Here’s the match report, from Andy Hunter at Turf Moor.
Nat Phillips, the clear man of the match, speaks to Sky Sports.
As long we get the three points that’s all that matters. The pressure’s on. There’s no room for consider, we know we have to win every game. It was really tough game, one of the toughest I have had all season. My job is to stop goals. If I can score goals, it’s a bonus, but my job is clean sheets. All we can do is concentrate. If we win the next game as long as Leicester don’t score a load in theirs it’s in our hands. I am looking forward to it. It will be a good weekend. One last push and the focus is on the Champions League spot.
Here’s the table. It all goes down to Super Duper Sunday.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man City | 37 | 46 | 83 |
| 2 | Man Utd | 37 | 28 | 71 |
| 3 | Chelsea | 37 | 23 | 67 |
| 4 | Liverpool | 37 | 24 | 66 |
| 5 | Leicester | 37 | 20 | 66 |
Dwiyanto Cheung gets in touch: “Most of the noise from the crowd are boos... not a very good experience of live tv viewing.”
Yes, bring back fake crowd noise now.
Full-time: Burnley 0-3 Liverpool
This was no easy assignment for Liverpool but they completed it with great efficiency, scoring at the right times to take the sting from Burnley. Returning to the Champions League is now fully in their hands.
90+2 min: Liverpool kill time by bringing on Kostas Tsimikas for Mane.
90 min: This is done, and Liverpool have four goals on Leicester going into the final game of the season. They play Palace, and Leicester have Tottenham, remember.
Three minutes added on, anyway.
Goal! Burnley 0-3 Liverpool (Oxlade-Chamberlain, 89)
That wraps it up. The ball spills to the left-hand side from a corner, and the Ox whacks the ball in at the near post.
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87 min: Milner is on for Wijnaldum, by the way. Burnley have had a couple of knocks to slow down the action, with Brownhill and Tarkowski down.
86 min: West Ham have scored, which is bad news for Spurs and Everton. Liverpool are fighting for a bigger prize.
85 min: James Milner is coming on at some point.
83 min: Still all Burnley but Liverpool do seem comfortable with Phillips winning everything in the air. His partner, Rhys Williams, is less lucky, and takes a whack to the head. It goes without saying that he’s booed for being hurt.
81 min: Off comes Firmino, and on comes Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to add midfield ballast.
80 min: It’s all Burnley. Liverpool a tad tired. McNeil whips in a ball, headed away by Phillips again. He’s surely their goto guy when they play a long-ball team next season.
79 min: Trent shanks the ball after Nat Phillips coolly lays the ball off to quell some Burnley danger. Trent is booed for his troubles, some choice England banter no doubt involved too.
77 min: Westwood steals in rob Wijnaldum, and Liverpool have stopped committing too many people forward.
76 min: Gudmundsson chases something, anything from the game. Burnley have been blunted in this second half.
Burnley make a sub, off goes Jack Cork, on comes Matej Vydra.
74 min: Salah, chasing that goal, is robbed by Tarkowski, just at the point he is about to shoot. The defender’s head bears the brunt of that.
72 min: Williams, by contrast to Phillips, is having all sorts of problems with Wood. He is glad to concede a corner and requires Robertson to bail him out.
71 min: Lowton cleans out Mane to much applause from the home fans. They are at the point of getting their kicks where they can, small petty victories.
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70 min: Trent almost scores a gorgeous header, but there’s a good save and an offside flag denying him.
69 min: Phillips again the hero as he clears off the line from a looped Tarkowski header. He’s had quite the game, and clears the second ball too.
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67 min: Phillips, the hero of the hour, concedes a free-kick in a dangerous position. Liverpool are relieved to knock it behind for a corner.
65 min: Liverpool go on the counter, and Salah looks odds-on to score. Charlie Taylor comes across, and the goalie rushes in. The shot goes wide, a toe poke. Salah is chasing a Golden Boot, let us recall. Harry Kane didn’t manage to score for Spurs during their shaming by Villa earlier this evening.
64 min: Brownhill, played in by Wood, who he is playing off, gets some space to shoot but cannot find nearly enough purchase on the ball.
62 min: Burnley jeers as they win a free-kick. Those forgotten sounds of injustice impotently cried out into the night sky. How we have missed those.
60 min: Liverpool queuing up for another? Goals scored and goal difference may yet prove crucial on the final day.
58 min: The ball almost drops for Westwood from a McNeil cross but the bounce doesn’t quite fall for him.
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56 min: Burnley’s brio seems to have been extinguished. The crowd is certainly very quiet. When the goal went in, fake crowd noise was required to indicate it had been a goal.
54 min: Phillips’s first goal for Liverpool? It’s hugely important. He’s a centre-back in the club’s traditions. Something of the Carragher or Phil Thompson about him. He’s by no means the most talented player but his work ethic is strong. There are some of us who remember his father, Jimmy, who was a decent player.
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Goal! Burnley 0-2 Liverpool (Phillips, 52)
Mane is the creator, he gets to the byline, and drips it to the edge of the six-yard box and Phillips nods in. Great header, the goalkeeper cannot get to it.
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51 min: Lowton fouls Mane. Or does he? No, says the referee. More boos for Mane, who is now being roundly booed on each touch. Mane releases Salah, whose shot goes wide. Liverpool seeking a second.
49 min: Mane is the target for a Firmino pass but instead Burnley break. Wood is guided into the corner, then Gudmundsson goes down. No penalty, no VAR, despite the home crowd claims. He fell over the ball in truth.
47 min: Alisson climbs highest for a flick that Wood was challenging him for.
46 min: Burnley are at it, straight from the kick-off, forcing two corners.
Tonight’s reports so far.
I’m washing my lockdown hair that night but I’m sure el banter will flow.
Liverpool fan Matt Dony has been in touch. “Had been settling comfortably into the ‘Lots of possession, few nice moves, falls apart in the final third’ pessimistic mindset. It’s been a near-constant companion this season. Obviously relieved to see that goal go in, but not quite turned the corner to ‘Hopeful’ yet. Long way to go. I’m off to pour a(nother) whisky.”
Half-time: Burnley 0-1 Liverpool
Some relief for Liverpool in Firmino’s goal. The chances had been coming but the execution had been poor. And in truth, Burnley could also say the same. This one is by no means done. Plenty of nerves around.
44 min: Big big goal for Liverpool. That takes them above Leicester as it stands. And came at the end of a half in which they have been struggling.
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Goal! Burnley 0-1 Liverpool (Firmino, 43)
Robertson plays in Mane, and then gets it back. He slides it back and Firmino, and his shot is straight at Norris but the new man can’t make a save.
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42 min: Mane is a boo boys target. That’s because he keeps getting fouled and you remember what fans are like when an opposition player gets kicked.
41 min: Chance for Nat Phillips. Nodded down by Williams but his partner sees glory and can’t keep his shot down in all the excitement.
40 min: Liverpool look, well, a bit wobbly. They are passing it around the back with no sort of confidence but then manage to push forward. Mane has a shot blocked by the excellent Tarkowski, and Ben Mee was in the mix too.
38 min: Burnley corner, and cleared. Norris comes out a long way forward again, and then Wood escapes Williams and gets a shot in. It comes back out, and McNeill forces a fine save from Alisson. The ball is still alive. Liverpool in panic.
37 min: Liverpool free-kick, Trent to whip it in, and he thinks he can spot Norris off his line. He is off his line, but the ball is also in the stands soon enough. Gareth Southgate strokes his cat at home in satisfaction.
35 min: Burnley trying to keep it tight after coughing up those decent chances. Liverpool are trying their pattern play but the attacking trident are not on each other’s wavelength and struggling to finish.
33 min: Norris, the debutant, comes fully 25 yards out and does well to clear.
On goalies, from Justin Kavanagh. “Never mind Salah. The big question after Sunday is who’s marking Alisson tonight?”
Answer: Chris Wood.
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31 min: News from West Brom, who are beating West Ham 1-0. They scored direct from a corner, with Declan Rice already having missed a penalty. That drops the Hammers to seventh. Liverpool will remain fifth if it stays like this.
30 min: Another Liverpool miss. Salah speeds through. Long ball from them this time. And Salah tries to slow himself down and whacks it over.
29 min: What a miss! Great play from Liverpool, with Firmino and Salah. Out comes the young goalie and Thiago drags it wide. Far less than mesmeric.
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28 min: Rhys Williams is being targeted here. By Burnley’s long balls and the home fans, who have spotted him as a weakness and are trying to put him off too.
26 min: Burnley go close. Long ball over the top, and Chris Wood has to score. He misses. That’s a poor finish, he won’t get many more like that. Liverpool do not like the long ball aimed at their centre-backs.
25 min: Better from Thiago as he sends away Trent but there is still heavy traffic to get through. The opposite is true for Chris Wood, who gets a long ball on his chest but has nobody to play to. Josh Brownhill is often the closest man to him.
23 min: Jeers for Thiago as he loses the ball. He is yet to be his mesmeric self tonight, the magician.
21 min: Passing combinations from Liverpool now, but again Burnley push up. And now Robertson, who is being booed by the crowd on every move, fouls Burnley’s Gudmundsson.
20 min: A throw by Charlie Taylor tries to give McNeil space to play but he’s pushed back, before then receiving it back. His cross is cleared and off goes a Liverpool attack as Burnley move into their set positions.
18 min: Nat Phillips takes a swing at the ball and almost messes up. Luckily McNeil and Wood were a little too far away to profit from it.
17 min: Liverpool pushing forward now, Burnley doing far less attacking.
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15 min: Manful defending from Mee closes off a five-man Liverpool break. Then they hold their shape as Liverpool attempt a patient buildup. Salah, Mane and Firmino combine and it’s a poor finish from the Brazilian. Nice backheel from Mané.
13 min: Robertson down the left. His cross is headed away by Tarkowksi, and then Charlie Taylor cleans up the danger.
12 min: Fabinho and Thiago are lax in midfield and almost get caught out. Liverpool have been - how you say? - easy oasy. Burnley seem inspired by their fans. Something had to change with their horrible home record.
11 min: Here’s Peter Oh on one of the Guardian’s valued contributors. “Is there any irony in the fact that a player named Mee is marking one of Liverpool’s more selfish players?”
10 min: McNeil’s pass almost finds Wood, then Lowton blams the ball and Rhys Williams heads behind. Then from the corner, Alisson has to make a save when Wood looks to be in on goal.
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9 min: Sean Dyche is growling away on the sidelines. Now we have crowds it’s not quite so easy to tell what’s he’s saying. As it’s turned out, what they say to each other is usually quite banal, isn’t it? When the Bundesliga relaunched last May, I felt I was missing out on some real gems. I wasn’t.
7 min: Andy Robertson gets some Burnley jeers after he lets the ball slip out. Ah, banter.
5 min: Signs are that Liverpool can cut through but the same may be true at the other end. Phillips and Williams are being targeted by some Burnley-style balls.
3 min: Mané whacks the ball over the bar from a lovely cross from ‘Trent’. That has to count as a typical miss these days. He was so so so good last season, or at least until the pandemic struck. This season: oh dear.
2 min: Mistake by Williams in Liverpool’s defence. Lowton whacks in a cross. Alisson’s punch is poor and Burnley recycle the ball. But then Liverpool break, and off they go. Ben Mee makes a great tackle to deny Mo Salah.
1 min: And away we go. There are fans tonight at Burnley, and the evening sun is out in Lancashire. The sound rings out with the Clarets being acclaimed as by far the greatest team the world has ever seen.
Ian Copestake is in: “I wish I believed in momentum more than I do the cruelty of the Fates, but there is a reason needing a win against Burnley features in the Scouse version of Dante’s Inferno.
Liverpool’s task is simple: they MUST win.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man City | 37 | 46 | 83 |
| 2 | Man Utd | 37 | 28 | 71 |
| 3 | Chelsea | 37 | 23 | 67 |
| 4 | Leicester | 37 | 20 | 66 |
| 5 | Liverpool | 36 | 21 | 63 |
Jürgen Klopp speaks to Sky Sports, and uses an extended knockout metaphor.
With the crowd, you ignore it or you use it. If it’s loud it’s good. It’s different. It’s long ago we played with crowds. Burnley are always difficult. It’s always like this with semi-finals. You win the quarter-finals and you celebrate and there’s another game. That’s the situation we are in.
Boos all round at White Hart Lane...
Sean Dyche spoke about his Burnley future in the buildup to this match. His contract is up this time next year, but this suggests he’s staying on for now.
People could say sticking at Burnley is not ambitious but the work that has been done here is enormous. The club is a massively different club to the one I walked in to. That is not just down to me obviously, it’s down to lots of people. That’s ambition - to build a club - but it’s a different kind of ambition.
People think it’s about just purely trying to go to the top of the game, to win trophies, and of course that’s the name of the game, but there’s more behind that. The number of jobs created here, the feel-good factor around the town, the recognition that the whole town gets here, that’s all ambition too. That’s meant a lot around these parts and I don’t lose sight of that...
You can have all the ambition you want but you need the opportunity and I’ve got a good opportunity here to continue with these ambitions, to continue growing this club, and to see where this goes.
Jürgen Klopp is determined his team won’t let this one slip. They’ve got to ‘go’ Anfield on Sunday, too.
This season was a proper teacher in how to deal with setbacks and we learned, so missing chances in the last few games did not have the same impact that it had before. That is the main difference. We had to fight for everything and nothing is guaranteed. We could still be completely without European football.
That’s one Liverpool change: out goes Curtis Jones from midfield, and in comes Gini Wijnaldum, who is also captain for the night.
For Burnley, Sean Dyche clearly wasn’t impressed with his team against Leeds on Saturday, though makes two changes. Will Norris makes his Premier League debut in goal for the Clarets and Johann Berg Gudmundsson replaces Matej Vydra, suggesting Chris Wood will play as a lone striker. Believe Gudmunssson is another survivor from that 2016 win over Liverpool.
The teams are in
Burnley: Norris, Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Taylor, Brownhill, Westwood, Cork, McNeil, Gudmundsson, Wood. Subs: Barnes, Peacock-Farrell, Rodriguez, Pieters, Vydra, Nartey, Dunne, Richardson, Driscoll-Glennon.
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Phillips, Rhys Williams, Robertson, Thiago, Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Salah, Firmino, Mane. Subs: Milner, Adrian, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jones, Tsimikas, Shaqiri, Origi, Neco Williams, Koumetio.
Referee: Chris Kavanagh (Lancashire)
Preamble
you: Liverpool still have a tough trip to Turf Moor!
— Duncan Alexander (@oilysailor) May 18, 2021
the national trust: here's Burnley's recent record at home to Big Six teams
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The estimable Duncan Alexander says it all here. Leicester fans hoping for a favour and that their team can cling on to their top-four place must be in small numbers. Liverpool have been playing OK of late, even if they did require Alisson to score their winner at West Brom on Sunday. Burnley, in being taken apart by Leeds on Saturday, were poor aside from a couple of spells at the start of the two halves. That said, Burnley did manage to win at Anfield this season during that spell at the start of 2021 when Liverpool were falling into crisis, and ended a 68-game unbeaten record at Anfield. We have to go much further back to find Burnley’s last home win over Liverpool, a 2-0 win in August 2016 when Jürgen Klopp’s team had 81% of possession and 26 shots and still lost. Only Matt Lowton and Ben Mee survive from the Burnley team, and only James Milner, Jordan Henderson and Gini Wijnaldum remain at Liverpool.
The managers are still the same and it did get a bit tasty between Sean Dyche and Klopp last time out.
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