On a four-game winless run, Liverpool desperately need to pick up their form if they are to have any chance of defending their Premier League title. Having struggled to break down packed defences, a visit from Burnley wasn’t ideal given getting men behind the ball is their modus operandi, even if they are near the bottom of the league.
Jürgen Klopp made three changes from the team that drew with Manchester United, resting Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino to give starts to Divock Origi and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in attack, while Joël Matip was fit enough to come back into the centre of defence, replacing the injured Jordan Henderson. They set up in their usual 4-3-3 formation.
Sean Dyche made two changes to the side that lost to West Ham, swapping out Erik Pieters and Johann Gudmundsson for Charlie Taylor and Dwight McNeil in their 4-4-2.
Liverpool started the game at a high pace, however they were again focussing on crosses, swinging the ball into a packed box full of Burnley defenders. There was at least the potential of Origi challenging them in the air, but the odds weren’t exactly stacked in Liverpool’s favour. Burnley were always able to win these crosses, so Liverpool largely wasted this higher tempo period.
Burnley were of course primarily defensive, yet they committed a surprising number of players forward when they attacked, getting the wingers wide to cross and pushing men into the box to attack it. This would leave some space through the middle for Thiago Alcântara to find Xherdan Shaqiri and get running at Burnley’s defence, however this would still leave Liverpool needing to get past the narrow back four.
Whenever we have discussed Liverpool’s troubles breaking down defences, we have mainly talked about the need for an alternative way of creating chances through the centre rather than relying on crosses from the full-backs. The start of this game with Liverpool wasting possession with crosses provides a neat example, but the alternative we usually suggest likely wouldn’t have worked against Burnley either. Defensive teams coming to Anfield are usually narrow, yet Burnley take this to the extreme, forming a wall of bodies so there is no space for shots or through balls to slip between them.
As a result, while the likes of Thiago and Shaqiri’s ability to work in tight spaces helps against narrow teams, they found themselves less useful here as Burnley left them no space at all to make these passes. The decision to start Origi and Oxlade-Chamberlain also didn’t help this idea, as both men are technical downgrades on Salah and Firmino, so less able to join in with the little interchanges of passes around the edge of the area.
This gamble also backfired when Ben Mee’s mishit back-pass put Origi through on goal, only for his shot to cannon back off the crossbar. There would be no guarantee that Salah would finish this chance either, but the odds would be a lot higher.
This extremely tight defence from Burnley makes central attacking very difficult, yet it leaves huge amounts of space wide, to the extent that the widemen can get space down the outside in the box.
Burnley made this harder to exploit by having Robbie Brady and McNeil drop back down the outside to form a back six, however they would do this as a reaction to Liverpool’s full-backs pushing high into attack and did it less and less as the game went on. Time their runs correctly and Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold could get to the byline and fire the ball across the face of goal before the wingers dropped back. Oxlade-Chamberlain wasn’t ideal for moves through the centre, but had space to attack wide, while Sadio Mané is just as capable going down the outside as cutting inside.
It took Liverpool a while to clock the potential of this space though. Even when they got the ball to Alexander-Arnold and Robertson in these positions, they would often slow down the play with a touch then cross again, rather than hitting the byline.
With a crowded box full of Burnley defenders, this still wasn’t ideal, but it would at least offer a better chance of scoring. Hit a driven ball across the face of goal and, even if a Liverpool player can’t get anything on it, there’s just as good a chance it might deflect off one of those Burnley defenders into the net rather than clearing it. Alternatively, they force the Burnley backline into dropping off to the six yard box and then change the angle with a cut-back, although Burnley’s midfielders would drop back to protect the area around the penalty spot.
Liverpool did eventually work this out yet it took them until late on to do so. Given these aren’t clear-cut chances, but more about improving the odds by repeatedly hitting a dangerous area, doing this for 90 minutes rather than the 20-30 minutes Liverpool managed might not have lead to a goal, however it would have at least made it likelier.
Burnley won the game against the run of play thanks to a penalty, won in the second phase of a free-kick, ending Liverpool’s 68-match unbeaten run at home.
The two most recent results were more about Manchester United and Burnley defending well than Liverpool performing poorly, as they had against Newcastle, West Brom and Southampton, but there was still things they could have done to improve their fortunes. Their winless run now stretching to five, they will need to start adapting quicker if they are to have any chance of defending their Premier League title.
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