« on: January 21, 2021, 07:12:40 pm »
So, after the biggest fixture in British football turned out to be somewhat of a damp squib, we're left with more questions than answers. Those questions we'll revisit shortly but for now let's focus on our upcoming match against our Lancashire neighbors. There is no getting away from our recent poor form, one win in our last five league games has seen us surrender top spot to our biggest rivals and we currently find ourselves in 4th place with it all to do to get back to the top.
Our injury issues are well documented, we've been hit hard this season and they've really impacted our form. For all the worry and grief of losing our CB's to injury, it seems the biggest impact at this moment in time has been the loss of summer signing Diogo Jota. The Portuguese forward has hit the ground running since his surprise £45m move from Wolves in the summer, scoring 9 goals in 17 games this season. With our usually brilliant front three struggling for goals and form in recent games, Jota's absence has been duly noted, hopefully it's not long before we see him return.
Thursday sees us welcome struggling Burnley to Anfield, they sit in 17th position in the table and find themselves in a real dog fight for Premier League survival. For all their critics, they must be credited for finding ways to continuously survive despite having one of the worst styles of football you're likely to see. Anyways, each to their own, they have a style that works for them and the onus will be on us to break them down. Their tactics will be obvious, men behind the ball, soak up pressure and look to hit us on the break or hope to hurt us via a set piece, a blueprint that has worked quite well for other teams in recent games. It's not just us struggling for goals of late, Dyche's men have scored 9 league goals all season and are not the most creative of sides, but this time round they seem to be letting a few in, having conceded 22 in their 17 games so far this season. (Don't ask for a fancy xG table, I can't make heads or tails of them).
There is no denying recent results have been poor and we've dropped points in some very winnable games which means the pressure is really on. But, in Klopp we have a wonderful manager that has seen it all before and we have a very good squad that can get us out of this rut. We need something to fall our way, in recent weeks we've been hampered by injuries, poor form, bad luck and shit officiating, yesterday was just another incident in a long list of bizarre calls when Tierney decided to blow early for half time with Mane through on goal. We can't control the aforementioned issues, but, we can control how much fight and effort we put in. So, I'm hoping Burnley feel the brunt of our frustrations and the lads swarm them in a style that we've been accustomed to.
Recent meetings
11/07/2020 Liverpool 1-1 Burnley
31/08/2019 Burnley 0-3 Liverpool
10/03/2019 Liverpool 4-2 Burnley
05/12/2018 Burnley 1-3 Liverpool
01/01/2018 Burnley 1-2 Liverpool
16/09/2017 Liverpool 1-1 Burnley
Current league form
Liverpool - DLDDW
Burnley - LLWLW
Injury news
For Liverpool, the long term injured personnel will remain out but there is a welcome boost in the form of Joel Matip, the CB is likely to return for this fixture.
Burnley have an almost fully fit squad to pick from with usual left back Charlie Taylor close to a return.
Questions and discussion points.
What is going on with our attacking play?
Is this game tailor-made for Nat Phillips Joel Matip CB partnership?
Keep the same attacking players or is it time to rotate?
finally, your predictions?
Come on Redmen, let's twat these Brexit voting, banner flying, gravel voiced, Rugby tactics loving twats. 
« Last Edit: January 21, 2021, 10:04:53 pm by TepidT2O »
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