Liverpool gain scrappy win for a change – Liverpool 2 Burnley 1

Blog by dedlfc (David Douglas)

All Liverpool fans thoughts prior to this match in our topsy turvy season were that after beating a top side we continue to follow that up with a draw or defeat against a lower level side and this was to be another test of our top 4 credentials.

In the matchday programme prviewing the visit of Burnley, our captain Henderson highlighted the excellent and valued performances of both Can and Origi in our 3-1 victory at home to Arsenal.

The pair, central subjects of criticism for parts of the season, (as our club’s ambitions slipped disastrously from a potential title challenge to a top-four chase), proved decisive again.

With none of our immediate rivals playing we had the perfect opportunity to go 5 points clear of both Arsenal and Man Utd – with us just 10 games left after this Burnley game.

The team news ahead of the first whistle, as the rain and wind swirled outside L4, the emphasis wasn’t on the players available, but those absent through injury.

Henderson, Roberto Firmino, Dejan Lovren, Daniel Sturridge and Danny Ings were missing from the matchday squad through varying issues, with Marko Grujic still working his way back to full sharpness.

That left us with a lightweight bench consisting of four teenagers in Joe Gomez, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ben Woodburn and Harry Wilson - the latter named in a Premier League squad for the first time.

The anxiety amongst the LFC fans about Origi playing stems from the fact since his goalscoring run of 5 goals in 5 games earlier in the season, he has very rarely looked a goal threat.

There were also massive question marks over Can too; the German locked in a contract impasse with the club, his performances not consistent nor effective enough to justify the increased package his camp continuing to request.

The opening plays saw us, showing Burnley too much respect. We were passive, sluggish and clearly uncomfortable with the penetrating runs and searching deliveries from the visitors, we looked primed for punishment.

The lessons from the first game versus Burnley in August saw Sean Dyche’s men move ahead within two minutes of kick off at Turf Moor, and they only had to wait another five more minutes before doing the same here. 

A period of pressure, with Andre Gray in particular twisting the blood of our rearguard of the hosts, resulted in a deserved opener for the vistors. 

Right-back Matt Lowton received possession 35 yards from goal and was allowed the space and time to curl a splendid ball across the box.

Klavan disappointedly couldn’t clear the ball, Burnley striker Gray didn’t connect, but Ashley Barnes - under no pressure from Nathaniel Clyne - stuck out his right foot to beat a diving Simon Mignolet.

And they looked more likely to affect the scoreboard again with us so off-colour and continuously going either long or wide on every play, which did little to disorganise Burnley.

At times during the first half, it seemed as though only Sadio Mane remembered the hosts were in a titanic tussle for Champions League football.

We just were not creating clear-cut opportunities, nor did we look like we were capable of asking any questions of Tom Heaton until just before the interval. 

Origi, taunted with chants of ‘you’re not Danny Ings’ by the away support, crossed from the left for Gini Wijnaldum. The ball hit the Netherlands international, then Ben Mee, but the midfielder composed himself excellently and smashed past the keeper from close range. 

Wijnaldum just after scoring the vital equaliser on the stroke of halftime

We therefore went into halftime with a vital equaliser which turned out to be the turning point of this match for us.

It was Origi again who supplied Can on 61 minutes for the winner, teeing it up for the 23-year-old to take a touch before rifling a pacy low shot into the bottom-right corner. 

Can wheels away after scoring the winner vs Burnley

His knee slide and the unfiltered passion of the celebration also contained bundles of relief: it hadn’t been an easy afternoon for the midfielder, let alone season.

In his bid to prove his value to our team, two decisive displays in succession will serve Can’s cause, but he cannot let up especially with our captain being unavailable at the moment (Henderson currently seen on crutches with a potential season ending foot injury).

We have now scored the most goals from outside the box since Klopp took over - with this being our 21st long range goal. 

Origi, meanwhile, ended his involvement to different chants - the home fans singing his name. He received a standing ovation as well when Lucas replaced him on 79 minutes and was pulled into a bear hug with his appreciative manager.

Prior to all that, while there were hands-over-heads looking at our bench, Klopp had enough faith in it to end a miserable evening for Philippe Coutinho by yanking him on the hour-mark and throwing on 17-year-old Woodburn. 

Coutinho not best pleased at being subbed 

As the hosts we had to claw and wrestle for a win. We had to battle and bruise to stop Burnley from leaving Anfield with a triumph for the first time since Burnley’s Ian Brennan scored the winner vs Bob Paisley’s side in September 1974. 

It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t fluid and it was far from fancy, but even more importantly we made it happen - chiefly through the men considered our misfits (Can and Origi).

We have now equalled our tally of wins [16] recorded last season with 10 fixtures still to play, while stacking the pressure on Arsenal and United in the fight for the top four.

For the first time this season we showed that we were able to win ugly – not play well against a weaker side and still win.

Moving forward that will be the way we will eventually be good enough to win a league title but for now we have 10 more games to create a big enough gap to secure the top 4 spot and just hope Man Utd do not win the Euro League to ultimately thwart us from getting back into the Champions League.

Liverpool (4-3-3): Mignolet; Clyne, Matip, Klavan, Milner; Can, Wijnaldum, Lallana; Coutinho (Woodburn 60), Origi  (Lucas, 78), Mane

Unused Subs: Karius, Moreno, Wilson, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez

Booked: Can, Lallana

Goals: Wijnaldum 45, Can 61

Manager: Jurgen Klopp

Burnley (4-4-2): Heaton; Lowton, Keane, Mee, Ward; Boyd (Brady 73), Barton, Hendrick, Arfield (Agyei 90); Barnes, Gray  (Vokes 80)

Unused Subs: Westwood, Tarkowski, Robinson, Darikwa

Booked: Mee, Barton

Goal: Barnes 7

Manager: Sean Dyche

Referee: Craig Pawson

Attendance: 53,145

Man of the match: Georginio Wijnaldum – The defining moment of the game was the equaliser - we scored when we deserved to be behind. It seemed we were going to struggle to get back into the game without this vital moment. This potentially could be our biggest goal of the season as this may define the rest of our season.

My comments on Can - Yes he scored a good and very important goal, but then he did what he does in nearly every game he plays in and added yet another yellow card to his growing collection due to the fact that for some reason he refuses to learn how to tackle properly. His football positioning is not exactly that good either, so perhaps it would be far better for everyone, if he actually learnt how to improve his game before him and his advisors demand such an outrageous and unwarranted wage rise.

Klavan - Was again exposed to the pace of Gray and found wanting especially in the first half - Can was inexplicably assisting Klavan in defending by dropping back to clear headers when Can was supposed to be playing in the defensive midfield role. Klavan defended better in the second half culminating in an excellent block late on stopping a potential shot on goal. He is not the long term answer and therefore Klopp has a lot of work to do this summer.

Klopp's comments on our home win vs Burnley

Manager’s comments:-

"We were obviously not dominant enough to avoid their gameplan," Klopp admitted afterwards. In the first half, the ball was always in the air as they wanted, and they were better in the fight for second balls."

"If we want we stay where we are, we have to win all kinds of games," agreed the Reds boss. "In average games and bad games, you still need to be a competitor. It feels good today that we could do it."

“Can is a player with an outstanding attitude," Klopp said of his countryman. "He had a problem with his calf for a few months, we used a lot of specialists to find out what exactly was wrong.

"We found a solution and he doesn’t have those problems now. Second half he was really good, but he could have been better around their goal. These things happen, but he reacted very well and scored a nice goal."

Liverpool continue their topsy turvy season

The resultant three one victory over Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal came as no surprise given Liverpool’s predisposition this season to deal handily with sides in the top seven and to fall away alarmingly against the scrappers in the bottom third.  These idiosyncratic displays have cost Jürgen Klopp’s team a run at the League title.

It seems unbelievable that the same team who summarily dispatched Spurs and now their London rivals put up such as tepid display in between against a Leicester team, although looking to prove the doubters wrong after the dismissal of Claudio Ranieri, decidedly low on confidence.

Is it as simple as we surmise that given time and space against the bigger teams we thrive able to impose our game and dictate at will.  It says a lot about our mind set and our inability to adapt our game when posed with a seemingly alien concept of having the majority of the ball against deep lying defences and being hit on the break.  

It’s now a tried and trusted method against us and one could hear fans around me as Mane authoritatively smack home the second articulating their doubts as to whether we would fail ingloriously again against Burnley next week.

We don’t have ‘a dogs of war’ midfield able to mix it when the time comes.

We don’t have a midfielder who can control the tempo of the game with subtle  balls, intelligent movement and penetrative passing, but what we do have is midfielders that if given their head will run all day.

The problem with that is many of teams battling against relegation have in abundance of players with these qualities and against teams of this nature it’s the extra bit of quality or the ability to stand toe to toe which will often win out.

That said Klopp’s team were deserved winners having totally dominated the first-half and a more deserving score line would have seen them three or four goals to the good, with Arsenal barely testing Simon Mignolet’s goal.

Liverpool were ahead on 9 minutes.  The ball found its way to Mane after a flick on, he crossed low and hard, but straight to Hector Bellerin who inexplicably let the ball run through his legs to the hovering Firmino.  He was left with so much time he almost had enough time to roll a cigarette before controlling as he did before unwaveringly slotting home.

My mind filtered back to a conversation I had with an Arsenal fan train on the journey up.  He said, if Liverpool scored first we’d win because of his side’s lack of an underbelly.  Without the undoubted world class powers of the up until now ubiquitous Chilean, the task seemed decidedly easier from the onset.  Arsenal lacked leadership, creativity and a cutting edge.  Three skill sets the ex-Barcelona forward has by the shed load.

Liverpool began to look threatening and Firmino almost beat the offside trap after being sent trough.  With Liverpool’s front three buzzing around as they had earlier in the season at the Emirates a second goal looked in the offing.

Coutino tested Petr Cech with a rasping left footed drive from the edge of the area which the keeper brilliantly tipped over.  But a matter of time it was.

Emre Can enjoying one of his better games in holding court over Xhaka and the Arsenal midfield found Firmino with a flourish of his right boot allowing the forward to find Mane, entering the area without much trouble before burying his shot with a cold almost aloof finish.

Recognising the folly of leaving out his star player, Wenger remedied the situation at half-time replacing the ineffective Coquelin.

Sanchez impact was immediate.  Giroud on the end of Monreal’s cross forced Mignolet into pushing the ball on to the bar before the ball was scrambled away.

Arsenal were sniffing away back in and they soon found it with Sanchez the architect.  He found Welbeck superbly with a slide rule pass which the England International adeptly chipped over the advancing Mignolet.

Sanchez looked menacing and Wenger a man not prone to admitting mistakes must have, in the quiet of his own mind wished he could have turned back the clock and not gone for the long aerial balls continually pumped up the pitch for Giroud.

As boisterous as Arsenal were Liverpool still presented a threat and it was they in injury time that killed the game.  It was the type of goal which raised the temperature because of its thrilling nature and finally calmed the fears quashing any remnants of Arsenal hope.

On the break, substitute Divock Origi motored down the left before delivering an inch perfect cross for the rampaging Georgino Wijnaldum to tuck away.  Arsenal’s renaissance had been worrying for the home crowd, but not deserving parity. 

Teams:

Liverpool: 22 Mignolet, 2 Clyne, 32, Matip, 17 Klavan, 7 Milner, 5 Milner, 5 Wijnaldum, 23 Can, 20  Lallana (Lucas 90+2 mins), 19 Mane (Alexander-Arnold 90+3 mins), 11 Firmino, 10 Coutinho (Origi – 80 mins)

Substitutes: 1 Karius, 6 Lovren, 18 Moreno, 21 Lucas, 27 Origi, 58 Woodburn,

66 Alexander-Arnold

Arsenal: 33 Cech, 24 Bellerin, 20 Mustafi, 6 Koscielny, 18 Monreal, 34 Coquelin  (Sanchez – 45 mins), 29 Xhaka, 15 Oxlade-Chamberlain, 17 Iwobi, 23 Welbeck (Walcott 74 mins), 12 Giroud (Perez – 74 mins)

Substitutes: 3 Gibbs, 5, Gabriel, 7 Sanchez, 8 Ramsey, 9 Perez, 13 Ospina, 14 Walcott

Referee: Robert Madley

Attendance: 53, 146