Ross – @rossic89
The remaining fixtures are coming thick and fast for Jurgen Klopp and his Premier League winning side!Up next, Sean Dyche’s Burnley.There were plenty of talking points ahead of the Brighton game and even more once we saw the team he had selected. Not that there was anything wrong with it, he just continues to surprise us and presumably the opposition. Options are a wonderful problem to have.The Opposition Let’s be honest with each other here, none of us watch Burnley on a regular basis. Lockdown has been tough, but not that fucking tough. That’s where I and about 50 other writers come in, we do the research so you don’t have to.As it happens ‘The Clarets’ have been in pretty good form, they’ve managed ten points from their last fifteen. Which as a Liverpool fan doesn’t seem that great, but for 9th placed Burnley who have their sights firmly set on Europa League, that’s quite the achievement.The only defeat in that run came from a 5-0 shafting by Man City who at the time were desperately clinging onto any last hopes of, well, closing the gap to be perfectly honest. That aside they haven’t been too shabby defensively conceding 46 goals in 34 games this season.Nick Pope incidentally, is the leader in the race for the golden glove this season which explains why Alisson was fuming to concede Trossard’s thunder-bastard. Both ‘keepers will be desperate to keep a clean sheet in this game.Going forward has been the real issue for Burnley as they’ve only racked up a total 38 goals. For context, 16th placed West Ham have more. (40) They do however have forwards who can cause problems. Chris Wood is their top performer with 10 goals and 1 assist. Joint top with Jay Rodriguez.
And without throwing out cliches, but by absolutely throwing out a cliche, there are no easy games in the Premier League. I don’t expect this to be one. The season might be done for us bar a points record to destroy but there are plenty of other teams with something to play for, including Burnley.Their style of play will be to set up and frustrate Liverpool, sit in banks of 4 or 5 and nullify the attacks. Then hit on the counter. You didn’t need me to tell you that. We’ve seen it before. And lets not knock it either. It works. Sean Dyche was named Manger of the Month for February after going undefeated all month.Our defence can expect a physical game too. Matej Vydra has started the past five games and whilst he hasn’t found the back of the net, he’s not shy of putting himself about. And neither are the rest of the side. The likes of Ben Mee and James Tarkowski will be up for set pieces and whilst they might not fancy their chances against van Dijk you can bet they will be targeting the full backs and possibly Alisson Becker, maybe to just put the shits up him a little.Just as a final side note on Burnley, Dwight McNeil has been in decent form of recent weeks and could be a player to keep an eye on. Someone who isn’t afraid to run directly at the full backs, get to the byline and cause issues. Equally he’s happy to play in tight spaces in the middle of the park. If he’s shite, please do remind me.NEW TO THE REDMEN TV STORE – BUY HERE
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The RedsI don’t need to go heavy here. You know the score; Premier League Champions, 23 points clear, 92 points from 102, best defence in the league, 24 consecutive home wins, I could go on.Mo Salah with 100 goal contributions in 104 games.Done now. Promise.The only question is how Liverpool approach this game and the difficulty of trying to predict who Jurgen might select. Again, a bloody good problem to have. There’s been a bit of a debate in the past week or so as to wether Jurgen goes for that points record or if he uses the remaining games as sort of a preseason with the opportunity to integrate some of the youth players. There’s no reason why he can’t do both.Some players are desperate for game time, not so much for fitness, more for rhythm, form and confidence. Naby Keita is a prime example of this. Naby was one of Liverpool’s top performers versus Brighton and he will be in the mood to carry on.
The only argument you could see for not starting Naby is that there’s another game just a few days later at Arsenal, he might be better suited to that and may benefit from a little rest. For what it is worth, I’d start him. It also depends on the fitness of Jordan Henderson, which at the time of typing is still awaiting the results of a scan. If the news comes out and I’ve not updated this, I’ve either forgotten or just simply can’t be arsed.The other headache for arl Jurgs is at full back. Young Neco Williams was impressive in the 45 minutes he played on Wednesday night and will have taken a lot away from that game, including a yellow card. If he starts he would be an easy target for Burnley hoof ball. Play Robbo and dictate the play in my opinion.Ox is another conundrum for Klopp and someone who could really do with some form and rhythm in his game. He wasn’t great against Aston Villa and he was only slightly better versus Brighton. Ok, he was out on the left wing, that’s not his favoured position but currently it might be the place where he will get most of his minutes. Origi could be in the conversation with it being a physical battle but his performances of late have left a lot to be desired. And fuck knows what is going on with Shaqiri. The front three play for me.The Stats (Credit: Stat Zone)I’m going to pick out a few of my favourite stats provided by Stat Zone and basically use it as propaganda to make it sound like this is 3 points in the bag already.Naby Keita vs. Brighton
— The Tactical Times (@Tactical_Times) July 8, 2020
86% Pass accuracy (25/29)
2/3 Accurate long passes
4 Chances created
1 Assist
3/3 Dribbles completed
6/7 Ground duels won
2/2 Tackles won
And again. Just copy and paste this for next time. Naby's not just excellent; he's consistently excellent. pic.twitter.com/5U7B6lLUjd
- Both Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané have scored four goals in their last three Premier League games for Liverpool against Burnley, with each player netting a brace in this exact fixture last season as the Reds won 4-2. (via @StatsZone)
- Liverpool have won 82% of their Premier League games against Burnley (9/11), their best winning ratio against a side they’ve faced at least 10 times in the competition. (via @StatsZone)
- Burnley have taken just one point from their last 18 available away against Liverpool in the top-flight (W0 D1 L5), with their last league win at Anfield coming in September 1974 (1-0). (via @StatsZone)
