Read Andy Hunter’s match report from Anfield:
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Jürgen Klopp speaks. “I couldn’t see it back but I think the first goal in a lot of countries would have been disallowed,” he says. “That never helps but it was early so that’s good. We kept as calm as possible, we forced the goals with two brilliant moments of football and defended with passion. When it was 3-1, we did not finish it off and it was not cool. But then we score a fourth and it’s all good. But we only needed three points, so it’s good. Of course goal difference as well, but we always try to score as many goals as possible.” On Lallana, he adds: “It was really good, and exactly what we expected. He played a really good game.”
Another depressing story:
Adam Lallana talks, and says he fancies the Premier League title race to “go down to the wire”. The Liverpool midfielder says: “It’s good for the neutral and we’re just going to enjoy it. City won yesterday and it was our job to put in a professional performance. I thought we showed great character after going one goal down and thoroughly deserved the win in the end.” Of his first start since February, he said: “It has been a difficult 18 months, two years for me with injuries but hopefully that is behind me now and I just want to contribute what will hopefully be an exciting end to the season. I enjoyed being out there.”
Full-time: Liverpool 4-2 Burnley
Relief at the final whistle as Jürgen Klopp’s side get the job done, to move within a point of leaders Manchester City at the summit of the Premier League. It was not particularly comfortable but Liverpool showed a touch of class when it mattered, typified by Sturridge’s cute reverse through ball for Sadio Mané to seal victory. For Burnley, the manner of the goals they conceded will hurt Sean Dyche, whose side remain in a perilous position, just two points above the relegation zone. Adam Lallana and Mo Salah were both lively for a Liverpool side that flattered to deceive at times. Still, they will travel to Munich with a spring in their step.
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GOAL! Liverpool 4-2 Burnley (Mané, 90+3)
Just as the moans and groans begin to take hold at a nervy Anfield, Sadio Mané wraps up another precious three points for Liverpool. Daniel Sturridge’s marvellous through ball left Mané with just Heaton to beat and he smashes home.
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90+2 min: McNeil hangs up a dangerous cross in search of Crouch, but Alisson claims. Liverpool go up the other end to try and finish it ...
GOAL! Liverpool 3-2 Burnley (Gudmundsson, 90+1)
Just as three added minutes are signalled by the fourth official, Burnley pull a goal back. They get a little fortunate but Vydra slides in the midfielder who slots home from close range.
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89 min: Burnley get the chance to swing the ball into the box with a free-kick just inside the Liverpool half. But they play it short and Ben Mee’s trip up from the back is a wasted one.
88 min: Sturridge is fortunate to win a Liverpool corner, but it all stemmed from van Dijk steamrollering through the spine of the Burnley midfield. The Dutchman really is a class act. Burnley were just bouncing off him then, as he strode forward, getting a little bit of luck along the way himself.
87 min: Heaton with a smart stop to keep out Salah! The Egyptian tried to deftly bend his effort into the top corner, but the Burnley goalkeeper was equal to it.
86 min: And that’s Barnes’s last act. Matej Vydra replaces the Burnley striker, while Daniel Sturridge is on for Liverpool, in place of Alexander-Arnold.
85 min: Ashley Barnes is flagged offside, and that just about sums it up. He has not been able to enforce himself on this game at all. Other than the odd foray forward by McNeil or Taylor down the left flank, Burnley haven’t conjured up a lot.
81 min: Mané strikes the bar! Roberto Firmino threads a beautifully weighted pass in for Trent Alexander-Arnold, who whips a wonderful ball across goal. Liverpool are queuing up at the back stick and Mané is there to meet it but – somehow – his effort bounces downwards and ends up rattling the crossbar. Andy Robertson, who was directly behind Mané, ends up in the goalnet after surging forward from defence. Liverpool are aghast as to how they have not found a fourth.
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80 min: Burnley try to play in Crouch, who gets goalside of Matip – but the flag is up. Liverpool are just trying to close the game out. They sense it’s almost job done.
79 min: Crouchy is on for Chris Wood, and Gudmundsson for Hendrick. The Burnley striker gets a warm ovation from the home faithful.
77 min: Peter Crouch has just been given the nod by Sean Dyche, as Taylor makes another super block to deny Salah. He’s been brilliant for Burnley. Gudmundsson is also being readied by Burnley.
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75 min: Lallana, who has been arguably Liverpool’s best player this afternoon, is replaced by Naby Keïta. Lallana offered a lot in and around both boxes on his return to the starting lineup.
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74 min: Sadio Mané takes aim from distance and his effort smacks Taylor on the arm, but Marriner points for a corner. It was not hugely dissimilar to the penalty awarded against Prisnel Kimpembe at the Parc des Princes in midweek.
73 min: Jack Cork skips away from Fabinho after Alexander-Arnold, who has struggled at times this afternoon, squandered possession but Jordan Henderson is there to oust the Burnley midfielder off the ball, and fairly insists Andre Marriner.
71 min: Fabinho is booked for a lunge on Ashley Barnes.
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70 min: Liverpool have a much-needed two-goal cushion, though it was not all of their own doing. That was another horrible goal from a Burnley point of view. Talk about shooting themselves in the foot. Still, Liverpool can wind down, with Klopp no doubt likely to make a couple more changes with Wednesday’s trip to Bayern Munich in mind.
69 min: Henderson replaces Wijnaldum.
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GOAL! Liverpool 3-1 Burnley (Firmino, 68)
This one was almost as easy as his first. A dreadful mistake by Heaton, who wellies his kick straight to Mo Salah, inviting the forward to pile forward, bearing down one-on-one with the goalkeeper. And, for the second time, it is a galling goal for Charlie Taylor, who made another superb last-ditch challenge to deny Salah, only for Firmino to take aim, slotting into an empty net.
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66 min: Wijnaldum glances wide! A delightfull ball in by Robertson is whipped into the box but the Dutchman appears to take the ball off the head of Mané ...
63 min: McNeil shows great poise again to navigate away from Alexander-Arnold after Tarkowski launched forward another high ball. Burnley are continuing to press in search of a leveller. Everything points towards a Peter Crouch special. Dyche must be tempted to throw on the former Liverpool striker. As for Klopp, he has ordered Jordan Henderson to get ready for action.
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60 min: Van Dijk, unusually, shanks the ball out of play before Alisson takes a risk with Wood in close proximity, but gets away with it. The Brazilian’s decision to edge the ball away from the Burnley striker in the nick of time is met by a few despairing gasps. There is margin for error. Not yet, at least. Liverpool need a third, with Burnley seemingly growing in confidence all the time.
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58 min: McNeil hangs a high cross in for Wood and Barnes to attack, but the wind does Liverpool a favour, whisking the ball away from danger. The 19-year-old winger has been lively throughout on what is only his 11th top-flight start.
55 min: After taking a while to settle, Liverpool are back on top and probing in search of a third. Salah has been influential. In fact, the trio of Mané, Firmino and Salah have functioned well. After a flow of Burnley pressure, Liverpool have Sean Dyche’s side back where they want them, though McNeil continues to elude Alexander-Arnold down the Burnley left.
54 min: Salah has sparked Liverpool into life here. He wins a corner after skating away from Westwood, Mee but not Taylor, who makes an excellent sliding tackle. From the set-piece, Lallana sells McNeil with a dummy.
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52 min: Liverpool fashion their first real chance of this half. Mané drives at the Burnley defender, spraying the ball wide for Firmino with a lovely weighted pass but he cannot curl his effort on target. The wind takes it away from Salah, who was lurking in the box.
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50 min: Salah bends an effort just off target. It was ambitious but a glimmer of light for Liverpool in the embryonic stages of a half that Burnley have dominated. Dwight McNeil, in particular, is causing young Trent Alexander-Arnold no end of problems down the Burnley left.
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49 min: Ashley Barnes charges towards the box and looks up to search out Chris Wood, who powers forward with van Dijk for company. The ball is a little behind Wood in the end, which catches van Dijk cold but the Liverpool defender just about manages to get his big toe on it to cut out the danger. Burnley will be delighted with this swell of pressure.
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48 min: Liverpool are having to contain plenty of early Burnley pressure. The hosts are penned in, with Lallana among those back to help out defensively. Liverpool are yet to have a sniff since the restart.
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47 min: A neat move down the left by Burnley culminates with Matip slicing away. It stemmed from a clever ball by Dwight McNeil into the feet of Chris Wood, who then laid it off for the overlapping Charlie Taylor. His ball in was devious and Matip had to get rid. A decent start by Sean Dyche’s side.
46 min: Liverpool get us back under way. No changes.
Away from Anfield, some deeply depressing news from the derby between Birmingham and Aston Villa. A man has been arrested after running on to the pitch nine minutes into the game to attack Jack Grealish, West Midlands police have confirmed. The fan entered the pitch from the home end, before running towards Grealish and hitting him in the head from behind, causing the player to fall to the ground. Players and stewards then contained the man before he was led away.
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Half-time: Liverpool 2-1 Burnley
Goals by Sadio Mané and Roberto Firmino give Liverpool the lead at the interval after trailing to a bizarre strike by Ashley Westwood, direct from a Burnley corner. It has hardly been vintage Liverpool but, after restoring parity, they have looked wholly comfortable. In fairness, at this stage of the season, it’s all about just getting the job done, right? A strange half, a half of two halves, if you will.
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45+1 min: Robertson does well, ushering Hendrick away from danger at the byline to earn a Liverpool goal-kick, taking the sting out of a half-hearted Burnley attack.
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45 min: There will be three added minutes.
43 min: Bardsley does well as Mané tries to raid down the flank. Burnley could do with just getting to half-time and re-grouping. Things are not quite happening going forward for Barnes and Wood. The same can possibly be said for Liverpool, who are in front but this has hardly been a masterclass.
41 min: Liverpool are trying to just calm things down as these awkward conditions prevail. A blustery, swirling wind is causing problems and has reduced the last few minutes to a really scrappy encounter. Quality is not exactly in abundance.
39 min: By scoring this afternoon, Sadio Mané has become the fifth Liverpool player to score in six consecutive home appearances in the Premier League, after Michael Owen, Fernando Torres, Luis Suárez and Mohamed Salah. It was a wonderful first-time finish that just zoomed into the top corner.
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35 min: Salah races on to a high ball forward by van Dijk but, with the wind blowing a gale, the ball suddenly grinds to a halt, blustering a foot or so behind the perplexed Liverpool striker. A wry smile by Salah says it all. We are only a snowstorm away from a full house of weather conditions inside Anfield. Liverpool proceed to win a free-kick but Alexander-Arnold’s effort is poor.
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33 min: Burnley swing in another deep corner but, this time, Alisson punches clear. Van Dijk’s clearance for the corner actually ended up with the ball planted on top of the Kop stand. Van Dijk got to McNeil’s low cross first, with Wood lurking.
30 min: Salah snatches at a snapshot from the edge of the box. Liverpool’s tails are very much up. Burnley suddenly look brittle at the back. In terms of Mané’s goal, Lallana must take his fair share of credit for kickstarting the move and keeping Liverpool alive in the attacking third with that thudding challenge.
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GOAL! Liverpool 2-1 Burnley (Mané, 29)
A sweet finish! Bardsley and Hendrick dally on the edge of the area, making a mess of trying to clear their lines when Lallana interjects with a brilliant sliding block to prevent the former from hoofing away. Then the ball drops kindly to Mo Salah and Charlie Taylor makes a magnificent intervention but, just as Liverpool want to shout from the rooftops for a penalty, Mané takes over the baton and sweeps a curling effort into the corner beyond Heaton.
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27 min: Klopp is still barking away down in his technical area. He wants more. As much as Liverpool look more at ease, they are hardly blowing Burnley away.
25 min: It’s turning into a horrible day, weather-wise. The Liverpool substitutes look hacked off at being asked to warm-up as the rain lashes down. Shaqiri has gone for a hood-up, while others are braving it on the touchline including Dyche, of course.
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23 min: Alexander-Arnold takes aim after collecting a short corner from the edge of the box but he blasts over. Still, Liverpool’s confidence is flowing now.
20 min: Liverpool already look a different prospect, relaxed after resuming normal service. Nerves had dogged how they started here. Dyche will be cussing with the manner of that goal – it was a poor communication mix-up between his goalkeeper and Tarkowski – but Liverpool will not care a jot. And now they’re determined to assume control of a game that had, until a moment ago, eluded them. They look revved-up now, at least.
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GOAL! Liverpool 1-1 Burnley (Firmino, 19)
Roberto Firmino will not score an easier goal this season. The Brazilian taps home from a yard out after Heaton and Tarkowski get in a muddle at the front post, after failing to deal with Mo Salah’s low ball in from the right. It was well-worked from Liverpool, with Lallana initially picking out Salah, who then in turn played a neat one-two with Wijnaldum. But Burnley really should have dealt with the ball in. That was a real mess.
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16 min: Chris Wood is definitely winning his duel with Joel Matip in the opening stages, with the Liverpool defender half asleep as the Burnley forward bombs on past his man. And then Firmino is wasteful, playing a poor through ball.
15 min: Mané ends up inadvertently giving Phil Bardsley a whack after tussling inside the box. It was nothing malicious, a good-natured battle for the ball but Mané actually catches the Burnley defender with his head after swivelling. When play eventually restarts, Mané attempts to divert Alexander-Arnold’s cross goalwards but his header is always rising.
13 min: Firmino comes alive to work an opening, jinking inside and his effort is deflected over for a corner that Burnley eventually clear. Salah picked out Firmino who drove inside but Tarkowski got a block in to thwart the forward.
12 min: Liverpool are trying to stride forward, playing out from the back via van Dijk and Fabinho. Liverpool do look a little shell-shocked, though. They’ve not exactly bounced back from falling behind. As for Burnley, this could be a massive victory in terms of the relegation scrap. Cardiff and Southampton will be willing Liverpool on no doubt.
11 min: Klopp asked Liverpool supporters to bring the noise but the atmosphere is decidedly flat, as you’d expect. Anfield has been silenced by that Westwood goal.
8 min: And now there’s sleet at Anfield. Disastrous start for Liverpool.
GOAL! Liverpool 0-1 Burnley (Westwood, 6)
Not the start Klopp was after! Alisson is sandwiched between Tarkowski and Cork, with the former clambering over the Liverpool goalkeeper and Westwood’s whipped corner ends up dipping in at the back post. Westwood’s right-footed corner zooms into the box and ends up flying in directly; it was a lovely delivery. Alisson was booked for arguing the toss with Andre Marriner, and clearly feels he was impeded. Alisson did seem to give up the fight, on the assumption that Marriner would blow for a foul that was never awarded. To make matters worse, it all stemmed from Joel Matip giving away a needless corner. The defender headed away rather than allowing Charlie Taylor’s hopeful ball to run out of play.
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4 min: Lallana fouls Westwood and Burnley try to outsmart the hosts, with a quick free-kick. It was a nice idea but never in danger of coming off, with Alisson racing off his line to scoop up the ball. Burnley tried to slip in Wood.
4 min: Lallana flies down the left, bending a high ball into the box but it is too close to Heaton and the Burnley goalkeeper easily gathers.
3 min: A low-key opening couple of minutes as van Dijk wellies clear a long punt towards Ashley Barnes by James Tarkowski. The ball ends back at Heaton’s feet before van Dijk again sends it back where it came from.
1 min: A comfortable start by Liverpool, who try to probe down the right with Wijnaldum hooking a ball downfield, though Burnley usher it out.
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Peeeeeeeeeep!
Burnley get things started after a hearty rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone.
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The teams trudge out on to a sunbathed Anfield pitch ...
Klopp has made his feelings clear about the early kick-off – “I don’t know exactly why we play Burnley at 12 o’ clock on Sunday, ask BT” – but no doubt his Liverpool squad have had the breakfast of champions. Well, penne. “I saw the pre-match meal at 8.30 this morning and saw all that pasta,” Klopp says. “Fortunately, I don’t have to eat it. That’s good, I don’t think I could. Having a pre-match meal so early ... that’s the only major difference when it comes to kicking-off at 12.” There has been a lot of talk about his front three appearing fatigued – but Salah, Firmino and Mané all start. As for Sean Dyche, the bullish Burnley manager says: “People don’t expect much of us but that’s an extra reason for us to go out and play well. We intend to play well and we’ll take care of ourselves.”
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Will Klopp be talking about the wind at full-time? It is a wet and wild day at Anfield, which is just how Burnley like it, according to the defender Phil Bardsley who insists Sean Dyche’s side are capable of knocking Liverpool out of their stride. Burnley are unchanged and their threat will largely comprise of the grisly pairing of Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes. Burnley’s past nine goals have been scored by Barnes (five) or Wood (four).
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Klopp on Lallana’s first start since 4 February. “Adam was exceptional during the week,” says the German. “So, in a situation where you think a little bit how you can adjust one or two things, it’s smart. He trained well for a while already but this week was especially well – that’s the reason why he starts. Burnley have big motivation, but as always our motivation is at its maximum.”
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Team news news: Adam Lallana gets the nod in the Liverpool midfield, with Jordan Henderson dropping to the bench in one of two changes, with Roberto Firmino promoted to the starting lineup in place of Divock Origi. For Burnley, Peter Crouch has to make do with a place among the substitutes on his return to Anfield, while the captain Tom Heaton continues in goal. A big performance by Heaton could give Gareth Southgate, who names his next England squad on Wednesday, a big decision to make, with Jordan Pickford in erratic form. And then there’s Joe Hart.
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Team news!
Liverpool (4-3-3): Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Lallana; Mané, Salah, Firmino
Subs: Mignolet, Lovren, Henderson, Keïta, Sturridge, Origi, Shaqiri
Burnley (4-4-2): Heaton; Bardsley, Mee, Tarkowski, Taylor; Westwood, Cork, McNeil, Hendrick; Barnes, Wood
Subs: Hart, Lowton, Brady, Gudmundsson, Vydra, Crouch, Gibson
Referee: Andre Marriner
Preamble
For the first time in four months, Liverpool have assumed the role of the hunter. But, as Jürgen Klopp said after the goalless Merseyside derby last week, who cares who is top at the beginning of March anyway? “We are in a position we like to be in, it is not a problem,” insisted the Liverpool manager. “We wanted to be in a position to fight for the top spot in the league and we are still in it and that is all we need to be positive and optimistic.”
Still, Klopp is more concerned about the possibility of droves of Liverpool fans turning up at Anfield for a noon start half-hearted or, worse still, hungover; Klopp asked supporters to be wrapped up in bed by 10pm on Saturday night to ensure they could roar on his players come kick-off. His players certainly cannot afford to be off-colour. A fine Raheem Sterling hat-trick extended Manchester City’s lead at the league summit to four points, meaning anything other than victory over Burnley could in effect gift City passage to the title with eight games to play.
As for Burnley, they could also do with a win, though history suggests it is a tall order; Liverpool have not lost at home to the Clarets since 1974. Big victories for Southampton and Cardiff has upped the ante at the bottom, with Sean Dyche’s side heading into this one just two points above the relegation zone. Liverpool could welcome back Dejan Lovren, while James Milner is expected to be fit. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain remains sidelined after suffering a minor setback on his return from injury; he was substituted 41 minutes into a Under-23s match with a hamstring issue. Peter Crouch, meanwhile, could feature against his former club.
Kick-off: 12pm (GMT)
