It’s been a frustrating couple of weeks to be a Liverpool fan; the result against Sevilla may not have been the worst possible but it didn’t heal the wounds left by Manchester City.
Sevilla at Anfield was the perfect opportunity to calm the fans down and get put everyone in a positive spin.
We now face Burnley at Anfield, not always the easiest team to face and anything other than victory will see even more fans getting restless but, as most will, I’ll back Liverpool to get a result in our own back yard.
Burnley are currently ahead of Liverpool in the Premier League table on goal difference and, even though it’s so early in the season, that just isn’t right.
Three points for Liverpool puts Jurgen Klopp’s men applies pressure on the two Manchester clubs – who, admittedly look unstoppable – and Chelsea.
Team News
Besides Klopp confirming that Phil Coutinho is in contention to start Liverpool’s next game, there’s nothing to report for Liverpool.
Sadio Mane’s suspension will likely see Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain thrusted into the first time and employed into the left-wing or left-central-midfielder positions, depending on where Klopp plans on using Coutinho.
Slight cause for celebration for The Reds as Burnley stopper Tom Heaton is currently out with a dislocated shoulder and is expected to miss a good few games.
Also missing for Burnley is Nakhi Wells, Dean Marney and Jeff Hendrick, the latter of which faces a late fitness test and may be declared fit to play.
Current Form
Liverpool (last five results in all competitions) –
Liverpool 1-0 Crystal Palace
Liverpool 4-2 Hoffenheim
Liverpool 4-0 Arsenal
Man City 5-0 Liverpool
Liverpool 2-2 Sevilla
Burnley (last five results in all competitions) –
Chelsea 2-3 Burnley
Burnley 0-1 West Brom
Blackburn 0-2 Burnley
Spurs 1-1 Burnley
Burnley 1-0 Crystal Palace
As you can see, Burnley travel to Anfield in decent form and will likely fancy themselves to come away with a point or a few…exactly why Liverpool need to smack them down.
Prediction
As Liverpool like to, we’ll make an absolute meal of it against a mid-table club. No disrespect to Burnley but they shouldn’t be taking points away from Anfield.
Full expect Liverpool to leak a goal or two but our superior attack should see us out-score the opposition.
Personally, I also fancy Oxlade-Chamberlain to prove a point…actually, I might put a fiver on him to score the first goal.
Gamble responsibly.
The Reds will also want to prove we can do it without our main man Mane; I fancy the score-line to be Liverpool 4-1 Burnley at the full-time whistle.
We’ve threatened to throttle a few teams of late and Burnley, without Heaton, are vulnerable and will struggle to deal with Liverpool.
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