Skip to main content

Burnley v Liverpool: Reds should edge tight encounter

Burnley v Liverpool
New Year's Day, 15:00

Clarets not at their best

Burnley's current run of fixtures almost seems designed specifically as a punchline to recent talk about the Champions League. The Clarets were lingering near the top four a couple of weeks ago, but a run of five away games in seven - with Tottenham and Liverpool their visitors at Turf Moor - has not started especially well: after the 0-0 draw with Huddersfield, Sean Dyche's side have now gone four games without a win.
There were mitigating factors on Saturday: Burnley outplayed the Terriers and really ought to have been awarded a spot kick when Jeff Hendrick was brought down by Jonas Lössl. "There's not much to say about it because everyone will see it was a penalty," lamented Dyche after the game, and there was little argument from David Wagner. Yet Burnley also had themselves to blame for some wastefulness in front of goal.
Dyche welcomes back James Tarkowski after his three-match ban, which is a boost. There could also be some rotation in attack, with Ashley Barnes pushing for a recall in place of Sam Vokes.

Salah injury scare for Reds

2 Unlimited should probably try re-releasing their biggest hit on Merseyside at some point this season, for at the moment there seems to be Mo limit to what Liverpool's star man can do. Mohamed Salah continued to reach for the sky at the weekend, scoring two deft goals to down Leicester and taking his league tally to 17 already. That's over a third of the Reds' total, which underlines his importance to this team (as well as a million fantasy football sides).
Yet there was a scare for fans after the match, with boss Jürgen Klopp revealing that the forward had picked up a slight knock. "He was limping," said the German. "That's never a good sign, to be honest. We have to see what his problem was. We will see what he can do for the next game." The fact that this match comes so quickly on the heels of the last probably won't help Salah's cause.
If the Egyptian does fail to make it, Klopp could turn to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Dominic Solanke or even Adam Lallana, who has been back in the matchday squad in the last couple of weeks. The result will be a weaker side, but Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané have all been in good nick recently and should help to paper over the cracks.

Not much juice in match odds

Burnley are never pushovers at Turf Moor and won this fixture 2-0 last season, so odds of 7.80 on the home win could be tempting. But Arsenal and Tottenham have both beaten them on their own patch in recent weeks - the latter quite convincingly - so we're not brave enough to back them against a side high on confidence.
No team has scored more away goals in the league than Liverpool (27) and they should have enough firepower to find a way past Nick Pope even if Salah fails to make this game. Yet 1.52 on a win for the Reds holds no great appeal either.

Liverpool should win but may not cut loose

Only one of Burnley's 10 home games has gone over the 2.5-goal mark: the 3-0 defeat to Spurs. But Liverpool away games have followed the opposite pattern, with nine of 10 producing three goals or more. So it's a coin toss on the overs/unders, as the odds reflect.
Our best strategy is probably to back a Liverpool win and under 3.5 goals. Burnley's last 12 Premier League defeats have been low-scoring enough to sneak under that line and Liverpool might not go goal crazy against a defence significantly stronger than some of those they have taken to the cleaners recently.

Firmino deadly away from home

With Salah a doubt, Liverpool will need Roberto Firmino to step up to the plate. The Brazilian has scored four goals in his last three away games and can be backed at 2.52 to start 2018 on the front foot.

Popular posts from this blog

Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Dortmund: Eagles to build a wall in Berlin

Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Dortmund Saturday 27 May, 19:00 Live on BT Sport ESPN Eintracht Frankfurt This time last season, Eintracht Frankfurt were  fighting for survival  in a Bundesliga playoff against second-tier side Nurnberg. Fast forward a year, and they are preparing for their first major cup final since 2006, having finished well clear of relegation trouble this term. Having steered the Eagles through that playoff against Nurnberg, coach  Niko Kovac  set about galvanising not just the squad, but the entire club. Working with sporting director Bruno Hubner and former Germany striker Fredi Bobic,  Kovac has injected new life into an organisation that was drifting. Youngsters like defender  Jesus Vallejo  and forward Ante Rebic have been brought in on loan to good effect, and astute pickups like holding midfielder Omar Mascarell and forward Branimir Hrgota have become effective cogs in the machine. Although Frankfurt have twice...

Goals in Confederations Cup : Spain vs Uruguay 2-1

Tottenham’s Dele Alli eyes Premier League debut at Manchester United

It was quite the opening statement. Dele Alli, 24 minutes into his first start in a Tottenham Hotspur shirt, suckered in Luka Modric of Real Madrid, nutmegged him and accelerated away. The 70,000 sell-out crowd at Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena roared at the 19-year-old’s sheer impudence. "We had a laugh about it in the tunnel afterwards; he was very good about it,” Alli said. "He shook my hand and said to me: ‘You little bugger’ – or something like that. I didn’t shout ‘nuts’ when I did it. I used to do that when I was young and get told off for it." As Alli spoke at the Allianz after Tuesday’s 2-0 Audi Cup victory, some of Real’s galácticos filed past. This time last year the midfielder was preparing for MK Dons’ League One season opener against Gillingham. His previous competitive game was for MK against Yeovil in May. Alli says “unreal” and “surreal” on a number of occasions and it is little wonder. This is a young player of conviction. If the nutmeg on one of...