Harvey Elliott came off the bench to assist twice as Liverpool beat Burnley 3-1 at Anfield
Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool were looking to bounce back from a disappointing result and performance at Arsenal last Sunday as they faced Vincent Kompany’s relegation-threatened Burnley at Anfield.
Liverpool had their highest-ever Premier League attendance on Saturday afternoon after the green light was given to open up more of the Anfield Road stand – with the extension now almost complete. A record-breaking 59,896 attended.
Caoimhin Kelleher was given the nod to start in between the sticks after Alisson was ruled out with a suspected case of flu which also left a Joe Gomez-shaped hole in the Liverpool side.
The task at hand was a simple one. Liverpool had to beat Burnley to go back top of the Premier League table after Manchester City’s 2-0 win over Everton earlier that day.
And after a slow start at Anfield, Diogo Jota nodded the hosts in front with a clever header courtesy of a Trent Alexander-Arnold corner. It’s not a goal that the Burnley ‘keeper James Trafford will be wanting to rewatch, as he made a bizarre decision to come off his line to try and clear a ball he was never reaching.
Burnley had good chances, and were proving their worth at Anfield. Despite being second-bottom of the table, Dara O’Shea headed in their equaliser in superb fashion in front of the Kop. The score remained 1-1 going into the break.
With Alexander-Arnold picking up a knock during the first half, Klopp introduced Harvey Elliott for the second half – moving Curtis Jones to right-back.
And it was the 20-year-old English midfielder who proved to be the difference-maker in the second 45. Laying it on a plate – albeit deflected – for Luis Diaz to prod home just seven minutes in.
The win was ultimately confirmed with Darwin Nunez’s headed finish from Elliott’s delivery. The Uruguayan scored his first goal at Anfield since last October. Nunez is now on 23 goals and assists this campaign in just 22 starts.
The Reds ultimately claimed an important 3-1 win but an even more important three points, seeing Klopp’s side regain top spot, albeit with Manchester City lurking just a point behind and a game in hand.
There are now just 14 Premier League matches left in the Jurgen Klopp era at Liverpool. It’s 14 cup finals. Win them all, and Liverpool are champions.
When going head-to-head with Manchester City, ‘near-perfect’ isn’t good enough. Liverpool have got to be perfect to withstand a chance of lifting the title. You get the feeling even 13 wins and a draw may not even prove good enough. Time will tell.
The next challenge is a trip to Brentford, where Liverpool haven’t won since a 4-1 Football League Cup victory back in the 1983/84 season. It’s Klopp’s beloved 12:30pm time slot on Saturday, 17 February.
Liverpool team: Kelleher, Alexander-Arnold (Elliott 46), Quansah, Van Dijk, Robertson (Tsimikas 90+7), Mac Allister (Clark 90+7), Endo (McConnell 90+6), Jones, Jota, Nunez, Diaz (Gakpo 82).
Burnley team: Trafford, Assignon, O’Shea, Esteve (Vitinho 80), Delcroix, Brownhill, Berge, Ramsey (Massengo 81), Odobert, Fofana, Amdouni (Bruun Larsen 86).
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