener, there were positives to take from a competitive display.
As yesterday's analysis of Nathan Collins' performance illustrated, there were a number of eye-catching defensive stats to delve into after the game and Brentford keeper Mark Flekken's expected goals numbers also deserve mention.
Last season, the Dutch stopper's solid distribution saw him rank second in the top flight for accurate long balls and his shot-stopping from long range efforts was also impressive: the former Freiburg keeper making 50 saves in total from outside the box.
In the Bees' first two games, however, Flekken has been called upon to make several fine saves from closer quarters - and his stop from Liverpool's Luis Díaz was perhaps his best of the season so far.
Riding high after his 13th-minute opener for the Reds, winger Díaz did everything right in the 64th minute when he seized onto Mo Salah's cut back and drilled a fierce low effort towards the bottom corner.
Flekken, however, had covered all of his angles and leapt smartly to his left to turn Díaz's strike around the post, the Colombian muttering a few choice words of Spanish in disbelief.
The xG On Target data from the Liverpool clash highlights this stop as the 'best' of the game - the metric stating that a goalkeeper would only expect to make this save 28 per cent of the time.
In total, Brentford conceded 3.29 On Target against Liverpool, meaning that the average goalkeeper would expect to concede three or more goals - the expected goals data, in this case, confirming the patently obvious: Flekken had a good game!
After a strong finish to last season, Flekken has transferred his form into the new campaign and - if his numbers from the Palace and Liverpool games are combined - he has already saved Brentford 2.48 goals over the first two games of 2024/25.
With his save percentage currently standing at 79 per cent, up from 65 per cent last term, the Dutchman has made a flying start to the season.