As far as responding to a setback goes, outplaying and beating a top four rival was the perfect if not entirely unexpected one.
Truthfully, it shouldn’t really have come as much of a surprise that we were able to beat Arsenal last weekend. It is the type of game that this Liverpool squad thrive in; the pressure is on, the build up is prolonged and the intensity is there from the off. Players don’t require any extra motivation or focus to perform well and try to win the game, the magnitude of the game is enough for them to start well and play to their full collective capability.
The bizarre sight of Alexis Sanchez left twiddling his thumbs on Arsenal’s bench was a surprising but welcome boost in the build-up to the game and his eventual introduction at half-time, while impactful, was not enough to salvage anything for the away side.
By then, Liverpool’s front three had worked their magic and condemned Arsenal to defeat.
The performance was essentially a mirror image of our last home game, the equally impressive victory over Tottenham Hotspur. Liverpool simply overwhelmed their opposition, hustling and winning the ball and then flooding forward in numbers to devastating effect.
What remains to be seen is whether, unlike after defeating Spurs, Liverpool can build on this victory.
I doubt that I am not the only one who feels slightly more trepidation about Burnley’s impending visit to Anfield than I did about Arsenal’s. It’s a strange position to be in as a Liverpool supporter, to be nervous about fixtures at home against sides currently in the bottom half of the table. We’re better than Burnley, with all due respect to them, and we undoubtedly have the quality to beat them comfortably. But we could have said that back in August when Burnley defeated Liverpool at Turf Moor and, more recently, in games against the likes of Hull City and Bournemouth.
They’re the type of games that have been our Achilles heel this season, particularly since the turn of the year: the ones we should win but have inexplicably slipped up in.
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Beating Arsenal is great, just like beating Spurs was, and has undoubtedly lifted the mood around the club. Games against that calibre of clubs, the ones competing with us for a place in next season’s Champion’s League, have never really been our problem under Jürgen Klopp. His record in them is excellent; we’ve played nine games against the rest of the current top six so far this season and have yet to taste defeat. If we could perform as well and as consistently against teams in the lower reaches of the league as we do against the ones at the top then Liverpool would still be in a title race.
Which is why Sunday’s game against Burnley has taken such significance. On paper, it might have the prestige of an Anfield contest against the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea but in the context of this season, it’s just as important.
It’s going to be a stern test of this squad’s mettle and top four credentials.
The questions being asked of Liverpool have been posed by our own inconsistency since Christmas, by our failure to win the games that we should have. Chelsea, Spurs and Arsenal have all come to Anfield in that time and we took seven points from a possible nine; conversely, the visit of Swansea and trips to Hull and Leicester all ended in chastening defeat. Of our remaining eleven games, six are against teams currently in the bottom half of the table and four of those fixtures will be played at Anfield; any more slips between now and May could prove to be very costly.
Taking that into account, beating Burnley on Sunday would be something of a statement.
Make no mistake, there will be critics watching on and expecting us to stumble under the weight of expectation. The narrative surrounding this Liverpool squad has already begun to be written: they’re a group for the big occasion, who will play well when the stakes are high but crumble in the face of a scrap against an opposition not willing to let them have everything their own way.
Burnley will certainly fall into that category.
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We know exactly what to expect from them on Sunday. They’re not coming to Anfield to attack, they’re going to sit deep, let us have the ball and look to frustrate us. It is a game plan that worked to perfection for them back in August; Klopp was outspoken afterwards in his amazement that our sheer dominance of the ball at Turf Moor wasn’t capitalised on. It will undoubtedly be a very similar story in the reverse fixture. The greatest threat Burnley pose to us will most likely be on the counter or from set-pieces. Otherwise, they’re going to look to defend in numbers and keep the middle of the pitch congested, stifling our fluid and fast attack.
Arsenal was a different kind of test. They looked to go toe-to-toe with Liverpool, foolishly and were simply overrun. Our midfield dominated theirs and their defence was left too exposed. Their tactics played into our hands and we took full advantage.
Burnley will be a different proposition entirely.
Sean Dyche and his players are going to ask questions of Klopp and Liverpool. They’ve had an excellent season back in the Premier League, built on the foundation of being strong, stubborn and disciplined on their home ground. It has compensated for a poor record on the road, compounded by a last-gasp defeat away at Swansea last weekend.
Going by the form guide, victory on Sunday should be something of a formality. But Liverpool have a worrying tendency to shoot themselves in the foot in games that are written off as routine victories.
Burnley are going to revel in being the underdog, they’ve got little to lose on Sunday and will have taken heart from the way that teams around and below them in the table have taken points off Liverpool in recent weeks and months. They’ll set up not to lose and present Liverpool with the challenge of breaking them down.
Passing that challenge would be a signal of intent by the home side.
The only way to answer the critics who accuse Liverpool of being a soft touch in games they should win is to show some steel.
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There are going to be more twists and turns to come in the remainder of this season, particularly among the top six. It’s been one of those campaigns where the landscape seems to change with every round of fixtures, where predicting how the final table will look is extremely difficult.
To finish in the top four, Liverpool can’t really afford any more slip-ups and must capitalise on any that those teams around us might make. The defeat to Swansea aside, Anfield has been something of a fortress for us this season and we have to look at taking maximum points in our remaining games at home. The toughest of those on paper looks to be the upcoming Merseyside Derby but that is the sort of game and occasion that we’ve had no trouble performing in under Klopp. The real tests are going to come when Burnley, Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Middlesbrough come to Anfield. We’ve taken eleven points from a possible fifteen in the home games we’ve played against the rest of the top six this season, an excellent return; we can’t allow that to all have been for nought in May.
Sunday won’t simply be a test of Liverpool’s quality against a stubborn opponent, it’s going to be an examination of our mentality. It is imperative that we don’t fail it, that we can cope with the mounting pressure of being involved in such a tense and competitive race for Champion’s League qualification, that we have it in us to build some all-important momentum and prevent inconsistency from becoming our downfall.
Beating the top teams in the Premier League while being inconsistent against those lower down the ladder might prove to be enough to get us where we want to be this season. If we want to aspire to more, to compete to win the league outright, then this squad will have to overcome its inconsistent tendencies altogether.
Three points on Sunday would represent a significant step in the right direction in that respect. Both Manchester clubs have dropped points in their most recent games at home, games in which both teams created more than enough chances to win but didn’t take.
Those are the sort of results we need to be looking to take advantage of.
Burnley should be respected as an opponent but it is down to Liverpool to banish the trepidation that has come to surround these kind of fixtures. If they can, a top four finish will become an increasingly tangible possibility.
Written by Ben Teesdale
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